Page 61 of Succumbed

He glowers, storming back around behind his desk. “That’s not a compliment.”

“I didn’t mean it as one.”

“We’re done here.”

“Sure. Whatever you say.”

“Why are you wasting my time? Was this some kind of diversion?”

For fuck’s sake. “I get Reginald has trained you to assume the worst of everyone, especially me, but you need to look past the indoctrination for a minute.”

He scrubs a hand down his face. “Unbelievable.”

“You can say that again.”

“I’d offer to see you out, but I think you know the way,” he snaps, throwing a hand toward the door.

Shaking my head, I cross his office and pause at the door, turning back to meet his fiery gaze.

“I’m not your enemy,” I say softly. “I never have been.”

Something flickers in his gaze before he drops it, hands on his hips as he stands seething behind his desk. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Right,” I exhale sharply, centering myself. “Get a third party to vet Anne-Marie’s tech. Don’t go into the Summit blind.”

“I haven’t needed your advice before, Lex, and I don’t need it now.” He spits my name out like a curse.

“There’s a difference between need and want, Nate. You and our father would do well to learn it.”

“Get out!” He slams his palms against the wooden desk.

He looks so like our father, skin flushed red and eyes wild. Reginald Livingston had never attempted to control his temper, at the office or at home. He ruled both with an iron fist, and Nate was his prodigy.

“It’s a pity.”

Nate’s eyes blaze. He can’t let me have the last word; his training won’t let him.

“What is?” he bites out.

“Even with the distance and freedom to do what you want, be the leader you want to be, create a business you can be proud of…,” I gesture around the room, nearly a carbon copy of our father’s. “All that opportunity, and you chose to be just like him.”

Nate snatches a mug from his desk and hurls it in my direction. I don’t flinch, standing stock still as it flies inches from my shoulder to shatter on the floor behind me.

I tsk. “I stand corrected. Dad would never miss.”

My brother roars in frustration as I open his office door and stride out. His assistant looks wildly from me to the door, then hurries to pull it closed as I saunter away. Even as heaviness and disappointment settle in my gut, I don’t let it show.

I’d long since accepted that any relationship with my brother would be strained, at best. He had no interest in removing the blinders our father put on him, no desire to accept the responsibility of thinking for himself. It was a shame because the boy I remembered, the brother who had been my friend and playmate, was full of so much potential.

The Summit is six weeks away. Whether Greenstar realizes the risk Anne-Marie poses or not is up to Nate.

Chapter 19

Lex

Meeting with the guys on the same day I visited Nate was a questionable decision. After returning to Athena and burying myself in work, I texted them to request a change in venue–from their place to mine. My energy was tapped, and I didn’t have it in me to trek to Los Altos at eight pm.

There’s also a part of me reluctant to be back in their house for the first time since I gave myself to Shane and Linc. The temptation to lose myself in them is strong, particularly after the day I’ve had, and I don’t trust myself to keep it professional. I doubt Declan’s attitude will improve if I’m all over his brother and best friend. And I have no desire to see what happens when it gets worse.

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