I drag air into my lungs and look up.
"Thank you," I manage to Elena as she passes. She nods once, professional to the end.
When the door clicks shut behind Marcus, leaving the three of us, I look at my brother. “Why?” The word scrapes across a million questions. "After the lies, the bet, putting the company at risk, why would you vote for me to stay?"
My brother pushes back from the table and moves to the sideboard where we keep our rarest bourbon. He picks up a bottle of our single-barrel and stares at the rich amber liquid, turning it so the light makes it glow. Then he sets it back down.
"You want the honest answer?"
"Please."
He turns. "Because of what you just said out there." He gestures toward the boardroom. "The old Thorne would have deflected, made excuses, or tried to charm his way through that question. But you didn't. You admitted the pattern. You owned the Williams mistake. And you pointed to actual evidence that you're trying to change."
Lillianna nods. "The environmental response with the FBI. We really did handle that as a team."
“And she told me,” he points to Lillianna, “what Dad did. Why I'm head of Blackstone and not you. That matters too. I'd hated so much about our father, but I thought he at least had good business sense, that he could see past all his faults and do what was best for our family's legacy. Turns out all he ever cared about was himself."
"True, but we are where we're supposed to be. It took me too long to see, and I made you pay while I was blind to it. I'm sorry."
Sebastian's throat works. He crosses the room and extends his hand.
I stare at it for a heartbeat before standing and gripping it. His grip is strong. Certain. Like he's pulling me back from the edge.
"You weren't the only one who was blind," he says. "I spent years resenting you for things that weren't your fault. We both lost each other to his manipulations."
"I don't deserve this." I sink back into my chair, and Sebastian does the same.
"You do." Lillianna counters, and there's a sheen across her eyes that she'll deny if I mention it.
Sebastian leans forward, elbows on the table. "Can I ask you something?"
He’s lost the CEO formality, and the change makes me tense. This isn't brother-to-brother casual. This is something he's been holding back.
But I nod. “Go ahead.”
"You knew what Dad did, why he'd made me master distiller and head of Blackstone. Why didn't you tell me?"
I could deflect. Make a joke. But I'm done with that.
"Because the truth made me the victim." The admission sits heavy on my tongue. "And I'd rather be the villain than admit our father broke me. That he saw my one weakness and used it to cut me off at the knees." I meet his gaze. "Being angry was easier than being pitiful."
Sebastian doesn't look away. "You're not pitiful, Thorne. You never were."
"Felt like it at seventeen." I exhale slowly.
Lillianna's pen taps against her notepad once, twice. “Oh my God, will you two stop. You’re going to make me cry. I’m not wearing waterproof mascara.”
I snort. “I’m sure Bastian has some you can use.”
He chuckles. “I was eight the last time I let her use me as her makeup model.”
“It’s too bad you have fabulous lashes and cheekbones.” She leans forward, patting his short beard. “But this would get in the way.”
“Sorry, I’m keeping it. Rosalia loves it.”
“Fine,” she huffs, then she points at me. "Since you're still working here, Thorne-in-my-side, let's update you on what Ivy's done with the EPA mess."
Her name hits me like a shot of bourbon, burning and spreading through my ribs, settling low in my gut. I can smell her shampoo, that coconut scent that clung to my pillows. Feel the ghost of her fingers tracing my jaw at 2 a.m. when she thought I was sleeping.
