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Sawyer
I hear a knock at my front door a moment before it opens Thursday morning.
Ashlyn isn’t coming in until this afternoon, so I assume it’s one of my siblings.
Whose idea was it for us all to have keys to each other’s houses?
“Hello?” Max bellows.
Yup.My oldest brother.
“In the kitchen.” I sip my coffee and look over the contract Ashlyn left for me yesterday.
Max walks in, ready to take on the world in his bespoke Italian suit and shades. He pours himself a cup of coffee before leisurely looking around the room and taking a seat across from me. “What are you working on?” He nods toward my laptop.
“Ashlyn agreed to help Hudson and me with the real-estate business.” I close the laptop and push it away. “What’s going on, brother? A little late to be heading into the office.”
Max shrugs. “I’m not on my wayintothe office. I’ve already been there, and now I’m here.”
“Maximus.” It’s too early for this shit. “Why are you talking like Yoda?”
“What?” he asks me, having no clue what the fuck I’m talking about. Max was never a movie guy.
“In riddles.” I run my hand over my mouth. “Why are you speaking in riddles?”
“I’m not.” The vein in his forehead bulges, and I hold back a laugh. It’s always been easy to know when my oldest brother was getting frustrated. That damn vein is always his tell-tale sign. “I came here to see you, asshole.”
“Why?” I glance at the clock on the coffee machine, knowing this isn’t his norm. “It’s ten-thirty on a Thursday. Should I be worried? Is somebody in jail? Dying?”
Max stirs his coffee like he’s got all the time in the world and isn’t answering a question with a question. “How are things at Kingdom?”
“What the fuck, Maxipad? Kingdom’s good. I’m good. We’re all good. Now spit it the hell out, man. What’s going on?” I’m over this confusing conversation and might need a second cup of coffee if it keeps going this way.
“Do you remember what you said to me when I bought the Revolution?”
“Jesus, brother. That was—how many years ago? No, I don’t remember what I said to you, but I have a gut feeling you’re about to remind me.” He’s got my attention now, even if he’s pissing me off in the process.
“I asked you if you were ready to join King Corp. yet. If you wanted to take your place in the family business and come on board to help with the mergers and acquisitions team. You’re twenty-eight years old, and you’ve built four successful businesses. Five, if you count this real-estate thing you’re doing with Hudson. But let’s be real.” Max unbuttons his jacket and pushes his sleeves up his forearms. “We both know you’re the one running this business. That’s not Hud’s thing. But it is yours.”
I don’t say anything, so he continues, “Come on, man. You’ve been running Kingdom for years now. Aren’t you ready for the next thing?” My oldest brother isn’t trying to be an ass. It’s just his natural state. And in all fairness, I’ve always been the guy who gets bored easily.
But Kingdom’s different. She’s my baby.
Do I find myself getting a little restless?
Yes.
Am I ready to move on?
The thought has crossed my mind, but I’m not sure that’s what I want to do. My brother and my father before him both tried to get me to join the family business through the years. I’ve never been interested and always shot them down immediately. I’m not sure what’s different this time. But my interest is piqued—not that I plan on telling him that. “You trying to fill a position?”
“Brent Davenport told me he wants to retire this morning.”
Well, damn. That’s not what I was expecting. “I had no idea Wren’s dad was thinking about retiring.” He’s been with the business as long as I can remember, always working side by side with Dad.
