Page 74 of Ruthless Wars

“It’s not bad,” I say to assure everyone, but their faces still drop in disbelief. “No, really. At least, it’s not that bad.”

“Are you sick?” Allison asks.

“No, worrywart, I’m not sick. But, Austin, I’ll need you to slow down construction on the new headquarters because the business is taking a new direction.”

Now that I’ve got the undivided attention of the four of them, I don’t know how to begin. I’m sure as hell not starting at the beginning, with whatever happened between Everett and my mom. So, I start at the end.

“I can’t go into all the details, but Steele Holdings is ours.”

Frowning with confusion, they all stare at me silently until Allison jumps in.

“Yes,” she says slowly like I’m feeble-minded. “From the deal we just negotiated.”

“No.” I shake my head. “The deal is null and void. It was made under the false pretense that Steele Holdings belonged to Long Multinational, but it didn’t. And without legitimate ownership of Steele Holdings, the deal we negotiated wasn’t legally valid.”

“I’m confused,” Avery says, jumping in. “You just said Steele Holdings is ours. But not through what you all have been working on for weeks?”

“Right.” I huff out a sigh, realizing nobody is understanding what I’m trying to say. Which means I need to explain more.

God, kill me now.

“Okay,” I say slowly, stalling. “Here’s the deal. Uh ...”

“Just spit it out already,” Aiden says sharply, losing his patience.

“Fine. Everett Long thought I was his son, and long story short, gave me Steele Holdings a long time ago. I didn’t know about it. But he didn’t want the siblings to fight, so he gave it to me, Avery, and Aiden. I guess you could say he just handed me the deed.”

As eyes widen to comical proportions and mouths drop open all around, Aiden recovers first to ask, “Are you his son?”

Austin gives me a panicked look. “Because with Margot that could be really ...”

“Eww,” Allison says before covering her mouth.

“No!” I say quickly. “I’m not his son.”

Aiden’s shocked expression morphs into a hopeful smile. “Am I his son?”

I rub my temple, feeling a headache coming on. “None of us are related to the man.”

When Avery raises her hand like we’re in a classroom, I just stare at her until she speaks.

“So, why did he think you were his son?”

Frustrated, I rake my fingers through my hair. All I know is I really don’t want to answer this question, so I just shrug it away.

Aiden holds up a palm. “Hang on. If none of us are his children, then why did he give us the company?”

“Oh my God, you all just won’t let it go.” I blow out a long breath, resigned to telling them the truth. “Once upon a time, Everett Long and our mother—”

The room erupts into a noisy babble as a rush of objections fly my way, and I’m beyond relieved that the snippet of explanation is all they need. Except for Aiden, of course, who digs out a bag of popcorn from his messenger bag and rips it open, grabbing a handful and chomping eagerly as he waits for more.

With an accusing finger, I point to him. “You’re one sick bastard.”

“And this is news?” he asks before shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

“Anyway,” I say with a glare, “I have to return the money to our backers, and it’s best at this point that we part ways.”

“So, what does that mean for us?” Allison asks, her brow knitted so tightly that I have to resist giving her a quick hug.

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