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“Henry hasn’t quite grasped the situation yet,” Sam replied. “He’s trying to get back to the status quo. His world has changed, and he’s not a happy camper about it. He’s going to act out until it finally sinks in that he’s not going to be protected by Dad anymore.”

“Are you going to fire him?”

“I already told him that if he stayed out of my and everyone else’s way, he could keep his title and salary.”

“Sounds like a sweet deal. I know a lot of people who would take that all day long.”

“Let’s just say he wasn’t as enthusiastic. It’s funny, really,” Sam laughed. “Henry hates to work and avoids it at all costs, but when I offer to pay him to not work, he gets pissy about it.”

“Some people are never happy.”

“That would describe Henry and Rick perfectly. They have money and every advantage, but they moan and whine about every perceived slight as if they’re horribly persecuted. Always the victims. Even now, they’re trying to paint me as the bad guy. Not that I give a shit.”

Alli sat down in the chair opposite the desk.

“I have to ask, and you don’t have to tell me, of course. But…how did your dad get the family firm and Rick…? Well, he’s a Winslow, too. But he’s not in charge.”

It was a good question, and Sam didn’t mind answering it.

“I don’t know all the details,” he admitted. “I only know what I’ve heard over the years, and like many stories, some of it might be completely made up. It kind of goes like this. Dad was the oldest son, which in the Winslow family means that they are basically anointed by some deity and treated like royalty. Everyone else doesn’t matter. My old man was that way with Zack, and his father was the same way with him. From day one, my dad was the heir apparent. Every decision made about his life was through the lens of him running the firm one day.”

“But not Rick?”

“No one gave a shit what Rick wanted to be when he grew up. He could do anything that he wanted to except run Winslow Financial. That wasn’t an option.”

Sam knew all too well what that was like. Joel Winslow had made it clear from the beginning that he only wanted Zack, and that there was nothing Sam could do to change that.

Times do change, though.

There was nothing Joel could do to get his oldest son to care about the firm, and he couldn’t oust Sam from the CEO position either.

Technically, that wasn’t true. His father owned enough shares in the firm to make anything happen, but even Joel knew better than to rock the boat when it came to the leadership. The fact was, Zack firmly refused to step in, and no other sibling was going to do it either. Sam was all Joel had left. Knowing his dad, Sam knew that Joel was pissed as hell about the box he found himself in.

“So, Rick just came to work here? Not caring about running the place?”

“Not exactly,” Sam said, his smile widening as he remembered the stories he’d heard when he was a kid. “Uncle Rick, knowing he wasn’t the favored son, became a total asshole to try and get any attention he possibly could from his father. He didn’t care if it was negative attention, either. He just wanted his dad to acknowledge his existence. During his school years, he ran with a fast crowd, drinking, smoking, and generally raising hell. So granddad sent Rick off to boarding school as punishment.”

“Did that work?”

“It just pissed Rick off even more. He flunked out of about three or four schools. Then grandad bought his way into college, where Rick caused more trouble. Somehow, he graduated with a degree, but we’re all dubious about that accomplishment and assume they gave him one to get him to leave. Plus a large endowment from the family, of course. Family connections got Rick a few jobs, but he lost every one of them. Eventually, the only place that would hire Rick was the family firm. But he didn’t want to toil in the mailroom. Oh no, Rick wanted to be an executive. Apparently, he threatened to be even more of a fuck up if he didn’t get his way. So his daddy set him up in a plush office with a big salary and very little responsibility. In exchange, Rick promised to be a good boy.”

Alli didn’t say anything in response, and Sam wasn’t shocked. People, in general, seemed to become speechless when realizing just how fucked up the Winslow family truly was.

“Rick will come around,” Sam went on. “Henry, too. But in the meantime, they’re going to kick and scream and try to make my life hell before they give up and go away.”

“What would your father say?” she asked, her voice quiet.

“He’d say that I owe them or some shit like that. But the thing is, I don’t owe them anything. He might owe them for kowtowing to him for decades, but not me. They’ve done me no favors, so I don’t feel beholden to them at all. It’s kind of funny when you think about it. My dad doesn’t know the meaning of the word loyalty, and he’d throw either one of them under the bus without a second thought. But for some reason, he doesn’t want them to lose their jobs.”

“Maybe he’s loyal in his own way.”

“That’s a nice way to say Joel Winslow is an asshole who only thinks about himself.”

“And you don’t want to be anything like your father.”

“Or Rick,” Sam replied. “Rick was bitter about his position in the family. I like to think that I made the best of my situation. Frankly, I never thought that I’d be in this office, sitting behind this desk. But my brothers and sisters wanted me to do this, so I am. I’ll do the best job I can. Not because I’m a Winslow but because it’s a job worth doing. There are a lot of people who depend on this company for their livelihoods. I never take that for granted.”

He stood up and walked around the desk, kneeling next to her chair and taking both of her hands in his.