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Even if I never had anything to do with him, I wanted him to have a part of Grey Paws. And Ash. And maybe, he’d know that he was getting a part of me too. Something I rarely gave away.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Teague
“Issomething wrong with your new place?”
Lincoln leaned on the door frame of the guest room I’d claimed.
“Yeah. But I don’t want to get into it.” I pulled a shirt over my head. “Want to grab a beer?”
“Mind if we do it here? I . . . I’ve had enough of out there for one day.” He motioned toward the windows.
Right on cue, a car horn blared, followed by a second one. I was ready to escape the noise of the outside world too.
“Fine by me.”
I followed him to the living room. He plunked a few ice cubes in two tumblers and poured amber liquid over the top.
“Hope something stronger is okay.” He handed me a glass.
“Better than okay.”
We sat in silence for a minute, sipping our whiskey. Lincoln sank lower in the chair and spread his legs. I rarely saw him completely relax. He was on guard and put together at all times.
He loosened his tie and dropped his head to the back of the chair.
“What’s his deal?”
There was no need to elaborate on who I meant.
He sighed. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t want you and Beau to shield me anymore.” I’d thought of barely anything else all day. It wasn’t fair that I pursued what I wanted while they were stuck as our father’s puppets. The problem was, I didn’t know how to fix it.
He snapped his gaze toward me. “Are you coming to work for Hollingsworth Properties?”
I recoiled. “No. I—” I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“He’s not going to let this go.”
He’d allowed me to walk out of his office relatively easy, but my brother was right.
“If I . . .” I hesitated over the words I needed to get out. They were harder to speak than I thought. “Take him up, will that make things easier on you?”
My brother closed his eyes. “That’s not how it works and you know it.”
“How does it work?”
“He barks. You dance. He bitches.” Beau joined us and tossed her purse on the floor then grabbed Lincoln’s glass. She downed it in one swallow and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
She kicked off her shoes and brought the bottle of whiskey over. After she topped off both of our glasses, she collapsed on the sofa next to me.
“You forgot he kicks you in the nuts.” Blindly, he brought his glass up to his lips.
“How could I forget that?” Beau snatched my tumbler out of my hand. “Don’t even think about it, Teague. He makes it sound like doing what he wants is easiest, but it’s not.”
“Disobeying is pretty damn hard too.” I slouched and grabbed my glass back.
