“Why the hell would I mind?”
“He’s got real work to do for Donovan Worldwide.This would be a distraction.”
Connor’s eyes, so similar to Cade’s, narrowed.“Don’t make me knock some sense into you in front of the family.”Connor’s voice held shards of ice.
“I’m still bigger than you,” Cade reminded him.
“But I’m more pissed.And you’ve fucking had it coming for a long time.Five years, at least.”
Cade took a swig of his beer, considering.Connor was right.Something raw and nasty gnawed in Cade’s gut.Guilt.Anger at the unfairness of it all.Part of him wanted Connor to take a swing.Maybe it’d give him some fucking release.
Nathan strolled over.
The tension between Cade and Connor continued to roil, just beneath a polished veneer.
“Private party?”Nathan asked.
“Brotherly love,” Connor returned.“Welcome to the brawl.”
“Damn.We haven’t had one of those in what, seven, eight years?”
Cade remembered the fucking miserable summer night in Corpus Christi.Middle of August.Eighty-something degrees, ninety percent humidity, making the air as suffocating as a wet blanket.Only two things had been moving, rattlesnakes and tempers.
“What are we fighting about?”Nathan sounded interested.
“Same thing as last time,” Connor replied.
“More or less,” Cade agreed.Back then, Cade had been in college, and Connor had recently graduated from high school.Though their father had insisted Cade receive a good education, it had been clear that Connor would inherit the majority of the family’s money and interests.Cade hadn’t objected.After all, he’d had no desire to move to Houston.He’d liked his life the way it was.All he’d needed was the rodeo, his ridiculously fast cars and motorcycles and a place to stow his gear.
None of them had known that it would be the last time they’d all be together with their father still alive.The four had spent the day on the land.Their father, Jeffrey, had told them the history of ranch, shared his memories, the dreams he’d had for it.And they’d all heard the regret in his tone.He’d loved the ranch, and that he wasn’t able to devote time to it had bothered him.
Connor had said that Cade would make it all happen.Cade, feeling like the outsider he was, hadn’t wanted something that rightfully belonged to his brother.He’d said he’d be moving along after he’d earned his degree.
Later that night, Connor had sought him out, called him a quitter and told him he had the same obligations as any other Donovan.
All his life, Cade had heard the whispers.He was a bastard, an imposter.
His frustration at being told to step up and behave like a member of the family had made him furious, and he’d thrown the first punch.
Connor had gone down, but he’d grabbed Cade’s ankle and yanked him off balance, slamming him to the ground.He might have been bigger than Connor, more accustomed to barroom and street brawls, but he had been dazed, and Connor had taken advantage of that.He’d still been pummeling Cade when Nathan had joined them and pulled Connor away and stayed between them until the tensions had eased.
“I’d prefer not to spill any of this mighty fine cabernet.But if necessary…” Nathan put down the glass on a nearby table.“Whose side am I on?Or am I just supposed to separate the two of you?”
“Your choice, big brother,” Connor said to Cade.“You can continue to be a jackass or you can lose the chip on your shoulder and realize no one objects to you owning section one.”He narrowed his gaze.“Or the house.If you want to burn the thing down or sell it, turn it into a bordello, that’s your right.You owe us nothing.”
“A bordello?”Nathan asked.“Now there’s an idea.”
“Whether you like it or not, we’re brothers,” Connor persisted.He didn’t even bother to direct his gaze toward Nathan.“If you have a personal business idea, we sure as hell should be the people you turn to first, for advice, feasibility studies, financing.It’s what family does.”
He got that Erin, Nathan and Connor did that for one another.But Cade spent the majority of his time alone.Always had.
“What’s it going to be, Cade?”He put down his champagne glass.“You going to take the help?Or are you going to continue to be an asshole with some fucked-up version of reality in your head?”
The laughter and revelry from the reception spilled around them, yet the tension continued to draw and stretch.Cade had no doubt Connor was serious.He’d fight for family, even if Cade didn’t think he deserved it.And Connor threw a wicked punch.He’d go for a quick one-two to the gut then the jaw.Cade was fast and big.Both had reserves of anger to draw from.But on principle, Cade wouldn’t hit as hard.He wasn’t sure he wanted to drive back to the ranch with a dislocated jaw.
In the end, it was Nathan, as always, who defused the situation.“My jacket is brand new.I’d hate for my biceps to tear it.”
“Your biceps?”Cade repeated, feeling some of the tension begin to ease from his gut, even though Connor still looked pissed.
