Page 93

Aella’s heart thundered in her chest as she smiled, but a thought quickly extinguished her happiness. “You don’t think he would have gone as far as to put that contract out on me, do you?”

Scratching his face thoughtfully, Cassius shook his head. “Nah. He’s a bastard, but he doesn’t have a death wish. Your father would kill him without hesitation if he did something like that, and no one would blame him. That’s a separate issue we still have to get to the bottom of.”

“I’m just so ready for all of this to be over,” she sighed, snapping her laptop shut.

Grabbing one of her hands, Cassius gently brought it to his lips. “I know, Princess.

The upside is, all of this shit should die down soon.”

“I hope so.”

This time, it was Cassius who seemed unsure. “Are you sure you don’t want to run for the hills? I’d prefer for you to leave me now instead of at the altar. I can let you rejecting me slide now, but if you embarrass me, I’ma be pissed.”

Aella’s tinkling laughter filled the room. “Yeah, right. You’d find me in a heartbeat if I tried to leave.”

Cassius didn’t argue because she was right. Maybe they could have gone their separate ways in the beginning, but they were way too deep in the game for him to let go of her so easily. Cassius had no doubts that Aella was made specifically for him, and he’d rather face death than let her go.

Memories of their last encounter flooded Aella’s mind as she entered the Burlap Table, her eyes scanning the semi-packed room for Braxton. Though she meant it when she said that she was done trying to build a personal relationship with her, business was another thing. Her next launch meant the world to her, and if Aella had to make herself uncomfortable to bring her vision to fruition, she would suck it up and make it happen.

She just wished the designer had been anyone but Braxton.

Spotting her sitting in a corner to herself, Aella sucked in a deep breath and strolled over, hoping they could at least have a civil conversation.

“Brax,” she called, alerting her sister to her presence. “I appreciate you meeting me here.”

“What is it that you wanted to talk about?” Braxton wasted no time getting to the point as Aella slipped into the booth.

“My company is launching a new blend in a few months, and we’ve had trouble finding a reliable designer to bring a concept to life. My assistant compiled some names of highly sought-after graphic designers that he felt were confident enough to get the job done and narrowed the list down to you.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that you had nothing to do with this?” Braxton’s skeptical eyebrow raised.

“What you choose to believe or not to believe has nothing to do with me,” Aella shrugged. “At the end of the day, I need a big job done and have the money to pay someone to do so. If you don’t want the contract, say that, and I can move on.”

“So you’re here to ask me to do a rush job for the company Severo handed you on a silver platter?”

That stung, which Aella was sure was Braxton’s intention. She knew people assumed that she hadn’t earned her spot at Aged Creek Whiskey, but something about hearing it from her sister bothered her more.

“Not that I have to explain anything to you, but I worked my ass off for Daddy to even think about turning over his company to me. Yes, he treats us well, but he also makes us earn everything we desire. I’m not sure why I bothered coming to this meeting when I knew how it would end, but no one can ever say I didn’t try. Have a nice day, Brax. And thank you for your time.”

Aella stood, but Braxton caught her by the wrist before she could walk away.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It is what it is,” Aella slowly sank back into her seat. “I’m more than aware about how you feel about our family, so I’ll keep this brief,” she reached into her bag. “Here’s the proposal for you to look over and tell me no later, or you can just tell me no right now, and we can skip the drama.”

“I don’t remember turning you down.”

“Is there really an incentive for you to say yes?”

“That depends on how many zeros are in this offer,” Braxton cracked a smile that lightened the mood. “Look, Elle. I’m sorry about what happened a couple of weeks ago. I shouldn’t have come at you like that. You were just trying to do something nice, and you didn’t deserve it.”

“I didn’t,” Aella agreed. “But I understand your anger about our family dynamic, Brax. I just wish it wasn’t directed at me. Ilaria and I were just as caught off guard about this entire thing as you were, and it’s Dad’s mess. Not ours.”

“Yeah, tell that to Ria,” Braxton snorted.

“She’s the baby, so it’s in her nature to act a damn fool, but she’ll come around. Like it or not, we’re family, Braxton. I’m not trying to be beefing with my sister for the rest of my life over something that’s our parents’ fault.”

Braxton’s eyebrows knitted. “Hold up, parents as in plural? Like my mother had something to do with this fucked up situation?”