He starts for the door, but Sebastian grabs his arm and pulls him back. “Business comes first, Levi. You don’t leave until we’ve settled this.”
Levi glares at him. “Then kick me out of the business. Gentry’s my family, and I’m choosing to put her first because she needsme.” His expression turns pleading. “She could be in real danger here, Sebastian. I have to go.”
Sebastian glares at him like he can force Levi to his will with his mind. “Fine,” he finally says. “But don’t call here while you’re gone or worry about us. If you’re leaving, make it count. Get what you need to help Gentry and get back here ready to work.”
“Thank you,” Levi says.
He hugs me and then Cash before he walks back out the door with a short “Later.”
If I was hoping Sebastian would be softened by that conversation, I’m sorely disappointed.
“Have a seat,” Sebastian says. “We’re taking a vote.”
“Are you sure you need me for this?” I ask, already starting toward the door. I don’t know what the vote is about, but based on the yelling, it’s controversial, and I don’t want to get dragged into a family argument when I’m already at my limit with this Amelia and DogPerson being the same woman thing.
Sebastian glares at me. “Sit. Nobody else is leaving until we get this settled.”
Ryland pulls his head out of his hands, his expression a grimace. “There is no settling this, Sebastian. Not without some form of family counseling.”
“We don’t need a professional,” Sebastian says. “We just need to talk this out and run the numbers.”
“I’ve run the numbers six times,” Ryland says. “There’s no amount of talking that’s going to give you what you want.”
“What do you want?” Cash asks.
Sebastian drops into a chair like it’s a throne, towering over the table with a scowl that could wage battle with any great warlord from history. “I think we should put the business on hold and focus on Mom and Dad’s house until we get it exactly right. Giving them less than our one hundred percent is unfair to the people who raised us.”
“Okay,” Cash says as he sits at the table, all calm nonchalance. I take the seat next to him, wishing I could wave a wand and be anywhere but here. “We know your vote, Seb. What’s yours, Ry?”
“It’s not even a vote,” Ryland says. “It’s just facts. If we put the business on hold while we focus on Mom and Dad’s place, we’ll lose the momentum we’ve gained, we’ll lose clients to other builders, and none of us will get a paycheck for as long as it takes us to get their house built.”
“That could be nearly a year,” Cash says. “I’m looking at buying my own place. I need a paycheck.”
“We have savings for the company, so we won’t go bankrupt,” Ryland says. “But we don’t have enough to pay our salaries for more than a few weeks.”
“Think of everything Mom and Dad sacrificed for us,” Sebastian says. “We have a roof over our heads, and I have enough in savings to buy the necessities for a year or two.”
“A year or two.” Cash’s eyes are bugging out of his head. “Are you out of your mind? We can’t pause the business for two years.”
I look over at Ryland, calculating the quickest way out of this mess. I’m with Cash on not wanting to go without a paycheck, but Sebastian’s right too. Our parents have been amazing. Not only did they raise and support us, but they sacrificed to save and send us all to college. They gave us the seed money we needed to start our business. We wouldn’t be where we are without their support.
I also don’t think it’s smart to risk losing the business they helped us build.
“Is there a middle ground, Ry?” I ask. “A way we can carve out more time for Mom and Dad’s house, maybe take a pay cut, but still keep the business running well enough to get stable in this community?”
“Halfway is bullshit,” Sebastian says.
Unlike me, Ryland is unfazed by Seb’s bluster. “I’ve run those numbers too. In my opinion, the smartest way to do this would be to take a little longer on Mom and Dad’s house, and give ten percent of our time and resources every month to it.”
“Not acceptable,” Sebastian says. “Mom doesn’t need to be going up and down stairs so we can continue having everything we want all the time.”
I just manage not to roll my eyes. He is such a fucking stubborn ass.
“Is there a version that might be closer to a compromise?” Cash asks, picking up on what I’m doing. As much as Cash exudes nonchalance, he hates these family fights as much as I do. Possibly more.
“There’s honestly no great compromise,” Ryland says. “The clients have to come first or we’re going to lose them.”
“We’ll find new ones,” Sebastian says, a growl to his tone.
