At exactly one p.m., we strode into the conference room together, but I slammed to an abrupt halt when I saw my brother. Alex had sounded bad this morning, but he looked worse in person. His tie was slightly crooked, his eyes red-rimmed like he hadn’t slept properly in days.
He still carried himself the same way, straight-backed and confident, but the polish was dimming around the edges. Will noticed it too. I could tell by the way he went still beside me when he walked in just seconds behind us.
Kate took a seat across the table and Colin sat next to her, both of them watching Alex with the same quiet focus. As if only realizing now that we were all present, he seemed to snap back to reality and went to close the door. He talked even as he strode back across the room.
“I’ll keep this brief.” He pulled out his chair and sat, immediately folding his hands on the tabletop like he needed to anchor himself. “I’m going to be taking a step back for about a month.”
My heart gave one hard, shocked thump and my extremities went cold. We’d talked about this, of course, at the hospital the other night in New York, but I wasn’t sure he’d actually do it.
“I’ll still be around,” he said. “If you need me, I’m available and I can be actively involved when I need to be, but Jane is my first and absolute priority right now.”
No one argued. No one even shifted because what the hell were we supposed to say to that? I did feel a burst of pride shootthrough me, though. He was actually taking my advice and doing it. That was great.
For him, anyway. Not so great for me.
Especially not when he turned toward Colin and me. “In the meantime, the two of you will be stepping up.”
My stomach tightened.
“Nate, you’ll handle anything that would normally come through me,” he said. “Major decisions. Oversight. Coordination. Colin, the same goes for you. Just over at Thayer Steelworks. Jane and I both trust you to keep things moving.”
I nodded automatically, even as something heavy settled into my chest. Across the table, Colin gave a short, professional nod of his own.
“Of course,” he said. “Anything you need. For as long as you need. We’ll figure out the details as we go along.”
Alex leaned back slightly, like just hearing the words had taken something out of him, but he also seemed relieved. “Thanks. We don’t expect this to last for the duration of the pregnancy, but it’s necessary for now.”
Necessary.
I understood that, but understanding didn’t mean I liked it or that I felt ready for it. I would just never tell him that right now.
Still turning over the weight of it in my mind, the responsibility, I almost missed it when Alex turned toward Kate. “I know you’re not officially part of the family just yet, but you’ll be covering some of Nate’s duties as CFO while he’s acting as the interim CEO.”
Kate blinked, slow enough and hard enough that I could tell how surprised she was even though no one else had probably picked up on it. Finally, after a few quiet seconds, she nodded.
“Of course,” she said curtly. “I agree with Colin. Anything you and Jane need right now, we’re here for you.”
“Thank you,” Alex replied simply, definitely relieved now as he turned to Will. “Obviously, you’ll be continuing in your role as COO, but I’m also going to need you to have Nate and Kate’s backs. That means taking on some additional duties yourself.”
Will nodded swiftly, a sparkle in his eyes as he winked at me. “Don’t worry about Natey and Katey, big bro. I’ve got ‘em.”
I scoffed, opening my mouth to argue, but pretty much immediately closing it again. There wasn’t really an argument to make. If I was stepping up, someone had to absorb what I couldn’t carry, and if there was anyone I trusted to do that, it was Kate and Will.
This was a lot. For all of us, but we’d manage because we had to. Besides, one look at Alex was enough to know that he desperately just needed us to get our asses in gear and do it.
“That’s all for now. Keep me updated. Kate, Nate, could you two hang back for a minute please?”
Effectively dismissed, Colin and Will left, leaving the two of us alone with Alex, who didn’t speak until the door shut behind Colin. Then he exhaled, long and slow, like he’d been holding it the entire meeting.
“The Hinds acquisition is moving fast,” he said. “The paperwork is ready and we could be signing at the end of the week.”
The end of the week? Fuck. That’s fast. Too fast.
My first instinct was to glance over at Kate, but she obviously hadn’t known we were this close either. She looked just as thrown as I felt.
Alex looked between us, and the hard resignation creeping across his features made my insides tighten. “I’ve already spoken to Pete. We agreed to gather in New York to make it official, but Hinds expects more than just an engagement by the time the pens hit the paper.”
I saw Kate shift slightly in her chair and my heart started hammering again, my eyes sliding shut. I bent my head, folding my hands together in my lap as I pulled in a deep breath. I already knew exactly what he meant, but he went ahead and said it anyway.
