Page 56 of Filthy Rich Ex's Brothers

“Do you think they’re actually going to be able to help?” Ryan asks, jerking his head in the direction of the antechamber to my office, which holds not just a large conference table, but also a small group of experts here to help us mitigate whatever damage Alex is going to try to cause.

A representative from the best publicist agency in the city. Two women with connections to every newspaper and magazine in the country. One older, bald man who understands the grim side of the Stephen Oakley method.

Together, they’re anticipating what Alex might do. Setting up roadblocks. Designing security measures. The goal is to stop him at every corner.

Alex isn’t enterprising. He’s not even clever, really.

But he is entitled. And he has access to our father’s money—the money left to Priscilla when he died. With those two things, Alex might be able to hire someone strategic enough to cause chaos for us.

Ryan is about to sign a deal for his baking show. For Graham, the designation of a new National Park hangs in the balance.

And I’ll be damned if I let Alex touch Onyx—the company I built without a single penny of our father’s money.

Ryan shakes the ice in his glass, and it draws me out of my thoughts. It seems Graham is deep in his own, as well. Of course, we both process internally, while Ryan prefers to talk things through.

“I sure fucking hope so.” I knock back the rest of my whiskey as punctuation to that statement.

“Well, I think it’s probably a good idea for us to discuss the elephant in the room.” Ryan glances at me, then at Graham.

“The elephant in the room,” Graham mumbles, staring down into his glass intently.

“What’s wrong with you?” I ask him, knowing I’m poking the bear. Graham has always been quiet and steady, but with a hidden mean streak. The biggest of us, he was always the one to stand up for Alex and me, despite me being much older than him, and frankly, capable of protecting myself.

“Nothing.”

“Obviously it’s not nothing,” Ryan quips, knocking his shoe against Graham’s as he walks past. Graham scowls at him and pulls his boot back. “Here’s my guess—Graham is grappling with two things. First, how much he wants to be with Serena, since he hasn’t yet?—”

Graham lets out a warning growl, but Ryan keeps going. My brother and best friend haven’t been around each other much, and it’s interesting to see how this dynamic plays out. Graham is like the pit bull, or mastiff sitting on the ground, while Ryan is a playful boxer, jumping at him, not realizing what he’s getting himself into.

“—and thesecondthing is obviously that he didn’t realize how much Alex sucks.” Ryan pauses, shrugs, and takes another swig of his drink. “Always a bummer to find out someone isn’t who you think they are.”

I think about saying something like,And what would you know about that?But poking fun at Ryan’s idyllic upbringing isn’t going to help us now. Plus, I’m pretty sure that combative thought comes from drinking. Ryan isn’t my enemy, even if I can’t stop thinking about his hands on Serena.

Outside the windows, the night is inky black. The city is a bright, hazy spot on the horizon, a sort of shadow light against the clouds. We’ve been here for hours, left Onyx and came straight in this direction. Really, we should be boarding the jetand leaving, but I can’t shake the thought that Serena might change her mind.

“Aren’t you observant?” Graham rolls his eyes, drops his head back against the couch. “Of course this kind of thing would happen. First woman I’ve liked in years, and she’s with my brother. And my brother’s idiot friend.”

“I’ll pretend that didn’t hurt my feelings,” Ryan quips, “and that you only said it because my take on you was so accurate. And—wait, are you saying that in all this time, and all these countries, you haven’t been?—”

“No,” Graham says, lolling his head over and giving Ryan a droll stare. “Obviously I’ve been with women. But there’s something about Serena…” Graham shakes his head, closes his eyes. “She’s different.”

“For the record, I was the first,” I declare, knowing I sound petulant. I’m essentially saying,I saw her first. “She’s been working for Onyx for months. Alex actually asked me to fire her.”

“Maybe he had a point, given what’s happened.”

“I never would have done a thing when they were dating.” The words come out quickly, and they’re the truth. “And, honestly, if he hadn’t been such a fucking asshole when he broke it off with her, I wouldn’t have done anything after, either. But he was shitty enough to her that he didn’t really deserve that consideration.”

“Plus, it’s really hard to stay away from her,” Ryan adds. “Have you seen the face she makes when she tries something she really likes?”

“Don’t be mushy,” I mutter, even as I want to see the face for myself. “Not when we’re about to have our lives torn apart.”

Graham looks over at me, and I half expect him to defend Alex again, but instead he says something I definitely was not expecting. “Why don’t we just… share her?”

The room falls into silence.

“Share her?” Ryan repeats, propelled into motion again. “What does that even mean?”

“Well,” Graham says, shrugging one shoulder like Ryan does. “I mean—she was obviously okay being with the two of you at least somewhat overlapping. And if I was reading her right, she was interested in me, too. So maybe she would be interested in… that. Nobody has to stop seeing her.”