Page 76 of Avenging Azalea

He put his hands on his chest, and some of the whiskey sloshed out and down the front of his suit. Not that he seemed to notice or care.

“You?”

“Fucking right, it was me. Bet you didn’t even know Father wanted to do that. Fire after fire, I’ve smothered or talked him out of, and do you know what Nathaniel does?”

“Enlighten me,” I said, knowing very well what he did.

“He goes to Rome for her and brings her back. For fucks sake! If that wasn’t bad enough, he takes the lion’s share of legitimate businesses from Mikhailov Enterprises. I can’t believe that Father was stupid enough to allow Nathaniel to place them in his name only. And for what? To hurt Father? To piss him off? Sure, it does all of that in the short term, but in reality, it hurts me.”

He tapped his chest again, and more of the alcohol landed on the front of his suit.

“I’m the one to take over the family name and sit at the head of the table. Do you think Nathaniel has even spent a second considering that? No. It’s all about him and what he wants. It always has been. He doesn’t give a fuck about this family or what his actions do to us. But I’m the one who doesn’t stand by my family? Fuck him!”

The bottle flew across the room and smashed against the wall, glass, and whiskey sprayed in all directions. This was why I’d always played ref. There were always two sides to a story, hurt feelings that neither understood.

Hailey and Holly jumped from their beds and stood in front of me, growling at Ronan.

“Ryadom. To your beds,” I ordered. They trotted off to the far corner and curled up but kept an eye on Ronan.

Ronan was oblivious to the danger. His head hung, and his chest heaved from the rage.

“Our brother has no idea what I’ve done to protect him,” he said, calmer now that the fury was settling in his system.

Ronan had always reminded me of a volcano. You never knew when it would go off, but when it did, it was explosive and caused chaos that sent people running before all was said and done.

He shook his head before walking over and flopping into the chair across from me once more.

“Nathaniel has no idea, and he doesn’t care.”

“You don’t know that. He’s not a mind reader. You should tell him,” I said, picking up the bottle still on the table to take a sip and keep it away from Ronan’s wrath. “Nathaniel isn’t pulling away to hurt you. He’s not doing it to hurt any of us. It’s a message to Father that he’s not going to take any more of his shit. What you need to do is work out a deal with him for yourself. Tell him what you just told me. Tell him that you’re hurt. It wouldn’t kill you to be honest about your feelings.”

Ronan looked at me, and I knew what he was going to ask. I shook my head before he could.

“No, I won’t stay here.” I held up my hand before he could start in on me. “I hear you, and I understand where you’re coming from. You’re to inherit this business, and it will survive and eventually flourish with you in charge. However, the only thing Father understands is his wallet. I agree with Nathaniel on that.”

Standing, I walked over to one of the packed boxes and removed the lid to take out a framed photo. We were kids shortly after Aaron had come to live with us at the age of ten. Nathaniel held Kaylani’s hand and had his arm around Aaron’s shoulders while Ronan and I stood shoulder to shoulder, smiling in our suits. I handed it to Ronan.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Look at this and tell me what you see. Who of us looks the most family-oriented?”

“This is an old ass photo. Times change.”

“You’re right. They do. But Nathaniel hasn’t. Look, you never saw it, but Father has been exceptionally cruel to Nathaniel over the years. You were in high school, dating, and then off to college. I’m not blaming you for not seeing it, but the separation from Mikhailov Enterprises started back then. Did Father ever lay a hand on you?”

Ronan’s face twisted in confusion.

“No? I didn’t think so. He never hit me, either. But I saw him with my own eyes beat Nathaniel over and over, claiming he was too soft, too nice, too loving, and too much of a mama’s boy.”

“You’re fucking lying.” Ronan got up and put his hands on his hips. “I would’ve known something like that.”

“Would you? What were you doing at sixteen when this first started?”

“Fuck…I don’t know. School, football, smoking, partying, having sex, I guess.”

“Exactly. You were out living your life, doing whatever you wanted, and Father didn’t care. Have you ever known me to lie to you?”

“No.”