Page 38 of His Rules

I narrowed my eyes. Ourfatherwasn’t the warmest of men and abhorred the way Steven had ruined his life. Our father’s words, not mine. “Why? Changing his will?”

He laughed, but the sound was bitter. “I have no doubt about that.”

“What did he want? Let me guess, a favor.”

“Yep. He’s worried about you. He mentioned you’re working too hard. All work and no play kind of thing.”

“Dad is only worried I’ll smear our good name through the mud. I work a lot. So what?”

“So how is business in the airplane field anyway?”

My glare was harsh. “It’s more than just airplanes. It’s living the luxury lifestyle.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. You should know about that. Is something going on inside the company? I ask because you look more stressed than normal.”

My brother was many things including being a terrible liar.

“And because dear ole Dad mentioned something. Right?”

“He might have,” Steven said, trying his best to act like it wasn’t any big deal. My father had never wanted me to go into the aeronautical business even though it was all I could talk about as a kid. I’d built a hundred or more airplane models, reading every aviation book. I’d studied engineering hoping to be an aeronautical engineer.

I learned quickly I wasn’t cut out for that kind of thing, almost flunking out of the program. That’s when I’d switched to a double major in business administration with a heavy emphasis on accounting and marketing.

Almost the exact path Kacey had been on.

Chuckling, I motioned for the bartender. I’d been right about the drink. “Of course he did. We’re losing business and honestly, I don’t know why the clients are walking away. Yes, we had some production issues left over from a few years ago, but they’ve been cleared up at this point. Every project has run smoothly yet profits are down, clients attempting to renegotiate contracts and one asshole determined not to honor his. I don’t know what tomake of it. Unless our main competitor is using extortion to take away our business. That’s entirely possible.”

I thought about my conversation with Francis. He’d seemed nervous as if someone was breathing down his neck. Maybe a quick trip to New York could prove helpful on two fronts.

The thought brought another wave of desire. I could use Kacey’s help. Maybe even take her advice about being nice.

“Have you talked to Drake about it?”

“Endlessly. We’ve gone over numbers, boosted our marketing campaigns, and now we have a couple trips to try and bolster the sense of teamwork.”

Steven rubbed his jaw. “Any money stolen?”

“Not that I can find.”

“Trade secrets?”

“That could be possible. But there are only a few top executives who have access to our plans.”

“Then you know what they say, brother. When things are going south within a company, it usually starts from the top down. I’d go after your competitor with both barrels.”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll do that. Why haven’t you come to work for me?”

“You know why. I’d never work for you, bro. With you? Maybe, but not now. I just think you need to delve deeper into what’s going on.”

Steven had always been a free spirit. He was doing his best to throw away his trust money on parties and chicks. He wasso damn intelligent that even I was ready to chastise him for wasting his life.

“What are you getting at?” I polished off my drink, slamming the glass down with a hard thud. I’d honestly been thinking the same thing, but was eager to have my brother’s take on it. The guy was brilliant, just incapable of utilizing his God-given talent.

“Don’t shoot the messenger. How well do you know and trust that partner of yours?”

A snort left my throat. “Well enough to know he’s capable of anything, but I trust him. Why?”

“Have you confronted him about your suspicions with regard to the competition?”

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