Page 22 of When It Rains He Pours

It didn't matter, Jacob always walked around like he was king shit, and most of the time I let him. Because I never really cared before.

Before this, it was always easier to just let him do it his way. I'd nod my head in agreement, make him feel like we were seeing eye to eye. And as long he didn't fuck up anything, it worked fine for me.

This time was different. I didn't want the same thing as him, and I wasn't going to just sit back and let him steam roll the entire fucking project.

Not anymore.

“Liam, we both know what needs to happen, so get it done.” His lips thinned as he spoke, brows angling hard. “This isn't a fucking vacation, we're not here to sight see. We need those lots—all of them.”

“I'll think about it,” I said harshly, standing up and squaring my shoulders. “I'll try one more time, but I'm not making any promises.” Tossing some money on the table, I turned to leave.

Jacob threw his hands up, his tone full of frustration. “What the hell does that mean? We already decided. Where the fuck are you going? Don't just walk away from me.”

Flicking my head over my shoulder, I snapped. “No—youdecided, but I have the final say, don't forget that. It's my word that makes it happen, not yours.”

“Why are you being such a dick?!” he yelled as I stormed towards the door.

The room fell silent at his outburst, but I didn't look back. This wasn't up for debate, not anymore.

I was taking control of this before he ruined everything. We might be brothers, but that didn't mean I had take his side.

I had other plans.

It wasn't until a day later that I heard from my brother. And I was actually surprised it took him that long to call me. I never told him no before, not once.

“What do you want, Jacob?” Resting the phone on my ear, I walked to the closet and began sifting through.

“You shouldn't have walked out on me like that, we weren't done talking, Liam. This needs to happen, you know it does.”

“I told you I would think about it, I'm not done thinking yet.” Silence greeted me on the other end of the line. “Jacob, you still there?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asked, his tone thick and heavy. “First, you storm off like a fucking baby, and now you're pulling this garbage. I didn't go through all of this fucking shit for you to suddenly get cold feet. We talked about this, we both agreed we'd do what we needed to in order to get what we wanted.”

Closing the closet, I stalked across the hotel room, laying out my clothes on the bed. “We have another option, I don't know why you're so resistant to it.”

“Liam, you can't back out now, you can't just put the brakes on like this. We're partners, I thought we made this decision months ago.”

“No, we're not partners, we're brothers.” Standing in front of the window, I looked out at the ocean. “And you came up with this, not me. I never said yes or no, I followed your lead like I always do. But things can change, I'm not your damn puppet.”

“We worked so hard already, we spent months negotiating with everyone else. There's no reason for us to change it now, we're so close, you just have to—”

Cutting him off, I shoved his words back down his throat. “Jacob, I'm done talking about this.”

Growling, he let out a heavy breath into the receiver. “And what about the rest of them, huh?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I kicked my shoes off. “We hand them back, nothing was signed and stamped. All we have right now is a bunch of people waiting on us. We can back out without any issues, no harm done. I'm sure half those people don't really want to sell anyway.”

“Do you know what I had to do to make this happen? Do you have any idea what I put into this project from the beginning?” I could hear his anger building as his voice lowered. “I won't let you destroy this, Liam, I'll do what I have to in order to get this done. I'll find a way, money talks, I'll talk to someone until I find what I need.”

“What the hell does that mean?” The line clicked, static filling my ear. “Jacob? Jacob, you there?”

The line went dead.

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