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“I need to tell you something.”
The serious expression on her face caused his gut to churn. She had just said they were on the same page. Or had she? “What’s wrong? Did you change your mind?” She didn’t speak for several long moments and his heart leaped into his throat.
“Maybe I can show you better than I can tell you.” She stood, went into the bedroom and came back with a box. Faith handed him an envelope.
Brandon saw Faith’s name on it and stared at her quizzically.
“Read it.”
“But it’s addressed to you.”
“I know.”
He withdrew the sheet of paper and read. It was a letter from her father saying he loved her and never stopped looking for her. His heart nearly stopped when he got to the bottom and saw the name and address. He didn’t know what he expected her to tell him, but this… Brandon sat stunned for a minute, and then picked up the letter again. The wording hadn’t changed. His uncle’s name, address and phone number had been written in the familiar handwriting he would recognize anywhere. “Are you telling me that you’re Uncle Thad’s daughter? The one who is supposed to take his position as VP?”
Faith nodded.
Brandon jumped to his feet and paced, trying to process this news. He stopped. “So you’ve known all this time.”
“No. I found out—”
He cut her off. “How long have you known? When she didn’t respond, he gritted out, “How long?”
She wrapped her arms around her middle and said quietly, “Almost two weeks.”
“And you didn’t think this was something you should tell me?” His anger was rising by the second.
“I tried to tell yesterday at lunch, but you had to leave. Then, I tried again last night, but we got a little sidetracked.”
He snorted. “You should have tried harder.” Now he knew why she had declined meeting his siblings so quickly yesterday.
She glared up at him. “Obviously, you need to have your memory checked. You didn’t give me time to say anything.”
Brandon had to concede her that point. Last night, making love to her had been the only thing on his mind. But now he wished he had taken the time.
“And when I woke up this morning, you were gone. Besides, I knew how you would react,” Faith added with a roll of her eyes.
Just like she hadn’t given him a pass, he wasn’t giving her one, either, with these excuses. “If you had told me before now, I wouldn’t be reacting this way,” he bit off tersely.
“Seriously, Brandon?” she asked incredulously. “Do you remember what you said the first time you told me about this guy coming in off the street and not knowing anything about your company? And then last week on the phone I asked you whether you’d changed your mind. Do you remember what you said?” Faith hopped up off the sofa and got in his face. “In case you’ve forgotten, let me refresh your memory.”
“I don’t need you to refresh my memory. My memory is just fine.”
“Hmph. Well, that’s something. And since you have this great recollection of what went down, then you should understand why it was hard for me to tell you. You had already decided that you hated a person you’d never met who you thought was going to take something from you.” Her eyes flashed and her chest heaved with anger. “Here’s a newsflash. I don’t want to take anything from you. My father asked me to assume his role, not yours!”
Brandon leaned down close to her face. “It doesn’t matter. It’s still mine.” He was done. She just didn’t get it. And he couldn’t be with a woman who was hell-bent on stealing his inheritance. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
“I absolutely agree. I refuse to be with a man who is stubborn, pigheaded and doesn’t listen.” Faith marched over to the door and snatched it open. “Get out.”
Brandon stormed past her without a backward glance. She slammed the door behind him. Somewhere deep inside, his heart said he should stay, but his anger overrode all and he ignored it.
He got in his car and sped out of the lot. He engaged the Bluetooth and called Khalil.
