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“And no desire to learn. Still.” His father paced around the end of his desk, pausing before a bronze bust of Plato. “If this is where we’re planting our flag, then I suppose what I have to propose might be of value to you.”
“Go on,” Samuel said, his tongue tasting of metal and bile.
“I will make sure that our press agents communicate that we have nothing but positive feelings for Miss Banks and that she departs with our full support. If—” his father paused, clearly relishing his next words “—you are willing to release a public statement that you are not, nor ever were, romantically involved with her.”
“I won’t do that,” Samuel said without hesitation.
“You would deny Miss Banks the opportunity to have that kind of support after her recent difficulties?”
Leave it to his father to make an act of basic human decency seem like a generous gift.
“At the price of my having to lie about her place in my life?” Samuel challenged. “Absolutely.”
“And what place would that be, exactly?” his father asked.
“That’s up to Arlie,” Samuel said. “All I know is that I won’t agree to any arrangement where her exclusion is required.”
A look of shrewd amusement sharpened his father’s features.
“Tell me,” he said, dropping a hand on the back of his desk chair. “If I were to offer you the chance to step down as the CEO of Kane Foods in exchange for Kane Foods’ public media support of Miss Banks, would you accept?”
Weeks ago, the answer to this question might have required hours, maybe even days of thought. For years he had worked, pouring his time, his energy, his soul into his father’s empire. Only to realize that it had never been the title, or the salary, or even the industry prestige he wanted.
He had wanted the legacy.
His father’s legacy.
To be Parker Kane’s heir in the truest sense.
Seen. Acknowledged. Accepted.
Now, he allowed himself to grieve for the loss of that dream.
“I might. If,” Samuel said, mimicking his father’s pronunciation, “I’m allowed an additional condition.”
“Which is?”
Samuel took a step forward to stand directly opposite the man whose shadow had fallen across every aspect of his life. “I want you to look me in the eye and tell me why you resent me so much.”
The Kane patriarch’s gaze narrowed, his cheeks going gray, his lips a bloodless white.
A cheerful succession of raps echoed from the office door, which swung open before he granted permission to enter.
To Samuel’s complete and utter shock, Mason stepped in, a smile on his lips and a coffee cup in his hand.
“Sorry I’m late. That traffic.” Mason slurped from the black plastic lid and shook his head. “Catch me up.”
A hot filament of dread sizzled in Samuel’s gut. He hadn’t seen his brother since he’d revealed the details of his plan to Arlie. But he was almost certain that Mason knew by now exactly what he’d tried to do.
Was that why he had come? To gloat over Samuel’s rapid demise?
The tension on their father’s bearing eased as it so often did when Mason arrived on the scene. “Your presence wasn’t requested at this meeting, Mason. What we’re discussing doesn’t concern you.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.” Mason slid into the chair beside the one Samuel had vacated. “Seeing as my brother hired Arlie Banks as part of an effort to eject me from the coveted spot of CMO, it concerns me deeply.”
Shit.
Their father was silent for a moment, clearly attempting to decide if arguing with Mason was worth the battle.
It never was.
