by Leslie North
Angie faltered. “Gabe,” she said softly.
“This is a decision that will affect all of us,” Gabe interrupted her. “So I thought you should be a part of it. If you don’t want to sell part of the company, now is the time to help come up with a different plan. And if you don’t care, then feel free to leave.”
Stephen studied his brother carefully. Gabe had always worn a mask. As the middle child, he felt neither the responsibility of the older sibling nor the carefree spirit of the younger one. But in the end, he’d been the only one to stick around. While Stephen didn’t feel an ounce of guilt about leaving Duncan behind, he did feel guilty about leaving his brother. At one time, they had been so close. Now it was like looking into the eyes of a stranger.
It was clear that his time with Duncan Enterprises had changed Gabe. And Stephen didn’t believe for a second that this was simply about the choice to sell part of the company. There was something bigger bothering Gabe.
“Mrs. Lopez, could you please excuse us?” Stephen said softly.
“I’m not married,” she murmured. He glanced sharply at her, but she was already walking away.
“What the hell is going on, Gabe?” he said in a low voice. “Is she sleeping with Duncan?”
Gabe grimaced. “I’m sure he has his reasons for promoting her. He says she’s the best choice for the company. I agree.”
“Do you trust her?”
After a moment, he sighed. “I think the issue is bigger than her,” he said finally.
“And what issue would that be?” Stephen said softly.
“The company, of course.” He held out his hand. “It’s good to see you Stephen.”
Feeling awkward, Stephen shook his brother’s hand. He wanted to push the issue further, but Gabe was already turning to talk to other people. With a frown, Stephen turned and saw Angie staring at him from across the room. She had her phone up to her ear, and she was turning her head away from other members.
But he could see his name on her lips. And if her frown was anything to go by, she was not happy about whatever she was hearing.
3
Stephen sat outside his childhood home and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. He’d been all set to stay at a hotel, but Gabe had easily maneuvered him into going home.
“It’s easy enough for anyone to bug you at a hotel. You have no idea how many companies are offering to buy us out. Swallow your pride and stay at the house where you can enjoy some privacy, and no one will overhear our conversations. Think of the company.”
For the company. God, he didn’t care about this company. In fact, he would have sold his shares long ago but their mother had begged him not to do it.
Thinking of their mother made his heart ache. He’d only been twenty-one when she’d died. Even now, he couldn’t figure out what she’d seen in Duncan. It wasn’t only the vast age difference. Marion Maxfield had been sweet, easily pleased, and full of life. She’d cared more about her family than she ever did about money or status. She’d been the complete opposite of Duncan.
Which was just as well. Had she not been, there was no telling how Stephen would have turned out.
Her last request was that they all keep their shares. And so far, they had all complied. But Gabe was the only one who had stayed.
Steeling his nerves, Stephen got out of the car and slammed it shut. It didn’t matter how much noise he made. Duncan would know that he was here. Few things slipped past the old man.
No one was in the foyer when he entered the house. For a moment, he looked at the slate stone fondly. When he was eight, he’d fallen down the stairs and spilled more than just a little blood on the slick surface. He and his brothers used to track in mud on this polished floor, to the constant annoyance of their father.
Slamming the door shut, Stephen made his way to the brightly lit kitchen and opened a cabinet. Nothing had changed. He pulled out a glass and poured himself a cold drink of water. He heard the shuffling behind him, but he didn’t turn around.
“Gabe?” a rough voice asked.
Duncan knew it wasn’t Gabe, and Stephen knew that Duncan knew. Still, he didn’t turn around. “Oh,” Duncan muttered. “It’s you.”
“Yup,” Stephen said as he looked out the window. Their old swing set used to sit out there, but when Nathan turned ten, Duncan had it torn down. Apparently, at ten, it was time for them to quit playing. Now all there was to look at was an array of perfectly manicured flowerbeds and bare stone paths.
“Where’s Gabe?” his father asked. Stephen shrugged. “For fuck’s sake, turn around,” his father ordered. “It’s ridiculous that you’d talk to a man and not look him in the eye. Cowardly.”
Stephen tensed and slowly turned around. Duncan was tall, but at six foot eight, Stephen towered over him. His father had always been in good shape, but he could see that the old man was thickening around the middle. His sandy-blond hair was greying, but his blue eyes were still razor sharp as they regarded him.
Still, Stephen could see that his father had aged. At seventy-four, the man was no spring chicken, there were dark circles around his eyes, and his hands shook slightly.
It looked like life was finally catching up to Duncan Maxfield. Even the devil himself couldn’t escape it forever.
“You look good. How’s the company going?” Duncan said gruffly.
Stephen smiled wryly. He’d been gone for ten years, and all Duncan had to ask was about his company? “You should know,” Stephen said easily. “You’ve stolen most of my jobs away from me.”
Duncan shrugged. “You win some, you lose some.”
He narrowed his eyes. In the past five years, Duncan Enterprises had stealthily stolen countless jobs from Maxfield Construction. Clients didn’t think twice when Duncan Enterprises wanted a job for the same pay as Maxfield Construction, even if the project in question was ridiculously small. Stephen could have commissioned a job to place a port-a-potty at a job site, and Duncan would have found a way to steal it.
Stephen lifted his glass to his lips. “You seem to have put an awful lot of effort into your construction business these past few years,” he said. “It seems a shame to sell it off.”
Duncan shrugged. “We’ve been forced to take some shitty jobs. Hardly seems worth it.”
“Then why take them, Duncan?” Stephen snapped. “It wasn’t bad enough that you ruined the first twenty-three years of my life, but you had to ruin my business as well?”
Duncan raised an eyebrow. “Maxfield Construction is still standing, isn’t it?”
Turning his head, Stephen took a deep breath. Duncan could always leash his temper, whereas Stephen was still a loose cannon. And Stephen always lost because of that. “Where’s Nathan?” he said instead.
Shuffling into the kitchen, his father stopped to lean against the counter. “How the hell should I know? You boys live your own damn lives.”
Stephen snorted. There wasn’t a chance in hell that Duncan didn’t know where Nathan was, but the door opened before he could say so. After a few seconds, Gabe entered the kitchen. He nodded at Stephen and his father as he went to grab a beer from the refrigerator.
Nobody spoke. It was the first time the three oldest Maxfields had been in the same room in a decade. Tensions were high.
“How did the meeting go?” Duncan grunted.
“Your golden girl wants to sell two-thirds of your company,” Gabe said.
Duncan nodded. “She’s a smart girl.”
“Smart girl?’ Stephen exploded. “You built Duncan Enterprises on construction. You’ve always said that everything else was just cosmetics, and that construction was the foundation of the firm. And now you want to sell it? Do you want your company to fail?”
Duncan turned a cold eye to him. “What the hell are you doing here, Stephen? You’ve made it clear that you don’t want to have anything to do with my business. Stay out of it.” He turned to Gabe. “And you. Remember, there’s a reason I picked Angie. Listen to her. May
be you’ll learn something.”
As Duncan turned abruptly and stalked away, Stephen struggled not to put his fist through a wall. Gabe, on the other hand, took it all in stride. He tipped his beer back and drained the can. He dumped it on the counter and turned to look his brother in the eye. “I didn’t think you’d come.”
Stephen shook his head. “I don’t know why I did. He’s right. I don’t give a damn about this business. I’m out.”
“Stephen, wait,” Gabe said. Stephen heard the edge of panic in his brother’s voice, but he ignored it. He swung the door open but before he could leave, froze.
With one hand poised to knock, a younger man stood at the door. He gave them an awkward smile and tried to straighten up. He’d always been the shortest.
“Hello, brothers,” Nathan said after a beat. “Is anyone going to let me in, or are we just going to stand here and stare at each other?”
Angie almost ignored the phone call, but when she saw it was Duncan, she steeled herself and picked up. “Mr. Maxfield. How are you feeling?”
“What do you mean, how am I feeling? I’m feeling old,” Duncan snapped.
“Oh. Gabe said you had the flu.”
“Gabe’s an idiot. What the hell is Stephen doing here?”
Angie thought longingly of the bottle of whisky she kept in her desk specifically for these conversations with Duncan. It was near empty. “I’m not sure. I thought you had invited him,” she said carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was get Gabe in trouble. He already hated her, and nothing she did was right. She wanted Gabe’s support.
She could hear Duncan grunt on the other end. “Gabe’s an idiot,” he repeated softly. “What happened at the meeting?”
“I proposed the idea we’d been talking about. Stephen shot it down. Gabe encouraged the members to think about it.”
“Think about it? You told me he was on board,” Duncan hissed. Angie frowned. Duncan was not above yelling. So why was he speaking in such hushed tones?
“He was on board. But when Stephen showed up, he seemed to change his mind. I think he’s hoping that Stephen will come up with a better plan.” She didn’t bother to mention that she had looked Stephen up and discovered he was the CEO of their business rival, Maxfield Construction.
Duncan didn’t say anything, but Angie could have kicked herself for mentioning Stephen’s name. Things were starting to make sense for her. Obviously, Duncan had known that Stephen owned the company he was constantly stealing jobs from. Angie had always assumed the name was a coincidence. There were thousands of companies in the country named Maxfield; it wasn’t exactly the rarest of surnames.
“He’s good, but he’s not that good. Keep pushing the program we agreed,” Duncan said finally.
Angie frowned. “Mr. Maxfield, if you think that Stephen can come up with a better plan…”
“It doesn’t matter. My mind is made up. Stick with the plan, Angie or…” The last part of that sentence lay silent between them. Stick with the plan or fail to get promoted. But Angie had worked too damned hard to lose out now.
“Of course. I’ll continue to negotiate some deals so everything will be in place once the board members agree,” she said. As usual, Duncan hung up without saying goodbye or thanks or anything.
He was hiding something. She’d suspected it for a while, but now that Stephen was here, she knew for sure Duncan was hiding something. Part of her always knew that Duncan had chosen her over Gabe because he had plans for the company that Gabe wouldn’t approve. It bothered her, but it wasn’t often that a Latino woman was chosen over a white male, and she wasn’t about to be pushed aside now.
Her thoughts strayed to Stephen. That man was a tall drink of deliciousness. She’d never even seen pictures, but both Gabe and Nathan were attractive men. It made sense that Stephen would be equally attractive. If not more so. Flirting with him in the elevator had been dangerous fun, but she had not known at that point, whom she was dealing with. She couldn’t allow her attraction to him to take hold in her life, not for a minute. There was no way she was going to admit, even to herself, that he appealed to a side of herself she had neglected for many years in her determination to rise in her profession. A side of herself that had been dormant for a long time.
But that side of her life would have to wait, because if Duncan was worried about Stephen being here, then Stephen was just as dangerous, if not more, than Gabe was. And she couldn’t be seduced by the enemy.
4
Stephen watched as his family sat down at the dinner table in an uncomfortable silence. Lydia, the housekeeper, had been with the family for close to thirty years. She set the food down on the table and glared at all of them as if they were acting like a bunch of children. She knew most of their secrets. She’d caught Stephen when he snuck his first girl into his room and didn’t turn him in. She’d taken the fall for Gabe when he’d backed into Duncan’s car. And when Nathan went vegan, she didn’t even bat an eyelid. Even now, while they were having chicken and potatoes, she was putting a portabella sandwich down in front of him. It was almost as if she knew that he was coming even as she was apologizing to him. “Sorry I don’t have more for you. If any of you men would ever tell me anything, maybe I could have prepped better,” she said as she glared at Duncan.
The old man shrugged. “He can eat whatever you serve. Rabbit food is nonsense anyway. A man should eat like a man.”
Nathan cast his eyes down and sighed. Stephen glared at his father, but he didn’t say anything in his brother’s defense. Nathan had always been the oddball of the family, but Stephen didn’t realize how bad it had gotten until just now. There was a rift between them bigger than the Grand Canyon, and he had no idea how to overcome it. Or if that was even possible.
Stephen had been gone when Nathan finally accepted that his father would never change. Nathan had never talked about it, but Gabe had mentioned something in passing. Nathan wanted the company to make some changes that were better for the environment, and Duncan not only shot him down, but he’d insulted Nathan for even broaching the subject. It must have been the final straw for Nathan, for he packed his bags and never looked back.
Stephen was almost glad their mother was dead. No doubt, this scene before them would break her heart. The youngest son nearly ostracized by the family. The middle son keeping secrets, and the eldest son unsure it was worth the effort to keep them all together.
And finally Duncan Maxfield. The father. So-called. The worst offender of them all.
“It’s not rabbit food,” Nathan mumbled.
“Swayed by a damn girl. Ridiculous,” Duncan muttered.
“Her name is Daisy, and she’s a woman. My woman. Not that it matters. I make my own damn decisions.”
Not that it matters? Nathan had always been quick to defend Daisy, but there was some telltale hesitation in his voice. Wasn’t that interesting? But that wasn’t the biggest problem of the night. “Duncan wants to sell two-thirds of the company,” Stephen said. Nathan shot him a grateful look for changing the subject.
“I’m trying to save the company,” their father, already forgetting his fight with Nathan, shot back.
“We’ll see if Angie has what it takes to convince the board members,” Gabe said mildly.
“Why can’t we talk about something other than the company?” Nathan said.
They all stared at him. “Like what?” Stephen asked.
“We have other lives. Stephen, you have an ex-wife and a son. Gabe, you’ve got hockey and probably six girlfriends…”
“He’s gay,” Duncan snapped. “You can say it.”
“He’s not gay,” Nathan said with a sigh.
A smile tugged at Stephen’s lips. At least Nathan was trying. He responded, “Suzanne and Ben are good. I don’t get to see Ben much, but he’s constantly texting me pictures. Suzanne wants him to be a boy scout, but I think he’s got his eye on the local soccer team.” He felt a twinge of sadness when he spoke of his son and ex-wife. As far as ex
-wives went, Suzanne was fine, but she’d moved away after the divorce and taken Ben with her. And because of his commitment to his own company, he hadn’t been able to follow. There were days when Stephen wondered if he were no different from Duncan.
“He can do both,” Gabe pointed out.
“Boy scouts and sports are both ridiculous these days. Everyone gets a damn trophy,” Duncan grunted.
Stephen rolled his eyes. “If he wants to do both, he’ll do both. What about you, Nathan? How are you and Daisy doing? Shopping for rings yet?”
Nathan blanched. “Not yet,” he said stiffly. “So how would selling two-thirds of the company save Duncan Enterprises?”
The quick change in subject wasn’t lost on Stephen, but Duncan was already snapping at them. “I don’t even know why the hell you’re here. All you wanted to do was make Duncan Enterprises a company for hippies. You’ve got no head for business. And Stephen, you haven’t shown a scrap of interest in this company for ten years.”
“I have a double major in Environmental Science and Design,” Nathan argued. “Part of your company is architecture. And people are becoming more and more aware of their environment, both at work and at home. They are beginning to understand the damage large businesses inflict on the earth. Do you really think anyone will support you when they realize how much waste you produce?”
“You haven’t been here,” Duncan snapped.
“I have.” Stephen’s jaw dropped when he heard Gabe’s voice bellow above the rest. “I’ve been here, Duncan. Don’t you care what I think?”
“I care about why you changed your mind. You were supposed to support Angie’s idea. Now that Stephen’s here, you seem to think that he’s going to save the day. That is why you’re not in charge.” Duncan stopped and coughed violently. “I’m going to bed,” he said finally. “All of you, feel free to leave before the morning.”