“Confidence,” I said like it was a complete explanation all of its own. “Aggression. A sense of moral superiority that hasn’tbeen tempered by consequences yet. It’s practically in the job description.”
He scoffed. “That’s not funny.”
“Good, I wasn’t joking,” I said. “If you play your cards right while you’re at Yale, which I’ll be paying for in full, maybemy wifewill ensure that you’ve got a seat on her board with a bonus to match.”
He stared at me, genuinely confused now. “Are you trying to bribe me? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t punish children for mistakes they haven’t learned not to make yet, Wyatt. That’s what I’m talking about.”
“I’m not a child.”
“No, but you’re acting like one.”
He bristled, scoffing down a dry laugh as disdain glinted in his eyes. “You don’t get to talk to me like that.”
“Perhaps not, but someone clearly has to and it looks like I’m the only one around who’ll do it.” I shrugged. “It’s an ‘if the shoe fits’situation.”
He rolled his eyes at me so hard, I was sure it had to have hurt, but he didn’t flinch. “That’s real rich coming from you.”
I smiled again. “And yet, here we are.”
His gaze flicked toward the hallway, then back to me, but before he could say anything, footsteps sounded behind me.
“Alex?” Jane asked, sounding a little hesitant. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were already here.”
I turned to see her standing at the entrance to the hallway, an emerald gown hugging her curves like it had been designed with reverence specifically for her, her hair swept back as she struggled with an earring clasp.
She was distracted, luminous, and unaware. It took me all of two seconds to put it together that she hadn’t noticed Wyatt yet. “Who let you in?” she asked.
“Hey, Killer.” I reached out and took her hand. “Don’t forget your ring, dear.”
She frowned. “I already have it on.”
My gaze dropped to our joined hands and I noticed it then, the gold band catching the light as she withdrew her fingers from mine and reached up to smooth her hair. Relief smacked into me when I saw it there, where it belonged and not hidden on a chain, tucked away for someone else’s comfort.
When I glanced back at her little brother, I realized he’d noticed it too. He’d gone as pale as if the blood had drained straight out of him. His mouth opened, then shut again, his eyes darting from her hand to my face and back like he was trying to reconcile two versions of the same story and failing.
“Jane,” he said hoarsely. “You’re?—”
She looked up at him, confused, then followed his stare down to her hand.
“Oh,” she said softly. “Right.”
Something in her shifted and she took a step toward him instinctively, like this was just what her body had been trained to do. Using the grip I still had on one of her hands, I tugged her gently but firmly toward the door.
“Explain it to him later,” I said under my breath. “Let him chew on this a bit.”
Slowly, she looked up at me, then past me, back at him. “I thought you were out, Wyatt.”
He swallowed hard. “Yeah. I was just…”
Jane’s fingers tightened around mine as she put the pieces together. Her gaze flicked between us. “What’s going on?”
I didn’t let go of her hand, sliding my fingers between hers in a firmer grip. “Nothing that can’t be finished later. We’re going to be late.”
She searched my face, then Wyatt’s, then sighed. “We’ll talk.”
Wyatt nodded, subdued now. “Yeah, we better.”
