Page 12 of Succumbed

“Right, because no one is going to question why it sounds eerily similar to hers.”

“Fine, we tell them. Make them sympathetic to our cause.”

I understand his concern over trusting someone new after Anne-Marie fucked us over, but he’s taking it too far.

“Right. I’m sure they’ll believe her former business partners have no ulterior motives for bad-mouthing her.”

His jaw clenches, the muscles flexing. “We go to Greenstar and tell them the whole story and take our files as proof.”

I chuckle and his face goes red. “What reason do they have to believe us over her? Our files and the ones she pitched to them are nearly identical.”

He throws his hand up. “Fine, let’s just sell the house. Cut our losses and leave California.”

“Yeah, okay, drama king. Homelessness sounds like a great option.”

He groans, throwing his head back as he stares at the ceiling. “Goddamnit, Shane.”

His chest heaves with a resigned sigh as he meets my gaze. I stare him down, arms crossed, stance wide and relaxed.

“Listen, Dec.” My voice is calm, barely above a whisper, “You need to stop treating the rest of us like fucking opponents. No one has you on the ropes here; not Lex or Athena, and certainly not me and Linc.”

He blows a sharp breath through his nose, nostrils flaring. At least he hasn’t told me to fuck off. Progress.

“The more you face off with us, the more you’re setting Anne-Marie up to succeed. And that’s the last fucking thing any of us want.”

“I get it, Shane. Believe me.” His eyes close briefly as he runs a hand through his hair in frustration.

“Man, you’ve been acting like a cornered animal. To be honest, I’m tired of the defensiveness.” I’m also tired of playing peacekeeper between him and Linc, but I’m not going down that road. Yet.

His brows draw together and his breathing evens out, his color returning to normal. “You that tired of me?”

I point at him, lips tipping up. “Don’t put words in my mouth, asshole.”

He huffs a laugh and looks away. “Yeah, okay. I hear you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, asshole.” His lips twitch into a broad smile.

I grin. Before I can invite him to come up and have a civil conversation with Linc, I hear footsteps rattling the stairs.

“Dec? Shane? You guys good?”

Dec’s eyes close briefly before he answers. “Yeah, we’re fine. Be right up.”

The footsteps stop. There’s a pause, then, “Okay. Well, we got an email from Miles, so…yeah.”

The vein in Dec’s forehead pops. I give him a pointed look as the redness reappears at his collar.

He waves me off, eyes rolling. “Go. I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Deep breath, man,” I mutter, turning for the stairs.

It’s never been this tense between the three of us. I hate it. If Declan was anyone else, I wouldn’t tolerate his attitude, but I owe him and his family my life. They took me in when I had nothing to offer but friendship, then raised me like one of their own. Loyalty matters more than anything to me–I can give the man who adopted me as a brother some time to figure his shit out. But I’m not above drastic measures if he doesn’t get it together. Soon.

Linc’s in the kitchen when I get to the main floor, his back to me as he stands with his hands braced on either side of the sink, shoulders by his ears.

“What did Miles say?” I call, walking around the island.

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