“Thanks,” I snap.“You almost let that out of the bag at dinner.I don’t want Dad to know about Maya.”
“Daddy’s proud of you,” Jett retorts.“That’s why we had the pleasure of another Knight fucking family dinner.”
I startle at his vicious tone.I knew they’d be worried.They think I’m making an emotional decision.
“Business is about thinking with your brain, not your dick,” Jett says, standing near the door, arms crossed like he’s fighting to keep himself together.Sometimes, I swear he’s becoming more like Dad than he knows.Though Cari seems to soften his sharp edges.
“Why are you so angry?This is nothing to do with you?”I snap.
“He didn’t sleep well.”Dex winks, causing me to groan, then, as if reading my mind, shakes his head.“Brooke wants a sibling, and our big brother here can’t wrap his head around it.”
“Cari’s pregnant?”I ask in awe.These two moved fast.
“No, and she’d like to keep it that way,” Jett mutters, wiping a hand over his chin.
“Little Brooke’s persistent,” Dex explains.“Her best friend, Tobias Stone’s daughter, is surrounded by siblings, albeit boys, so our boy Jett here needs to procreate fast.”He chuckles.
“Christ” Jett growls.“Stop with the bullshit.
Dex and I exchange glances.Jett’s so soft and caring around Cari and Brooke, but he can be an absolute beast around us, sometimes.I’ve noticed he’s softened, a tiny little bit ever since he and Cari got together, but I’ve not seen him this wound up for a while.I throw a questioning what-the-hell look at Dex, who shrugs again.
Whatever is eating my big brother tonight, he seems to think I’m the perfect punching bag.
“You bought a majority stake just to get close to the housekeeper’s daughter?”Jett snaps.
I hate the way he refers to her.“Her name is Maya.”Why’s he being such an asshole?I’m so sick and tired of my older brothers shitting on me and treating me like I’m a child.That’s why I only told Dad about my Stella move.I wasn’t ready for this kind of grilling, and if Jett’s going to be this worked up every time Brooke harasses him about wanting a sibling, I don’t want to suffer his wrath.
I loosen my collar and my tie.“Buy Brooke a pet, if you must,” I suggest, feeling exasperated.
Dex and I exchange looks again.
“Don’t you go giving her ideas.”Jett is too young to be going through a midlife crisis.Surely this can’t be a midlife crisis brought on by a five-year-old who’s demanding a sibling?
“You did it because you want some pussy,” Dex counters.
“Will you shut the fuck up and stop using that word?”My jaw tightens.Fury flows through my veins.Who the hell are these people?
“Did you or didn’t you?”Dex asks.Jett stays standing by the door, one hand in the pocket of his trousers, the other on the door handle, like he can’t wait to leave.Dex, though, has made himself at home.He’s sitting on my sofa like he’s staying the night.I grit my teeth, wanting this interrogation over with.
“It’s not like that.”
“Then what is it like?I’ve never seen you move so fast.I take it she’s not a trust fund babe?”
“She can’t be, if she’s working,” Jett says.
I snap my head in his direction.“You’ll be surprised to know that trust fund babes, as you like to call them, do in fact choose to work sometimes.”
I see it so clearly.Their perceived problem.They think what I did was reckless.Emotional and weak, but I refuse to give them the truth, because they’d never respect it.
I know I can help turn things around in Stella, and in doing so, if I can help Maya, too, that would be awesome.
“He’s made up his mind,” Jett says to Dex.
“I’m not a child.You guys don’t need to keep treating me like I’m the youngest.”
“Oh, talking about that.”Dex points a finger at me.“You’re turning thirty soon.Growing up, brother.How about we do something special to celebrate?”
Celebrate?With these two?I don’t think so.“I’ll have a think,” I tell them, just to get them off my back.
