AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My brother huffs out a sigh. “A damn romantic. How did I end up with a damn romantic for a brother?”
I run my hand through my hair. “Stop acting like our father. It suits you too well.”
“The James brothers sent us that bottle to gloat.” He points at it again and sneers, like the bottle walked in here itself.
“So what?” I honestly don’t understand why he’s losing his mind. From what I’ve gleaned from my sources, Theo is stable. Eventually, he’ll wake up and tell them our plans. It will all be fine.
“Jay.” Garreth levels me with one of his patented glares. “I get that Catherine James is your focus right now, and I sincerely hope things work out for the two of you. You deserve it. But don’t forget that we’ve been with you along the way.We’veinvested like you asked. We’ve given you the money you needed for your project.We bailed her out.”
Yeah, but our father and my actions are what put her in the position to begin with.
I sit up straighter, hating myself. “And for that, I’ll always be grateful. What can I do?”
Garreth sighs. “All our money is tied up in this deal. In the investment we made into Theo’s plan to open the damn distillery in Bristol. But if the James brothers don’t know about it—and it’s clear they don’t”—he points at the whiskey bottle on his desk—“then we need to go straight to Sintac ourselves.”
I shake my head. “We aren’t cutting Theo out of the deal. Sintac wouldn’t allow it, even if we tried.”
Garreth looks out the window and blows out a breath. “Jay, this isn’t a request.” He snatches up the piece of paper propped against the bottle and hands it to me.
Watch your back. There’s a new CEO in charge, and I know what you did to my sister.
There’s no signature, but there doesn’t need to be. Cash is taking over James Liquors, so I have to imagine it’s from him.
You think after thirteen years you can waltz in here and fuckinglickme? After what you did to us?Cat’s words taunt me. Us. It wasn’t just her that I screwed over. It was her brothers. My supposed best friend too.
And apparently, she told them what I did all those years ago. She told them aboutus.
There’s a part of me that feels a swell of pride at that. I meant enough to her that even after I disappeared, she shared her feelings with Cash. She was always closest with him.
But defeat seeps into my bones as I realize what else that means.
If she told them, then the wall I’m scaling is a hell of a lot higher than I imagined it would be. Because not only do I have to convince herthat I’m not the man she believes me to be, I also have to convince her brothers.
“What can I do?” I ask, slumping back in my seat.
13
NEVER BE THE SAME BY CAMILLA CABELLO
Cat
Sliding into Frank’s brand-new car, I can’t help but smile and squeeze his thigh. “The new whip is nice. You found her, right?”
My brother called last night. He went on and on about his weekend away and how he’d met the most incredible woman, only for her to slip through his fingers before he could get her number. He asked Frank to find her, and since I could use the distraction, I’m tagging along when he breaks the good news to Cash.
Frank darts a look my way, then merges into traffic. “Princess, you’re going to get us into trouble.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I probably will, but I deserve this fun.”
“You want to talk about what happened between you and Hanson?”
“Not really.”
“You’d rather just butt into your brother’s love life?” he teases.
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
He chuckles, but his face sobers quickly. “I’m not an idiot. I know you two were something all those years ago.”
