Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
On the sidelines, wallowing in her own petty desperation, Melanie still fires off the occasional text, claiming she wants “to talk.” As if that will ever happen after what she pulled.
“What did Bryan say about tomorrow’s conference?” Alex asks as he joins us in the living room. He doesn’t look too happy—can’t say I blame him. The way he keeps checking his phone tells me everything I need to know.
“Forget the conference. Who are you hoping to hear from?” I ask.
Alex shoots me a sheepish look. I can’t help smiling. “It’s worth a shot.”
“It’s been a month. She hasn’t answered a single call or text. I think the message is pretty clear,” I say.
Kellan shakes his head. “I’m not giving up on her, either,” he says. “We have to try again.”
“Bryan won’t tell us anything,” Alex adds.
I let out a dry scoff. “Are you surprised? He’s protecting his sister. Honestly, I’m grateful he didn’t sell his stake in the company. At least we still work together. Maybe we can rebuild the friendship in time—let’s not blow up an already fragile dynamic.”
Alex draws a deep breath and pours himself a Scotch. I watch the way his confident facade wobbles, doubt shadowing every measured move, like he’s questioning whether he should be doing this—or anything at all.
It’s my brother’s freeze response to failure.
And this time, we failed Makayla.
“He and I talked,” Alex says, settling into the armchair opposite me.
Kellan and I both stare. “You did what now?” I mumble. “When?”
“Yesterday,” he replies. “At the office. I wanted to know where we all stand, now that he’s had a chance to cool down a bit.”
“And?” Kellan chimes in. “Same as before?”
“More or less,” Alex says. “There’s some tension between him and Callie. He tried talking to Melanie about the whole thing. It’s… it’s a mess between the sisters now. He doesn’t want to get involved any further.”
I shake my head. “Women like Melanie can only control the narrative for so long. Eventually the victim mask cracks and Callie will see through it.”
“Where does that leave us with Makayla?” Kellan wonders.
“Nowhere good—at least not yet,” Alex says on a long sigh. “She’s still a sore subject for Bryan.”
“Where is she now?” I ask.
Alex meets my gaze, a faint glimmer sparking in his eyes. “Chasing her dream—where else? And remember Bryan’s main condition for the partnership: Makayla is off-limits. No contact.”
I tilt my head, a wry grin pulling at my mouth. “Which brings me back to my original question—why do you keep checking your phone, brother?”
He groans and downs the rest of his Scotch. “Kay.”
“You realize how desperate that looks, right?” Kellan says.
“I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
“We have to respect their decision, Alex,” I remind him. “I know it makes us feel ridiculous—hell, it’s offensive. Every damn day we’re shut out over what happened at that resort is torture, and I get it.”
“We all get it,” Kellan chimes in.
“But we can’t breach the agreement we made with Bryan,” I add.
Alex glances down at his phone again. “I know she reads every message I send her.”
“But she doesn’t reply. This is beneath us,” I say.
“No, what’s beneath us is us sitting here and taking it, instead of fighting for it. What the hell happened to us, man?”
Kellan sighs. “Love. Love that showed up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“No, it was the right place, it was the right time. Were it not for Melanie, we’d still be together,” Alex replies. “It’s all on Melanie.”
I shake my head. “We’re responsible too. The moment Melanie walked into that restaurant, we should’ve pulled Makayla aside and told her everything. Given her a heads-up about who she was up against. Instead, we panicked, afraid she’d walk away from us, and now—look. She’s gone.”
Kellan rummages through the cabinet drawers and finally finds the watch I gave him last Christmas. “Ye of little faith,” he mutters, fastening it around his wrist.
“I need another drink,” I concede, but Kellan saves me the trip to the minibar and brings the whole bottle over. “Thank you, brother.”
“How’s Bryan doing otherwise?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me. “I skipped most of last week’s executive meetings.”
“We noticed,” Kellan says.
“He still isn’t keen on hanging out,” Alex says. “Business talk is fine, but everyone’s still pissed about Sweden, so… our friendship’s on ice. Oscar, he needs time, alright?”
I snort before I can stop myself. “Everybody needs time, huh? After what Melanie did? After we got maybe a minute to explain before they treated us like we were radioactive? They all need time.”
“Oscar.” Alex tries to reason with me, but I’m one too many drinks in—and too angry.
“No. I’m right. You both know it. We’re still the civil ones here. In the meantime, Melanie gets to prance around and spew her venom, and we’re supposed to take the high road? Even now?”