I narrow my eyes at him.
“Doing what, exactly?” I challenge him, crossing my arms over my chest. He holds his arms out, smug confidence oozingout of him. And somehow, it makes me want to deck him…and also turns me on at the same time.
Fucker.
“You know, covering this story. Coveringus.Hoping to see some of the interworkings of the Everetts?” he asks, his eyes narrowing back on me. There is a heat behind them that is totally making me sweat, but I refuse to let him see it.
“Brooks, would you shut the?—”
“Yes, Brooks. That’s exactly what I did. I sought out the girl who disclosed to me how your father essentially pimped her out to his colleagues in exchange for business deals. And then the next one. And the forty women after that. All because I was hoping to get the inside scoop on your fucked-up family.”
Julian’s mouth slams shut, and I can feel his and Keaton’s eyes widen at me then move to their little brother. He sits stunned at the other end, his lips partly opened.
“Any other dumbass questions?” I ask him, my eyebrows raised. “Or shall we actually figure out what the fuck to do here?”
The room is dead silent for a moment, and then I hear Julian clear his throat.
“Well, little brother,” he says, “I was going to tell you to shut the fuck up, but it seems our friend here has stunned you into silence.”
“And it’s fucking glorious,” Keaton adds with a chuckle.
My eyes are still trained on Brooks’s from across the table. He purses his lips together, then one corner of them pulls up into this devilish smile that I really wish wasn’t so goddamn delicious.
“She sure did,” he says, leaning back in his seat once more and folding his hands on his lap.
“Wren, we apologize on behalf of our idiot brother,” Keaton says, “but like Julian said, thank you so much for being here. We just wanted to rehash our conversation from the other week.”
“Yes,” Julian says. “I know that you offered to be the bait, so to speak, but we…we have some concerns.”
I nod.
“I appreciate that. I definitely have my own,” I say honestly, “but I’m not sure how else we can make this work without sacrificing some other unsuspecting woman who has no idea what she’s walking into.”
Julian nods.
“I agree,” he says. “I’ve been mulling it over all week, and I can’t figure it out either. We have to catch them in this. My father is too powerful for a he-said-she-said kind of fight. We have to have proof. We have to have help.”
I nod.
“And unfortunately, we have to move quickly. They are planning to open that new assistant position,” Keaton adds. “You need to apply if you’re going to apply.”
There’s a snicker from the other end of the table, and we all twist our heads to give him very similar glares.
“I’m sorry,” Brooks says, “but what do you think is gonna happen here? She’s just gonna show up and automatically get picked? And then what? Dad’s just gonna bare his soul to her? Tell her everything that’s been going on?”
We all wait a beat for Brooks to catch up. The smirk slowly disappears from his face when he realizes the extent of the plan.
If all goes right, I apply for the job. I get the job. And then I let it run its course until we get the evidence we need. And judging by the look on Brooks’s face, he just realized what that means.
“Wait…what?” he asks. “You’re joking, right?” He looks from me, to his brothers, then back. “If everything that these women have said is true…”
“It’s notif,” Julian growls. “It happened, Brooks.”
“If you bothered to show up before now, you would have heard the firsthand account that we heard last week. You should have fucking been here,” Keaton says.
I see a shift in Brooks’s eyes as he nestles back into his chair. His eyes jump back and forth, like he’s trying to keep up with the racing thoughts in his head. And for a moment, I feel a little sorry for him. Julian softens a bit and leans over the table slightly.
“Brooks, I know this sucks. I know this changes everything as we know it. And I know for you especially, with Dad…I know this is a lot. But it’s real. It happened, and it’s happening. And we are the only ones who can stop it.”
