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While Cam Raven, my father, may have been a terrible family man, I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed the fruits of his efforts, or that I didn’t get off on the challenge of business. I liked my life, and so, I could forgive him for being the worst father a boy could have.
But now he was standing in front of us saying that all he’d done to achieve a multi-billion-dollar empire was a mistake. That made no sense. Especially since he instilled in us from a young age that the business was the most important member of the family. He lived and breathed this business and raised us to live and breathe it too. So what the fuck was up with him?
I scanned the faces of my three younger brothers. Their surprised and suspicious expressions echo my own feelings. What’s the old man up to?
Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but my father cut him off.
“I know what you boys are thinking. It’s weak to admit to making a mistake, but when it comes to you boys, I have.” My father stood calmly at the head of the large boardroom table. I stared at him from the other end. His once dark hair was now silver. I had his sharp steel eyes, but today, his were determined instead of piercing.
“Losing your mother has changed me. Put things in perspective. I’d be a terrible father if I didn’t stop you from making the same mistakes I made,” he said.
“You are a terrible father,” Kade scoffed. While he was often rude and sarcastic, his comment was on the mark.
“I was young when I married your mother. I didn’t have the same aversion to women as you four boys seem to have—”
“I have no aversion to women. I have an aversion to marriage,” Kade said.
“Aversion to commitment then,” my father amended.
My brother Ash scowled at my father and I could only guess that it was related to the fact that he’d once been in love but had given her up, presumably because the company came first.
“My point is, we were young when we married and started having you boys. I thought we had all the time in the world to be together, so I focused on work, building a secure future for all of us.” He sat back and took a deep breath. “I got that, but now the woman I built all that for is gone.”
“You and mom haven’t had a relationship since long before she died,” I quipped. I wasn’t going to let him rewrite history. Sure, they lived in the same house and put on a good front in public, but there was no marriage at home behind closed doors. He hired people to care for her during her illness and didn’t make it home from a business trip in time to say goodbye when she finally passed.
“True. I regret that.”
“Bullshit,” Kade said under his breath.
“Now I realize that life is short. I built this business, and you boys have taken it beyond even my wildest dreams. I’m very proud of you for that. You don’t need me around anymore.”
My ears perked up at that last comment. As the oldest son, I was in line to succeed him as the company’s CEO.
“But therein lies the problem.” My father’s gaze moved from me, to Kade, to Ash, and then Hunter. “I did such a great job instilling in you that business is first, that you’ve lost sight of what’s important, just like I did. Only it’s worse for you boys. I only had me when I was growing the business, but there are four of you. I raised you to be your best, and compete for the top, even if that meant stepping on family. Your success right now, is only because I’m here and keeping your bitter rivalries from tearing this company apart.”
“That’s not true,” I said, as an unsettling feeling built in my stomach. What was he planning?
“It is true.” His piercing gray eyes pinned me down. “You know it is, Chase.”
I held his gaze, not letting him intimidate me, or make me feel bad for doing what I had to do ensure control of the company even if it meant undercutting my brothers.
“All of you are clamoring for your piece of the pie, trying to outdo and undercut each other.”
“We’re only doing what you raised us to do,” Kade said, with the same sense of annoyance I was feeling.
“I know, and that was wrong. I should have taught you to work together instead of fighting to reach the top. I’d hoped that by having you compete, you’d work harder, be smarter and more innovative, which you have been. But it also has driven a wedge between you. Your mother always hated that.”
“What’s going on here, dad?” Hunter asked, also with irritation.
