by Alice Ward
“He has been amazing,” I admitted. “I couldn’t believe it myself.”
“It’s all because of you.” Ray smiled. His eyes twinkled. “There’s no way he would be half as good without your guidance.”
“Thank you,” I said. I wanted to argue more, to tell Ray it was more Sean’s doing than mine, but I knew now wasn’t the time. Learning to accept a compliment was a hard thing to do, but it was important at times like these. “I’m just grateful you gave me this chance. It’s been such a great learning opportunity.”
“You and Sean are getting along well now, aren’t you?” Ray asked. I swallowed. He wasn’t beginning to suspect anything, was he?
“We are,” I said. “In fact, there’s something I wanted to ask you about Sean.”
The thought occurred to me in the moment, but I knew it was a good idea. It would distract Ray from my relationship with Sean for the time being, and it might serve to answer a few of my unanswered questions.
“What is it?” Ray asked.
“Well,” I began slowly. “I don’t want to overstep, but I’ve been wondering what happened between Sean and Zach? There’s just so much tension there, and I never found out what caused it.”
Ray looked at me carefully. He sighed and shook his head side to side. I didn’t know if I’d been too forward with my question, but I didn’t care. I wanted to know the truth.
“It’s complicated,” Ray began. “I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you, but when Sean was married to Paisley’s mom—”
Just then, Ray’s office door swung open, and he fell silent. Zach stepped inside without knocking and looked from Ray to me and then back again.
“The meeting is starting soon,” he reminded us. “We should get to the conference room.”
Ray and I exchanged a look, but we didn’t speak. Our conversation would have to continue another time. Together, the three of us walked down the hall toward the conference room to start the meeting.
***
The rest of the employees filtered in slowly. I sat at the head of the table beside Ray, with Zach on Ray’s other side. We were silent while we waited for the room to fill. As everyone arrived, I felt my excitement grow. This meeting was one I’d been waiting for. Not only were we going to announce the growth in our numbers, but I would be taking most of the credit. My plan worked. Sean was a success. Everything was falling into place perfectly.
“Alright,” Ray said once everyone was seated. “Thank you all for taking the time to be here. I know we’re all extremely busy these days. I promise, this meeting will be worth your time.”
There were a few appreciative murmurs throughout the room and I smiled to myself. Everyone was going to be even happier once Ray presented the numbers.
“So,” Ray said. “As you all know, we’re here to discuss the new numbers that came out last week. It hasn’t been long since we launched our new ad campaigns, and things are already beginning to look up. Our numbers are rising fast. In just two weeks, our profits have skyrocketed.”
With that, Ray turned to press a button on his computer. The new numbers were then displayed on a screen behind him. He pointed to each column and explained them as he went. He told us that our stock value had recently doubled and that our profits were higher than they’d been in two years. It was all new, so everyone was ecstatic with the news.
“And,” Ray said. “Since this all happened so fast, we can only expect more growth in the months to come.”
The entire room broke into applause. I laughed and joined in. It was a day of celebration, and everyone was enjoying the tension-free atmosphere.
“Now,” Ray said. “There is one person in particular we need to thank for this success, and I think we all know who that is. Tara, stand up!”
I smiled shyly and began to rise from my chair, but Zach beat me to it. He jumped to his feet so fast that I almost didn’t see him move.
“I think everyone deserves a round of applause,” Zach insisted. “This was a team effort, after all. No one person deserves all the credit.”
I tried to keep my face impassive as Zach spoke, but I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. In a way, he was right. The entire company pitched in to make this happen, but Sean’s ad campaigns were the biggest reason for the positive uptick in sales. Bringing Sean on had been my idea and mine alone. I was the one who spent all this time working with him and grooming him to become the face of the company. Didn’t I deserve some recognition?
Apparently, Zach didn’t think so. He led another round of applause, and I fell back in my seat. I forced a smile on my face and clapped along with everyone else. With a glance at Ray, I knew he didn’t appreciate Zach’s interruption any more than I did, but we were both too professionally minded to say so.
The meeting ended and everyone filtered out slowly. A few people congratulated me as they left, and I felt my mood begin to lift. No matter what Zach said, he couldn’t take this moment away from me. The company was a success once again, and it was almost entirely because of me.
Still, as I watched Zach leave the conference room, rage filled me. If I was ever going to confront him, now was the time. I marched out of the room and down the hall, not stopping until I reached his office. Without knocking, I stormed inside and closed the door behind me.
“What the hell is your problem?” I demanded. My eyes locked on Zach’s and I saw red.
“Excuse me?” Zach asked with narrowed eyes.
“Just now,” I said. “In the meeting, you completely discredited all the work I’ve done. Why? What was the point?”
“I just don’t think we should be praising one person over everyone else,” Zach said bluntly. “It’s not like you’ve done more for the company than the rest of us.”
“This entire thing was my idea!” I said. I could feel my pride getting the best of me, but I didn’t care. I was finally ready to put Zach in his place.
“Yeah,” Zach scoffed. “Bringing Sean on was your idea, and we’ve yet to see if it was smart call.”
“Are you kidding?” I laughed. I did my best to keep my voice level so I wouldn’t start to yell. “Did you not see the numbers? Our profits are higher than they’ve been in two years. Whether you like it or not, your brother is a huge success!”
“So, that’s what you’re upset about,” Zach said. He rolled his eyes and walked over to me. He stopped right in front of me and stared into my eyes with a mocking expression. Not for the first time that day, I wanted to slap him. “You just don’t want anyone insulting your boyfriend.”
“My boyfriend?” I laughed. “Please, Zach, this is about business. Nothing more.”
“Really?” he asked.
“You just can’t stand to admit that I was right,” I snapped. “You hate the fact that my idea was a good one, and that it’s actually working! I’ve spent years doing your job for you. Now it’s finally starting to show and you’re threatened.”
“Threatened?” Zach raised his eyebrows and exhaled sharply. I’d hit a nerve. “By you?”
“Yes.”
“Tara,” Zach said slowly. “Listen to me very closely. You are nothing to this company. Nothing. I could have you fired with a snap of my fingers and don’t ever forget that. You’re only here because I allow you to be, and the second that changes, you’re gone. My father doesn’t care about you. This company doesn’t need you. You. Are. Nothing.”
“And you are just a scared, insecure, child who can’t admit when someone bests him,” I fired back without missing a beat.
I spent so many years hating Zach. All those times I bit my tongue and forced myself to remain calm flared up inside of me in that moment. I didn’t even care if he fired me, I’d had enough of him.
“Be careful, Tara,” Zach warned. “If you lose your job, what will you have left? My brother? Don’t think for a second that he actually cares about you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said with anger in my voice.
&
nbsp; “You’re screwing him, right?” Zach asked with a laugh. “I know you are.”
“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snapped. I wasn’t going to give Zach the satisfaction of knowing he was right.
“Be careful,” he said again. “Or he just might knock you up and leave you to raise a baby on your own. It’s what he did to his ex-wife, after all.”
“You’re full of shit,” I said with disgust. “It’s no wonder Sean doesn’t want anything to do with you. If I were related to you, I would be just as ashamed as Sean is. You’re pathetic, Zach.”
“Whatever you say.” Zach laughed. “But I know the truth. I know my brother better than you ever will.”
“I doubt that,” I said. I turned to leave, but I suddenly realized I had more to say. “I know who Sean is and I know what kind of father he is. He loves Paisley, and I know he loved her mother. Whatever happened between them wasn’t Sean’s fault.”
“You sound so sure of that,” Zach said. “But have you ever stopped to think that maybe you don’t know the whole story? That maybe, just maybe, Sean hasn’t been completely honest with you? That he isn’t the saint he pretends to be?”
“I know who he is,” I said again. I turned to face the door, walking quickly toward it. I’d had enough of Zach, and I wanted nothing more than to be away from him.
“For your sake,” Zach called after me. “I hope you’re right.”
I ripped open his office door and walked out into the hallway. I slammed the door shut behind me and marched to my office. I was still fuming when I sat in my chair and closed my eyes. Zach’s smug, sickening face was imprinted on my eyelids. My eyes flew open and I fought the urge to scream. In all my life, I had never hated anyone as much as I hated Zach.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Sean
Paisley and I walked into Yates’ Motorcycles early Tuesday morning. I wasn’t supposed to meet with Tara until nine, but Paisley was so excited that we left the house early. When we walked through the showroom, everyone stopped us to chat. Three different people asked how I was doing and if I needed anything. I was shocked, but pleased. Tara had told me the numbers were good, but I didn’t expect everyone to start treating me so differently.
I stepped in the elevator with Paisley right behind me. I felt better than I had in days because I knew I was going to see Tara. As much fun as I’d been having with Paisley, I couldn’t wait to be around Tara again, and I knew Paisley felt the same way. She was practically vibrating with excitement by the time the elevator doors opened.
Paisley hurried down the hallway toward Tara’s office. I smiled and watched her go. When we reached Tara’s office the door was closed so I told Paisley to knock. She did, and we stood back to wait for an answer.
It was a few seconds before the door swung open and Tara was standing in front of us. She smiled and let us inside. As we moved, I searched Tara’s face for some understanding as to why she’d been so distant for the past few days.
I hadn’t heard from her since Sunday night, when she blew off my dinner invitation. I knew something was wrong. The way she smiled at me when I walked into her office was strained, but genuine. I could tell she was happy to see me, but there was more going on behind her eyes. She was conflicted about something, and I needed to find out what it was.
“I missed you!” Paisley said as she hugged Tara’s waist. Tara smiled and hugged her back tightly.
“Oh, I missed you too,” she said softly. I could tell she meant it. She smoothed down Paisley’s hair and smiled at her. Her eyes were bright, and when she looked at me, I melted.
All my worries from before were still there, but I pushed them to the back of my mind as I stared into her eyes. I so desperately wanted to kiss her, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to resist for much longer.
“Where are we working today?” I asked. “Here or in the conference room?”
“Conference room,” she said.
I nodded. “Okay. Should we go?”
“Yup.” Tara smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Tara, Paisley, and I made our way down the hallway toward the conference room. People greeted me warmly as we passed. I was beginning to feel like a celebrity.
When we reached the conference room, I set Paisley up in a chair by the door and pulled Tara to the opposite side of the room. She frowned but didn’t resist. I held onto her hand until we were a safe distance away from Paisley. I didn’t want her to overhear our conversation.
“What’s wrong?” Tara whispered. She glanced at Paisley.
“That’s what I wanted to ask you,” I said softly. “You’ve been distant. What’s going on?”
I expected Tara to make up some excuse, but she didn’t. She didn’t bother to tell me a well-crafted lie or even pretend like she didn’t know what I was talking about. She just sighed and stared down at her shoes. When she looked back up at me, her eyes were full of emotion.
“What is it?” I asked. “You’re scaring me.”
“It’s nothing,” she said. “Not really. I’ve just been really confused about us lately.”
“Confused?” I repeated. “Why?”
“There are so many things I don’t know,” she said. “So many things that are uncertain.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Like your relationship with your brother,” Tara said bluntly. “I know how much you hate him and, to be honest, so do I. I can’t stand him, but you never told me what happened between the two of you. Why are things so bad?”
Her question took me by surprise. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer her. I was just shocked she was worried about something like that. It never even occurred to me that she might want to know about my family drama. I kept those things private for a reason, but now that Tara was asking, I knew I had to tell her.
“It’s a long story,” I began slowly. “And one that I’m not proud of.”
“That’s okay,” Tara said. She stepped forward and touched my arm gently. “Just tell me.”
“When I was married to Claire, I wasn’t the best person in the world,” I said quickly. I was afraid I might lose my nerve. “I wasn’t a criminal or anything, but I was in a motorcycle club. We weren’t exactly above board, but we also didn’t outright break any laws. For the most part, we were all good guys who just had a hard time making the right decisions sometimes.”
I paused and took a breath. This wasn’t a piece of my history that I wanted to share with anyone, least of all someone like Tara.
“Claire hated the club,” I continued. “And she had every right to. I had no business being a part of that lifestyle, but I couldn’t see it at the time. She begged me to get out, but I refused. I never listened to her concerns, or anything that she wanted for that matter. I made a lot of mistakes back then, and I know now that I was partly responsible for driving Claire away. I know that, but—”
Just as I was getting to the hardest part of the story, the conference room door burst open. It bounced off the wall, making Tara and I both jump. Zach stormed inside and moved straight toward Paisley. He grabbed her by the arm and jerked her to her feet.
“I told you!” he yelled across the room. “This is not a damn daycare!”
I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I moved before I even knew what happened. I grabbed Zach by the collar of his shirt and pulled him away from Paisley. She stumbled to the ground behind me, and I shoved Zach against the wall as hard as I could.
While I held him there, I turned my head to the side to make sure Paisley was all right.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
“I think so,” Paisley said weakly. Tara knelt beside her with fear in her eyes. When she looked up at me, I immediately looked back at Zach.
“Tara, can you take Paisley to your office please?” I asked calmly. My voice was level, but inside I burned with fury. I didn’t know I was capable of so much rage until that moment.
&n
bsp; Behind me, I heard Tara usher Paisley from the room. Their footsteps echoed down the hallway. When I was sure they were gone, I reared back and punched Zach in the face as hard as I could. My knuckles connected with his nose, and I felt it break beneath my fingers. Satisfaction swelled inside me, and I grinned at his bloody face.
“This has been a long time coming, you piece of shit,” I growled and threw Zach to the ground.
Zach groaned and tried to stand up, but I kicked him in the stomach. He fell onto his back and I reached down to pull him up by his shirt. With my face inches from his, Zach sucker punched me in the ear, and I jerked away from him. My ear was ringing, but Zach was still on the ground. I kicked him again and climbed on top of him.
I raised my fist, ready to punch him again. A hand closed over my arm and yanked me to the side. I fell over and quickly jumped to my feet. When I looked around, I saw my father standing beside me.
He looked from me to Zach and then back again. His face was etched with anger and concern. I shook from head to toe as he took in the sight of my bleeding brother. The fight had only just begun when he broke it up. I wasn’t ready to be done. Zach had been asking to get his ass kicked for years.
“Take a walk, Sean,” my dad said firmly. He looked at me with anger in his eyes, and I felt like he’d punched me in the stomach.
“Of course,” I spat. “Take Zach’s side. What else is new?”
“I’m not taking sides,” he yelled. “But you’re beating the shit out of your brother in the middle of the conference room! I can’t allow that.”
“You don’t even know what he did!” I fired back. “You have no idea how much he deserved exactly what he got!”
“Shut up,” Zach said from the ground. “Just get out of here. You’re fired!”
“Zach!” Ray snapped. He glared down at Zach before he looked at me quickly. I couldn’t read his expression. He was worried, angry, and confused, but none of that mattered to me. All that mattered was the fact that, once again, my father was taking Zach’s side over mine. Just like he did all those years ago. Just like he always would.
