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There was no denying the beauty of the home flushed with luxury and every creature comfort to be desired.
Cole and Gabe shared a last look before the elevator slowed to a stop.
Their father stood near the rear glass wall that ran the entire exterior of the home. He glanced over his broad shoulder to eye them before he turned. “Come in, boys,” he said, his deep voice booming without even trying.
As they neared him, Cole saw his father’s eyes dip to the file Gabe held. He didn’t miss the way Phillip Senior rolled his shoulders back as if to steel himself.
“Are you staying for dinner?” Phillip Senior asked. “Chef is preparing Peking duck. I haven’t had it in years.”
“Listen, Dad, this is not an easy conversation to have, but it has to happen...” Gabe began, sitting in one of the leather armchairs and waving an invite to their father to take one of the seats across from him.
“Getting right to it?” Phillips Senior said with a chuckle. “I assume the file is the reason the two of you requested this private meeting that we couldn’t have at the offices.”
Cole eyed him, searching for the love and respect he’d once held for him years ago. “Did you have people in the family followed by a damned private investigator?” he asked with a hard stare.
“Cole!” Gabe snapped.
He had just blown their carefully crafted plan out of the water.
Phillip Senior did take the seat before looking over at Cole, who was still standing. “I should have known withyourinvolvement, niceties would be amiss,” he said.
“The question still stands,” Cole said, summoning the same strength he wished he’d had that day when he had just run from the restaurant and walked home.
“When will the hate fade, son?” Phillip Senior asked.
Cole’s emotions tightened his throat. “I wish I hated you, then I wouldn’t be so damn disappointed.”
Gabe remained silent as if sensing a long-overdue moment between his brother and his father.
Some emotion he couldn’t identify crossed Phillip Senior’s broad face. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “I never hired a private investigator in my life,” he said.
Cole turned from him, trusting nothing he said to be the truth.
“Well, we did,” Gabe said.
Cole glanced back just as his brother leaned forward to sit the file on the table between them. “We felt you were deserving because you pried into our lives—”
“I did not!” Phillip Senior shouted.
“Regardless, we have discovered something that you need to know.”
Cole turned to face them as Gabe removed his hand from the file and sat back.
“You have a son, Lincoln—”
“Lies!” Phillip Senior roared, jumping to his feet and swatting the file away with the back of his hand. “How dare you accuse me of such a lie! Is that what you think of me, Gabe? I knowhehates the very air I breathe but do you believe that ofme?”
Cole released a bitter chuckle. “Ask me, do I believe it after walking in on you screwing a waitress while our mother was downstairs in the restaurant,” he said, his words dripping with contempt and his eyes stinging with the heat of his anger.
“What?” Gabe stormed in shock.
Phillip Senior pushed his chair onto its side before taking two large steps across the floor to lunge at Cole. He grabbed the front of his shirt in his fists. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” he yelled in his face, spittle flying.
Cole released another bitter laugh before his eyes went cold. “Liar,” he said in a quiet voice that was damning.
Gabe squeezed between them and pushed to put distance between them. “Enough,” he said.
“More than enough.”
