Chapter Sixteen
“Why did you ask me to come here? I was in the parking lot when you called,” Devon asked, stepping on the roof.
Matthew scratched his goatee. “Because this is where I come to think whenever life gets shitty.”
Devon removed his jacket and threw it on the ground. A cool fall breeze caressed his face, and he almost regretted taking it off. If only all decisions were that easy to change. “By the looks of it, you already have something in mind,” he said.
He couldn’t help but notice the half-smile Matthew gave him almost seemed…genuine. Shaking his head, he sat on a block of cement. Somehow, the view of the other buildings gave him the misleading sensation of serenity, if only for an instant.
“Elena said she’d only agree to become the CEO if my mother agreed to sell the shares to both of us. Half and half.” Matthew produced a stress ball from his pocket, and started throwing it from hand to hand. “Since I don’t have the money right now to pay for the shares, that means you can buy all of them.”
“And you expect me to believe you’re okay with that?” he asked, even though the words burning the tip of his tongue were, Why did she do that?
“Strangely enough, I am,” Matthew said, then sat next to him. “Man, I admit it, I didn’t do right by you.”
“Yeah?” Devon said casually, even though the recognition of his brother sent a warm sensation through him. “What is this about? Do you want me to lend you money for your shares? What’s the catch?”
Matthew gave him a long glance, as if agreeing to what he just heard, then shook his head and willed whatever thought away. “There is no catch. She can be the new CEO, but you’ll be the largest shareholder. She has the title, but you own the company. And we can all work together.”
“Wouldn’t that be something?” Devon mocked. “She lied to me. She probably lied to you too. And now—”
Matthew lifted his hand in protest. “Dude, shut up for a second. Elena isn’t this monster you’re painting her to be. She made mistakes, I guess, but all she wanted was to help. In a way, she did. She kept forcing me to see a different side of you. I didn’t want to see it. But she’s taught me that you’re not to blame for our father’s shithole behavior. I was a confused kid when you showed up. I acted like a jerk. And I’m sorry.”
Was Matthew implying that Elena brought them together? “I thought she had an affair with you at first.”
Patting his shoulder, Matthew chuckled. “I wouldn’t expect anything else from you. When did you realize she wasn’t?”
“I don’t know. I guess it was easier to just believe the worst. Because if she weren’t the worst, if she was this kind, funny, bad dancer kind of girl…who cooked like a dream and smiled like the sun—if she were all that and emotionally available, she would be real trouble for me.”
Matthew squeezed his shoulder. “That meant you would have to become the man she deserves.”
At first, he almost jerked away from the touch. Could he really erase years of estrangement? “Yes. And it’s not easy being that guy.” The guy who forgives. The guy who realizes when he makes mistakes. The guy who…couldn’t fathom the idea of another man laying a finger on his woman.
“Trust me. It’s not. I’m separated from my wife and it sucks.”
He let out a sigh. “I heard. Sorry, man.”
“Thanks.” He produced a flask from his inside pocket, popped the top, and took a swig. “I had it coming I guess. I was a prick.”
“Not a stretch.”
He took another sip then handed it to Devon. “Guess not.”
“Never took you for a flask kind of guy. Specially this early in the morning. Should I worry?” Devon glanced at the flask, and smelled the bourbon, but didn’t drink any. To believe everything that was happening right now, he needed to remain sober.
Matthew waved it off. Standing, he stretched as if he hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in days. Devon never bought that karma bullshit, but his half-brother did look beaten down. Alone. And a lot like Devon had felt when he first showed up at his father’s house.
And somehow he didn’t want his half-brother to suffer. He wanted to help.
“Nah. I’m fine. Will be. How about you? Would you buy my—our—mother’s shares? So that the business still belongs to the family mostly while Elena runs the company?”
***
“Wow. I can’t believe you slept with him right under my pert little nose,” Holly said, her blue eyes widened.
Elena would have laughed at the look of surprise on her colleague’s face if weren’t she so freaking worried. Thankfully, the three of them closed the door of the break room and put an out-of-order sign outside. Who cared if the wall was see-through? She needed to talk.
Janie rolled her eyes. “Really, Holly? Out of all the things she just said, this is what you’re concerned about?”
