Page 124 of So I'll Know
“Shit. Well, he must have FBI connections then.” His eyes widen. “Wait, was Dad part of this?”
I sigh. “I don’t think so. He seems to be ignorant of most of Ryan’s shadier business practices.”
“Wait, how the fuck do you know all this? We haven’t even talked to Dad in three years.”
“Yeah, so there’s some stuff I need to tell you.”
So I do.
I tell him everything: How I made a deal with our father to financially back the Seattle location because I didn’t have themoney to do it myself. How I promised our father that I’d step up and be part of the board after the pub opened, as long as he helped Seb and Charlie. How I’ve been working with John to blackmail our father and Ryan so that I don’t actually have to follow through with any of the things our father is demanding of me.
I grimace. “And I’m technically engaged.”
“I’m sorry, what now?” Seb stares at me incredulously.
“It’s a long story.”
Seb shakes his head. “What the fuck, Marcus? You’ve literally been lying to me and Charlie foryears.”
“I know. I’m so fucking sorry. I was trying to protect you both, and everything just went sideways. I never meant for any of this to happen. Honestly, when I asked Dad, it was before I knew about what he’d done to Charlie. And then by the time we found out, it was too late. He threatened to pull funding from the Seattle pub. He threatened to call Charlie’s publisher. I was—” My voice cracks, and I blink rapidly, trying to control the warmth in my eyes from spilling over. “I was prepared to join Skynet like he wanted because at least you both got to live your dreams.”
Seb turns and slams the flat of his palm onto the wall, the crack echoing in the hallway. A nurse looks up at us with a disapproving frown. “We are not your responsibility, Marcus. For fuck’s sake. Do you understand how this makes me feel? How it’ll make Charlie feel? It’s like everything we’ve worked so hard for doesn’t fucking matter!”
He’s shouting, and when the nurse clears her throat, Seb grabs my arms and pulls me outside.
I yank my coat closed and stare at him miserably. “You still did the work. Dad just used some connections,” I say weakly. “You both deserved—everything. I just wanted you to have it.” I look away, rubbing my hand across my eyes. “And I have a way to fix it now. With John. You have to trust me.”
I’ve never seen him look so hurt. “Right now, I can’t even look at you.”
His words are a fucking knife in my heart. “Seb?—”
“Don’t.” He thrusts his pointer finger at me. “And don’t you fucking say a word to Charlie. She adores you, and it will kill her.” He rakes his hands through his hair and takes a deep breath. “I don’t have the emotional bandwidth for this shit on top of everything else. Just fucking go, Marcus.”
I nod stiffly, regret like a ball of lead in my gut. “I know. I should have told you sooner.” But as I say it, Sebastian is already walking away.
I feel like shit,and it doesn’t help that I was coerced into a meeting at Skynet the minute I got back from Brighton.
My father slams his fist onto the table, making me jump, which just pisses me off. I hate showing weakness in front of him, but shit, that was loud.
“How could you let Sebastian do this? It nearly cost me my business—our business, son.” He starts pacing.
I look up at his reddened face with an annoyed frown. “You already knew that Ryan is an unhinged lunatic,” I snap, tired of taking the brunt of this little tirade after everything I just went through with my brother. The urge to flip him off, walk out, and never look back is so fucking strong right now. “Maybe you should have put him on a shorter leash.”
My father stills, and then pinches the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh. “Ryan is a great businessman because he doesn’t tolerate failure. This just got too personal.”
I lean back in my chair, eyeing him while I think of how I want to phrase my next question. “Is he upset with you for Sebastian’s relationship with Brantley?”
“Of course he’s upset!” he snaps. “His only son disowned him and is in some sort of fucked-up threesome cult withmyson.”
I bite my tongue, resisting the urge to defend Sebastian’s relationship. I don’t know Fiona or Brantley very well, but I can’t deny the change I’ve seen in Seb over the past couple of months, and I can’t deny that they’re good for him.
I sigh. “What do you want me to do?”
“If you want your brother to have his pub, I want you to tell him to keep a low profile. Ryan is a live wire right now, and I don’t want him to do something even more rash while his emotions are high. I’ve known him a long time, and I think I can talk him down.”
“Something evenmorerash?”
Fi’s stepfather was a complete psycho, and Ryan helped him. I don’t know what their relationship was, but the outcome could have easily been the same as what Ryan did to those board members. My jaw tightens at the thought.
