Page 9 of Confessions of Pain

“Exactly.”

I waited. And waited. What was his point?

Finally, he rolled his eyes when he saw I wasn’t going to get it on my own. “Let’s just say that if my baby brother had done something so bad that another guy had been stewing in hatred, just waiting for the opportunity to get back at him, I sure the hell wouldn’t have left him alone in a room with that guy.” He eased back in his seat but continued to look me in the eye. “Not one of them even looked in his direction when they left the room, Gabe. It was like he wasn’t even there. They were totally worried about themselves and not another damned thing. Hell, that lady, Barb, was the only one that acted like she might give a damn about Kelsey. I don’t know what the hell her role is at that plant, but unless she’s Kelsey’s mother, I can’t begin to come up with an explanation as to why she was the only one in that room that was worried about his welfare.”

Barb wasnotKelsey’s mother. Barb looked like a woman who spent the majority of her life taking care of her family, mothering and loving them. The last time Gabriel had seen Kelsey’s mom, she’d looked a lot like a Barbie doll. Heart not included in package. Shit, Ethan was right, not one of them had been the least bit concerned about Kelsey. Sure, Wayne had gotten all bent out of shape when he’d learned who I was, acted like he might be trying to protect Kelsey, but the minute he learned his wealth and power were at stake, Kelsey was quickly forgotten.

“He called you a rapist, Gabe,” Ethan interrupted my thoughts, reminding me of the shit he’d heard in the boardroom. “I don’t for one fucking minute believe that, but I’m merely saying that whatever shit went down between you and Kelsey, I’m pretty sure it involved sex. I assume they were just pissed that you were banging their baby brother?”

Well, fuck. I’d known I would have to eventually tell them about my ugly past. Now was as good a time as any, I supposed. I had to trust they would believe my side—not the shit Kelsey told his father and the sheriff. My head started pounding. Carrying hate in my heart was beginning to take its toll on me. Ethan was right, this wasn’t me. I hated feeling this way.

“Come on up to the room and let me tell you what happened,” I muttered. “Hell, I should have already told you guys.”

“Yes, you should have, my man. Having said that, I’m still pissed at you. I’m not going up there right now.” When I opened my mouth to argue, he held up his hand to stop me and said, “You fucking tried to blackmail the kid into blowing you, Gabe. That’s one I’m not going to get over in a three-minute drive from the plant to the hotel room.”

I felt heat burn my cheeks. I still couldn’t believe I’d said that to Kelsey. I would have never let him do it, but those damned words never should have left my mouth. Hell, they shouldn’t have even been floating around in my head to begin with. The look on his face after my hateful words caused my heart to bleed. It was in that moment that I knew I needed help. My head was too fucked up. My heart was still broken.

“I wouldn’t have gone through with it,” I muttered softly.

“I would hope to hell not, Gabriel. Seriously? A blow job to keep the plant open? What the fuck were you thinking? A comment like that has a lawsuit written all the fuck over it, not to mention that it makes you a mean son of a bitch! Thank the fuck I know you well enough to know that your head is messed up three ways to Saturday for shit like that to come out of your mouth. If he sues your ass, I’ll laugh at you while you’re writing him the check. Dumbass.”

“I just wanted to hurt him. Hurt him like he hurt me.” I sounded like a seven-year-old kid trying to defend why I took my ball and went home.

“Well…I think you succeeded.”

Ethan’s words echoed in my head as visions of Kelsey’s face in that boardroom flashed in front of me. He’d flinched, literally flinched in pain when I’d told him to suck me off. In an instant, tears flooded his eyes, drowning those beautiful blue irises. His cheeks reddened and his hands started trembling. Long lashes that I used to tease him mercilessly over blinked slowly as he looked at me, Ethan, and then back at me. He hadn’t said a word in response. He hadn’t punched me in the face like I’d deserved. Without another word to either of us, he’d simply stood up and left the room. Everything inside my body screamed for me to go after him, to beg for his forgiveness. Instead, though, I’d sat there, feeling like an ass.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” I closed my eyes and bounced the back of my head against the headrest. What the fuck had I been thinking? Coming here again? Confronting Kelsey and his family? What had I hoped to achieve? Not a damned thing, that was what. I hadn’t thought one minute past the look of shock that would come over their faces when they learned that I had stolen their company right out from under them. I literally had not thought past that moment. I’d just spent millions of dollars to buy a company that was not only beyond bailing out, but one that I didn’t even want for more than my opportunity to get my “takethat” moment.

Well, didn’t it feel just fucking great? Yeah, take that. I’d shown them.

I was so screwed.

“What do I do now, Ethan?” I muttered in disgust. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with a textile company that I know not one damned thing about, and that I’m even less interested in learning anything about? Just give it back?”

“I guess you shut the doors, just like you told Kelsey. I mean, you aren’t interested in running a textile mill, are you? I’ve never heard you mention that job title before, and I’m pretty sure you’ve told me you wouldn’t mind being anything from the President of the United States to Santa Claus.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “There couldn’t be more than eighty people working there, I wouldn’t think, so not too many people will lose their jobs. No big deal, right?”

“Nobody likes an asshole, Ethan. I’ve told you that over and over again. I know how you feel about this, so quit with the theatrics and help me fix it, okay?”

He grinned, just like I knew he would. “I’m already on it. The other guys will be here by nine o’clock tonight. Get ready to spill the beans on your sordid past, get your ass handed to you by Jeremiah after I tell him what you said to that poor kid, and then, and only then, we will come up with a plan to turn this shitshow around. Got it?”

I looked at my watch. It was almost six o’clock. There was no way they could be here by nine—even if they took Titus’s private jet. “How are they going to be here by nine?”

“I texted Titus the minute that stupid shit fell out of your mouth in the boardroom. That confirmed what I already suspected—you are fucked up in the head where anything Morganston is concerned. I told Titus to get his ass here and to dig up every damned thing he knew about textiles on his trip over.”

“Maybe I should just go home. Being here isn’t healthy for me, Ethan. I’ll work without pay for the rest of my life if you guys can just clean this one up for me.”

“Nope. You made this mess and you’re going to fix it. No, you aren’t going to do it by yourself because you’ve got family to support you. It would have been nice if you wouldn’t have let family walk into this completely blind, but there’s no point crying over that now. Titus is the brains of our group, and he’ll figure something out.”

“Maybe, but what should I—”

“Get. Out. Of. The. Car. I need to be alone and talk to Jeremiah.” He leaned over and grabbed the collar of my shirt. “This is me still pissed at you. We need space. When you see me again, everything will be cool again. Love you.Now get out.”

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