“I—”
“This is none of your concern,” Brendan barked at Eve. She jumped. Nicholas could see the instant she emotionally withdrew, her face becoming placid and pale. He’d seen that look on his own face in the mirror.
Christ, this fucking dysfunctional family. “Don’t speak to her that way,” he said, and made sure his voice carried the threat of what would happen if Brendan did.
He and his father had settled into an uneasy balance of power. Brendan needed him—for his brain, his reputation for fair dealing, his ability to get along with people in a way Brendan could not. Nicholas was aware his father resented that need.It meant Nicholas could flex his muscles now in ways he hadn’t been able to when he was a kid.
Nicholas still didn’t have ownership interest in the company, though. There was only so far he could push, but he’d push to that point.
Brendan drew back. “Leave me and Nicholas alone. We need to talk.”
Eve faltered, but Nicholas gave her a single nod to signal his approval. It was better for Eve to not be in the room if things got ugly. There were things she didn’t need to see.
Her footsteps were barely audible, the open and shut of the door a whisper. Nicholas didn’t have to wait long.
Brendan picked up his water glass and flung it against the wall. Nicholas didn’t flinch at the crash of glass against wood paneling. Someone might have heard it, but he’d clean it up before anyone saw anything more than a damp spot.
Brendan’s shoulders heaved and he started to pace the floor. “Goddamn it. One member of that family leaves, and another one crops up.”
Feel nothing.Still, his hand curled into a fist by his side. “Paul died, he didn’t leave,” Nicholas pointed out.
Brendan shrugged. He fuckingshruggedat the reminder of the death of a young man who had half-lived in his home since he was a baby, who had been his son’s best friend.
Nicholas’s other hand curled. He wasn’t sure if his father had always been an asshole, or if his wife’s death and the ensuing speculation had eradicated the portion of him that had given a fuck, but he assumed the former.
Nicholas didn’t take his gaze off his father, because you kept your eyes on snakes.
“Did you know?”
A chill ran down Nicholas’s spine. “I’m too busy running this company to swing by the water cooler.” Nicholas wished he could ask his dad if he was aware Tani had broken her hip. Like Nicholas’s generation, Brendan and Tani had grown up together, side by side on neighboring plots of land. They’d seemed like friends.
Until Brendan had invited a grief-stricken, widowed Tani Oka-Kane over to their house after the accident. When she’d left, she walked away from her half of the company, compensated with a dollar amount even the most conservative economist would have said was too low. Bought or stolen, that was the question the world had split on. Nicholas had his own opinion, but he couldn’t bear to think about it too much. The bad taste would never wash out of his mouth.
Brendan’s lip curled. “Is she back for good?”
“I told you. I didn’t know she was back.”
“I want her gone.”
“That will be difficult, sir.”
“How hard would it be to get her fired?”
Nicholas wanted to laugh, even though it wasn’t funny. Get her fired? It probably wasn’t by design, but Livvy’d picked an employer no Chandler would be able to sway. He had lost touch with Gabe over the years, but the Kanes’ former housekeeper’s sonwasn’t going to be in any hurry to take his side. “This isn’t a soap opera. Contrary to what you believe, we do not own this town. She has every right to be here, and us interfering in that is only going to cause more talk.”
That stymied his dad, as Nicholas knew it would.
Brendan stopped pacing. “I don’t want any drama.”
“I know.” Drama was Brendan’s mortal enemy.
“You’re not to see her.”
Nicholas swiftly suppressed the flare of rage. “I hadn’t planned on it,” he lied. “But I’m not a child anymore. I can make my own decisions.”
“Not if those decisions would adversely affect this company.” Brendan paused. “Or this family.”
Nicholas’s lip curled. Yeah, he knew why Brendan didn’t want him to see Livvy and it had nothing to do with the company or family, and everything to do with him.
