Page 19 of Beyond the Hate

Is it wrong to punch my brother? Mom would totally understand. I know she’s wanted to punch Kai more than once. No one wants to wake up to a snake in your bed. Even if it is a rubber snake.

“All of us are shareholders in the business,” I grit out.

Kai rolls his eyes. “I’m not stupid. I can do math.”

“When I tutor him,” Jaxon mutters, and Kai slaps his shoulder.

“While all of us have shares,” Kai continues, “you’re the majority shareholder.”

“If I’m the majority shareholder, why didn’t I know the distillery is sponsoring this scavenger hunt?”

“You’re sponsoring this?” Paisley asks. She doesn’t wait for a response. “I should have known. Any excuse to show off how wealthy you are to everyone else.” She rolls her eyes. “We get it. You’re a billionaire. Big deal.”

Zane barks out a laugh. “I love you, Paisley.”

I know he’s joking but my body must not since my stomach dips as jealousy fills me and my fists clench with the desire to punch him.

While I’m wrestling with my control, a woman sashays to the booth. She bites her bottom lip and flutters her eyelashes at me. My body has no response. “Did I hear correctly? You’re the owner of the distillery?”

“I’m out,” Paisley says before shoving her friends out of the booth so she can stand. “CEO of Annoying,” she mutters as shestomps past me.

My eyes are glued to her ass as she moves. What a glorious ass it is. I’d love to watch it bounce up and down as I sink into her. But Paisley has made herself perfectly clear. She hates my guts. I need to forget about her and move on.

The bartender sets a beer down in front of me.

“Hey, Harper,” I greet. “How have you been?”

“I was much better before you lot showed up,” she mutters before walking off.

I lift my beer to have a drink but the glass dissolves in my hand, and I end up with beer all over my pants.

“You’re welcome,” Paisley shouts from across the room.

Zane whistles. “Note to self. Never piss off Paisley.”

I narrow my eyes on him. He needs to stop talking about her. He smirks as he holds up his hands.

“She’s all yours, bro. I don’t poach.”

I scowl. Paisley isn’t mine. As evidenced by my soaking wet pants.

Chapter 7

“If I close my eyes, I can pretend things could be worse.” ~ Paisley

Paisley

I fist my hands on my hips as I scan the building.

“What do you think?” Maya asks. “Is it enough?”

I hope it is. It would break my heart to lose the brewery due to a hurricane. “We’ve done the most we can do. We’ve installed storm shutters, sealed the doors, and reinforced the roof.”

Maya motions to where Nova, Sophia, and Chloe are working. “And they’ve trimmed all the trees and shrubs, cleared the gutters and drains, and anchored any loose items.”

“We’ve done everything we can.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve prepped for a hurricane but it’s the first time since theFive Fathomsbrewery was built.

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