“Mmm.”
He drew an invisible circle under her lashes and across the flush of her cheek, considering his next words. There was no use in denying it anymore. He was responsible for the animosity between Kat and her mother. Of course, Eva hadn’t given him a chance and would no doubt laugh in his face should he try to explain his feelings for her daughter; nonetheless, Kat had already lost one parent, and he didn’t want her to lose another.
“We have to do something—something important—before we fly back to New York tomorrow. I have to do something.”
She snuggled into him. “Yeah?”
Carter cleared his throat. “I need to talk to your mom.”
*
Austin Ford paced like a caged lion in his office, gritting his teeth so hard Adam was convinced they would shatter. Hell, it would match the four-thousand-dollar vase that lay in a million pieces at their feet. Following Ben Thomas’s impromptu visit, the much-anticipated fax had come through from the WCS board. Its message was clear: Pack up your shit, boys. Your presence at WCS is no longer required.
Adam, for one, hadn’t been surprised, and, in many ways, it had come as a huge relief. For too long he had followed his brother through the valleys of aggressive mergers and bullying acquisitions. He’d stood back and watched in humiliated and embarrassed silence as Austin bartered and harassed people and businesses for his own gains.
Yes, he was one hell of an executive and he had made himself and those around him exceedingly rich. But over the years, he’d grown cocky. His manner was less genteel and more arrogant, and the wry smile of disappointment had now become a sneer of disgust that anyone would dare to refuse or stand up to him.
Nevertheless, Wes Carter had done just that.
Despite it being Thanksgiving week, Austin had put every lawyer and favor he had at his disposal on the fax the minute it slid through the machine. He wanted to find a loophole, a lose end, a clause, a fuck-you. He needed to find one. Adam knew that Austin would rather die than let Carter take over WCS, but that was exactly what was happening. There was no way around it, and one of Austin’s cronies had delivered the news.
The vase had been the first casualty.
Adam watched his brother continue his furious journey around the office.
“You’re telling me,” Austin growled, “that there is no way to stop this?” His index finger smacked against the desk, pressing down hard into the fax.
Rick, his consultant, shifted on his feet and cleared his throat. “Yes, sir.”
Austin’s eyes grew impossibly wider. Adam had never seen his brother look so unkempt. His hair was ruffled and a light sheen of sweat covered his cheeks and forehead.
“I don’t fucking believe this!” he bellowed. “How is this even possible?”
“Well, sir—”
“Don’t answer me when I ask rhetorical questions, Rick!” Austin snapped angrily. “I can fucking read!”
Austin exhaled heavily and rubbed a palm over his mouth. “I thought we did everything in our power to cover this up.” He gestured toward the black-and-white photographs Ben Thomas had left. “I was told that things were in place to keep my company safe.”
Adam’s anger surged. And not for the first time. Austin had always considered WCS his. In all the time he’d been in charge, Austin had never once acknowledged Adam’s help or the work he did to keep him clean of all the shit he got into. Of course, there were the obligatory raises and single-malt gestures that would show up on his desk every once in a while, but neither made up for the amount of times that Adam had paid or bartered with people in order to keep his brother’s indiscretion’s off the board’s radar, his dealings with Casari included. Adam had told him Casari was bad news, he knew he was watched by the Feds, but his brother hadn’t listened.
Enough was enough.
The crunch, for Adam, was when it became a pissing contest over Kat, with Carter on one side and Austin on the other. It was pathetic, and Adam had wanted no part of it. He genuinely couldn’t understand why Austin wouldn’t just let Carter have his share of the pie. It would simplify things, keep Carter quiet. But Austin had had other ideas.
The photographs with Casari were all Austin’s doing, and Adam had reached his limit.
Shit, everyone made mistakes, for Christ’s sake, and it wasn’t fair to keep Carter reliving his over and over. Kat was, as Beth had conceded, very much in love with Carter. The guy had a real chance at turning his life around and being happy.
Adam couldn’t stop that from happening. And neither could Austin.
“Austin,” Adam muttered. The other five men in the room shuffled and fidgeted.
“No, Adam,” Austin barked back. “We need to figure this out, work out the next step.”
Adam blinked in confusion and caught Rick’s equally bewildered eye. Sighing, Adam took a cautious step toward his brother and clasped his hands at his front.