Page 38 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
I could take it.
Asher cleared his throat and folded his hands in front of him. I had purposefully chosen to sit directly across from him so that I was right in his line of sight. I wanted to make him uncomfortable. I wanted to throw him off his game. Every time he looked up, I wanted him to see me first.
Not because I wanted him to look at me. Because I wanted to be a reminder of what he did.
“Good morning, everyone,” Asher said. “I’d like to start the meeting by thanking Damian and Ivy—“ Asher blushed and coughed. “I’m sorry.” He banged on his chest, and his eyes watered. “Something was stuck in my throat. “I’d like to start the meeting by thanking Damian and Ivinia for traveling from the other side of the kingdom to meet with us.” Asher paused and nodded at Damian and then me. He couldn’t even make eye contact with me.
I leaned back in my chair and raised my coffee cup to hide my smile.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
“Are you not hungry?” Damian asked after he polished off his Reuben sandwich.
I looked down at my turkey bacon avocado club and sighed.
“Nah, you can have it.” I pushed my plate toward him and smiled when he didn’t hesitate to stuff it into his mouth. “You’re disgusting,” I said and laughed.
Damian paused and shrugged, then got back to inhaling my lunch.
I looked out the window of the busy restaurant and stared up at Asher’s tall building.
We were on an hour lunch break from the meeting. Asher had offered to order us lunch to the office, but I declined. Damian and I needed the time to speak in private. But during our lunch, I’d barely said two words.
My mind was too full of thoughts about Asher.
The morning had been good…at first. It was fun to watch Asher be flustered by me, just like I had been when we first met. Now, the tables had turned, and I was the one with the upper hand.
During the meeting, Asher had spoken about why he thought it was smart to work together. He listed the obvious points—like the Alpha king wanted us to team up, and two teams were better than one. But he also brought up an interesting point. Asher revealed that he wanted to work with us because his rival company that was run by Silas Shepard was fighting hard for the job, too. Silas’ company was teaming up with Ginger Howard—another one of his tech business rivals. Asher didn’t want those companies to have the account because he had found out recently that both of their companies were cutting corners. What if they got the job and they didn’t develop the optimal tech to protect our kingdom?
During the meeting, when I would mention even the smallest point, fact, or name, I could tell just from his expression, Asher was impressed with my knowledge of the tech world. When Asher’s astounded look had given me a quick flash of pride, I began to rethink my decision to come to Sun Fire.
I couldn’t allow myself to be drawn into Asher’s orbit again. Not only for myself, but for my son, too. Asher had already rejected me. I wasn't going to allow him to send away his son.
I picked up my paper napkin and began to tear it into tiny pieces.
I imagined my son bursting into tears because his father sent him away. I could barely handle the heartbreak of being rejected when I was twenty. If Asher told Adrian that he wanted nothing to do with him, what would that do to my sweet, sensitive, six-year-old boy?
No.
Asher must not find out that we had a son. He was the one who wanted to pretend like our night together had never happened, so he could just spend the rest of his lifepretending.
“Ivinia? Are you all right?”
Damian's voice startled me out of my thoughts.
I looked down and flushed when I realized I’d torn up the entire paper napkin. I gathered the white bits of paper and put them on my empty—thanks to Damian—plate.
“Uh, yeah. I'm fine,” I said and took a sip of my iced tea.
Damian gave me a look that made it obvious he didn't believe my lie. My half-brother and I didn't look much alike. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and had midnight black hair. His eyes were the exact same shade of emerald grin as Adrian's.
Damian crossed his arms and leaned back. “Come on, out with it. Ever since you found out that we were going to travel to the BloodMoon Pack, you haven’t been acting like yourself. You’re at least ten percent more annoying.”
I couldn’t even muster a smile.
I hadn’t revealed much of my past to my father and Damian. All they knew was that Adrian’s dad didn’t know that he had a son and that I’d like to keep it that way. Neither of them even knew that I used to be a member of the BloodMoon Pack.
Damian caught my eye, and his expression turned serious.
