Page 81 of All for Love

At the same time, I refused to just back off and let her meddle to her heart’s content just because she thought she had the right to. The short answer was that she didn’t. She didn’t have any right to come into my office and start telling me what to do. Start lecturing me about my father’s health and the impact this might have on him.

Starting slowly, I marched out from behind my desk, my gaze never leaving his. “You came in here at the ass end of the conversation, so let me tell you how it started. It started with me asking her what I could do to put the hostility behind us. I was trying to bury the hatchet, and instead, what I got was yet another lecture about how selfish I am and how I lied to you. How is that any of her business?”

“You did lie to me,” he snapped, breathing hard as his eyes narrowed to slits. “You told me it was over between you and Mercedes, but it’s not.”

“I didn’t lie. It was over, but let’s not get off-topic just yet. If you thought I’d lied to you, you could’ve come to me. I’ll talk to you about it, but I don’t feel the need to explain myself to the girl you’re fucking.”

“Do. Not. Talk. About. Her. Like. That.” He surged forward at the same time I did, getting right in my face and letting me see the cold fury burning behind his eyes. “She’s my girlfriend and you will respect her. I know respecting women doesn’t come naturally to—”

“Don’t even begin to go there,” I warned, my voice dangerously quiet. “The only thing I don’t respect that is relevant to this conversation is her right to lecture me about our family and our father. A right she doesn’t fucking have.”

His nostrils flared and he shoved me. “Someone has to worry about him, and it sure as shit isn’t you. That gives her the right, Kody. The fact that she cares more than you do about what’s going to happen to him and to Margaux when this comes out.”

“Then I’ll tell you what I told her. They’ll get over it. Or maybe they won’t. Either way, that’s not your problem or your precious Brooke’s. It’s mine. It’s Mercedes’s, and we will deal with it however we decide to.”

Kaden scoffed, his gaze clashing with mine as he shook his head. “You can’t be fucking serious right now. This could ruin their marriage, and all so you can get your rocks off with yet another woman? Are you honestly that spiteful?”

His words sliced like scalpels at my insides. “If that’s what you want to think, then fine. When you’re ready to talk about it, we’ll talk about it, but we’re not doing it here. Like this. In front of her when clearly, her hatred of me is making you say shit you don’t mean.”

Kaden grabbed my collar, bunching it tight as he hauled me closer to him. “This is your last warning. You will not speak about her like that.”

“I’ll speak about her however the fuck I want.” My hand shot up and my fingers wrapped around his wrist. “This is your last warning. In the last two minutes, you’ve threatened me, shoved me, and now you’re shaking me around by the shirt. This isn’t you, Kaden, but if you want to throw down like we’re children, then let’s do it.”

A small hand landed on my shoulder, and I jerked my head around to look who it was. I found myself staring into Brooke’s panicked eyes. “Stop it. Both of you.”

She applied gentle pressure to push Kaden and me apart, then stepped between us. “Calm the hell down. This isn’t going to solve anything. If you want me to leave so you can talk to each other like civilized human beings—”

The door opened again and Mercedes walked in carrying our coffees. She was smiling until she looked around the office and her smile instantly started fading. “Guys? What’s going on here?”