Page 71 of His Rules

“Yes, well, you can never be too busy to spend time with family,” Pops muttered and threw his linen napkin into his lap.

A waiter appeared seconds later taking our order. I’d allow myself one drink this afternoon. There was far too much business to handle if I had any hopes of pulling this off successfully.

“How’s business?” Pops asked while reaching for his drink.

“Down. Noticeably so. Changes need to be made and quickly.” I had no intention of tiptoeing around any of the issues.

“That’s a shame, son.”

“Dad, cut the crap. You all but told me I’d fail. However, I’m not going to let it go down without a fight. Steven is going to help me.”

“You are?” Pops was shocked.

I expected my brother to blow it off like he’d done for years. But to his credit, he looked the man right in the eye. “I am. We’re going to work together.”

The drinks arrived and I was surprised our father was beaming. “To my talented two sons. Working together, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.” He lifted his glass and while we shared a moment of celebration, I made certain it was short lived.

“I hope that’s the truth, Dad. But we can’t do it without your help.” My honesty surprised even me. I could tell by my dad’s eyes that he was shocked.

“Meaning?”

“You still own shares within your old company. Yes?”

“The great World Hospitality Corporation? Yes, more than anyone believes.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Can you get more?”

He narrowed his eyes and I could also tell my brother was boring holes in me with his. “Yes, I can. I still have my sources.”

“Like you do with a group of investors?”

“What are you getting at?”

“You were furious when neither one of us wanted anything to do with the Winfield brand. However, they’ve kept our name on the hotels. Although my guess is that they are close to rebranding. Yes?” I asked. I’d used a couple of sources of my own, learning about the plans. It fit perfectly into what I intended on doing.

“Yes, you are correct. I stay current on what’s going on with them.”

I glanced at my brother. “Is that because of your gambling problem?”

He acted as if he was going to deny any involvement, but I threw out my hand.

“Don’t, Dad. I know all about it since Ashley was more than happy to throw it in my face. She’s trying to use the scandalous information against me and you as well.”

For the first time in as long as I could remember, the man appeared a shell of himself, his face paling. He looked around the restaurant before leaning forward. “I got in a little over my head. Yes. But I’m done with that now.”

“Yes, you are,” I told him. “But you’ll need to keep your job with the company to pay off the current debt.”

“I have investments that I didn’t want to touch. Charles has no clue about them and that’s the way I want it.”

“Charles as in Ashley’s father, the man who used to be your best friend. Correct?”

He snorted. “Don’t be snide, Sebastian. It doesn’t look good on you.”

“No, I think it does. The man you allowed to convince you to enter into a sick arrangement so the two kids would be married. Did you always have plans on bringing him into the company?”

“He knows people, so we’d talked about it. When he learned neither of you wanted anything to do with Winfield Properties, he gladly stepped up to the plate, making me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“Uh-huh. Well, you didn’t refuse it.” I was suddenly allowing my anger to get the better of me.

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