Page 10 of Beyond the Hate

Her gaze darts to Rhett’s office. “Mr. High and Mighty is in his office and Jaxon is in the lab. Miles, Zane, and Kai aren’t in yet.”

I’m not surprised. Miles prefers to spend his days on a surfboard. Kai is never on time. And Zane does whatever Zane wants.

I check my watch. We have a meeting scheduled in thirty minutes. “Can you call them? Get them here on time for the meeting?”

“You should listen to me and schedule the meeting an hour before the time you actually want to meet.”

“Or my brothers could learn some discipline.”

She laughs. “Sure. That’ll happen.”

I hate how right she is. I stepped in when Dad left to help Mom raise my brothers but with six of us kids, Mom working two jobs, and working three jobs myself, there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to deal with my shit stirring brothers.

“I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

She salutes me before returning her attention to her computer. She’s a damn good assistant. I sincerely hope my brother doesn’t screw things up with her and cause her to quit. Maybe I should remind him to keep his hands off of her.

I spend the next half hour preparing for our meeting and dodging phone calls. My brothers and I don’t meet often.When we do, it’s important. I fear today’s meeting is going to be a clash. And when my brothers clash? Watch out.

Dakota knocks on my door. “Everyone’s here.”

“You don’t need to notify him. He can tell time,” Rhett grumbles from behind her.

I stand and button my suit jacket. “Thanks, Dakota. You’re an angel.”

Rhett growls and Dakota rolls her eyes. “Mr. High and Mighty isn’t in the meeting room yet.”

I cough to hide my amusement at my brother’s irritation with my assistant. I really do need to remember to tell him to keep his hands to himself. I won’t lose a good assistant because my brother is horny.

I join Rhett in the hallway and together we walk to the meeting room. When we enter, I frown when I notice Kai is missing. I don’t know why I expected my youngest brother to be on time. He never is.

I settle in a chair next to Miles. I sniff. “Why do I smell seawater?”

He shakes his head and water droplets fly onto the table and my suit jacket.

My nostrils flare in irritation as I wipe the water off of me, but I inhale a deep breath before I lash out at him. “Did you go surfing this morning?”

“Bro, I surf every morning.”

“I told you today’s meeting is important. You couldn’t have at least changed into dry clothes?”

“Dakota gave me a towel to sit on. I won’t ruin your precious chairs.”

“I don’t care about the chairs. I care about this business.”

“Bro, you’re a billionaire. What does it matter?”

I grit my teeth. He makes it sound like being a billionaire is no big deal. Like I didn’t exist on cheap Ramen noodles and three hours of sleep for a decade.

Worse yet? He’s trashingBuccaneer’s Whiskey & Distillery.

“Because this isourbusiness. The Raider brothers’ business. It’s our legacy.”

His nose wrinkles. “It’s not the legacy I want.”

All my rancor evaporates at his words. Miles’ dream was to be a professional surfer. And he was good enough to make it as a pro, but after he tore his rotator cuff at a competition in Hawaii, his dreams disappeared in a puff of smoke. He can still surf, but his range of motion is too limited for a professional.

“Sorry, bro.”

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