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“Well? Do younotwant the job?”
Brett leaned a hip against the back bar, an odd look on his face. “I do, even though I want to say no… just because…”
“You’re the one who asked about it in the first place,” Avery said. “So you really can’t be mad at me for asking Pierce.”
“I simply asked who was replacing you. I never said I wanted the job.” Brett lifted off the counter and stalked toward the back. “Don’t you have a VIP dining room to prep?”
Avery smiled. “So I guess I’ll tell Pierce you don’t want the job.”
“Fine,” Brett snapped. “Tell him I don’t want it.”
Avery spun, sensing that had been a big, fat, smoldering pile of bullshit. He made it two steps toward the VIP dining room when Brett yelled, “Yes, I want you to train me, you asshole.”
Avery’s smile grew. He waved a salute to his best friend, glad to see the guy was showing just a brief glimmer of wanting some kind of future.
4
A few days later…
“If it isn’t our fearless leader.”
Wilder glanced up and caught sight of his younger brother in the doorway. His whole body tensed as if he prepared for a fight to come. That was his relationship with his remaining brother. Antagonistic, at best. Their interactions only made him miss Jamie all the more.
Returning his gaze to his desk, he replied. “Morning, Vaughn.”
Vaughn sauntered in, hands in pockets. His tailored jacket lay open at the waist, the silk of his vest shining in the light streaming in from the many windows of Wilder’s office. “MustI attend today’s board meeting? I mean, is itmandatory?”
“Father asked you to preside over his place on the board for a reason,” Wilder said, focusing on the reports on his desk.
“Which was solely a consolation prize after making you CEO.”
Wilder chuckled, lifting his gaze. “A consolation prize suggests you were in the race in the first place. Do you think you were, brother?”
Vaughn scowled at him briefly before lifting a paperweight from Wilder’s desk and tossing it into the air—feigning composure. He caught it in one palm before hefting it again. “I have the same blood running through my veins as you.”
Wilder sat back in his chair and eyed his brother. He had years, maturity, business savvy, and thousands of work hours over Vaughn, and they both knew it. Yet his younger sibling loved to suggest Wilder hadn’t earned his place at the company.
“There’s more to work here than nepotism and you know it.”
Vaughn placed the paperweight back before lifting his gaze nonchalantly. “Do I?”
Wilder recognized his brother was trying to goad him into an argument. Vaughn was good at pushing buttons. He was a master at figuring which were the best ones to press. Wilder need not rise to the occasion or give his brother any ammunition. He remained silent, refusing to add fuel to Vaughn’s fire.
Vaughn lifted a brow. “Ofallthe vice presidents who beganbeforeyou did and showed equal passion and desire for the company… those who worked just as hard, if not harder… andyouwere just better than all of them? DNA hadnothingto do with your sitting in that chair?”
Wilder clenched his jaw. “Itisa family company. Our father didn’t start it, his father’s father did before him. Trust me, if it wasn’t for some level of nepotism—you would likely be unemployed. We both would.”
Vaughn chuckled mirthlessly. “Oh, I’d find my way in the world. Trust me.”
Wilder chuckled. “I’m sure you would. You do have a way of getting people to do what you want.”
Vaughn bowed. “It’s a gift.” He walked over to the bank of windows and looked down on the Alpha Quadrant below.
In profile, Wilder could see a little of their older brother in Vaughn. The same patrician nose. The same curve of the cheek. The same chin—albeit all features were a little more dominant on Vaughn’s face. Both Jamie and Vaughn had the same shade of dark hair as their father, whereas Wilder was the only fair-haired of the three Jaymes children. Just like their papa.
“What is it you want?”
Vaughn turned to face him. “As I asked. Am I really needed at this meeting? I have better things to do with my time than sit around for hours listening to you drone on. I could simply read the notes tomorrow.”
