The veins in Scott’s neck bulged. “Maybe that’s what you were hoping for. Maybe that’s why you opened us up to it in the first place.”
Every word dug deeper, and Zach’s fury rose in response. This was new. They weren’t supposed to be at each other’s throats. They were business partners. Best friends. “You really think I planned this?”
“I was thinking you let it happen, but maybe you did plan it. You’re the one who begged me to let Kelly invest.”
“Really? You're going to rehash five years ago?” If she hadn't invested, they wouldn't have anything now to make them worth buying out. Her money had kept them solvent. Then again, it also led to their downfall. Zach had proposed to her last year at E3. It was supposed to be a huge draw to gain media attention.
It had been a media draw, for sure. Kelly found out about the proposal beforehand and made arrangements to sell all of her company shares minutes before the market closed that night. Right before she turned him down in front of hundreds of cameras. The video of her rejection went viral, along with the news she’d dumped her part of the company. Their stock had been worthless within twenty-four hours.
Zach’s fingers twitched over the pack of smokes in his shirt pocket, but he held his position. He swallowed a few breaths of air to try to sate the craving.
“We would have found a way,” Scott said.
“I'm not going to play the what-if game. Besides, the only reason you didn't want Kelly’s money then was —” Zach stopped himself before he could add because she didn’t love you. There were some lines he wasn’t willing to cross, even in a deteriorating exchange of insults.
“I didn't want it then because it was her way of getting back into your life. She didn't earn it, just like she hasn't earned a penny since. I would rather have failed than owe her anything.”
Zach exhaled through clenched teeth. “Funny, that's not what you said back then. Besides, can you fathom not being here right now? I'm not talking about today; I'm talking about the rest of it. You would have walked away from your dream to spite a potential investor? And it took you five years to figure that out?”
“It wouldn't have been spite.”
“You would have taken money from anyone else. Do you remember how desperate we were?”
“I didn't take it from Dad. I said yes because you wanted it.”
“Nuh-uh.” Zach shook his head. They both knew the company had been Scott's idea. His dream. “How was I supposed to know?”
“Fine.” Scott threw his hands up before he started pacing again. “No one did anything wrong. This is all just an unhappy coincidence.”
“I didn't say that. Kelly did this. Yeah, okay, I can admit getting involved with her was a mistake, but how was I supposed to know?” Zach struggled to bring his anger under control.
“At least you learned your lesson before it was too late.” Sarcasm hung heavy in Scott’s sneer. “Oh wait, no you didn’t. Maybe it’s a good thing we lost everything. Otherwise you might have signed over controlling interest to the next piece of ass who came along.”
Zach’s fury erupted. His raised voice bounced back at him. “Really? Fuck you. Kelly wasn’t just some random one-night fling. Mistake or not, I thought I loved her. I thought she loved me.”
The tension faded from Scott’s frame, and his shoulders slumped. At least that was one thing about Scott: he had a short fuse, but it tended to burn out as quickly as it ignited. “I know. This isn’t on you, or me. It still bites pretty hardcore, though.”
That was an understatement. Zach rubbed his face. “Which still doesn’t give us answers.”
“We’ll have to look harder.”
Zach didn’t see that helping, but he wasn’t in the mood to dive back into heated words. “Right.”
“I invited her to breakfast with us.”
This conversation was going to give Zach whiplash. “Kelly?” Stupid question. “Rae.” He felt drained. “Why?”
“Because the two of you can’t do this forever. Because…I’d rather see you talking than not, and at least this, I have control over. Anyway.” Scott raked his fingers through his hair, the brown spikes bouncing back into place the moment he dropped his hand. “Should we let everyone call it a night? Go for a late dinner?”
“Good call.” They’d bullshit—maybe the waitress would be cute. Short, curvy. Wait, that wasn’t right. He liked his women tall and slender. Unless they were as sexy as Rae.
Where the fuck had that come from? He’d seen her across a room, and exchanged a handful of words with her. Hardly a good reason to be lusting after her. Still, spending a little more time with her, actually having a conversation, was more tempting than it should be.