Page 62 of The Maxwell Brothers
I leaned back in my chair, looking at that picture for a long time… right until Declan stomped into my office.
“The owners of the buildings next to The Happy Place have joined the lawsuit,” he announced.
“Fuck.”
I wasn’t surprised, but I was pissed.
I was used to fighting off morons, but usually the fights weren’t personal. Competitors were predictable—they were after profits—but this was different. It was personal. Malcolm and the Halsey Group weren’t acting purely out of business interest. Well, the Halsey Group might have been, but not Malcolm.
He’d thought that by marrying into the Maxwell family, the doors to Chicago would open to him—and they would have. There wasn’t much we didn’t do for the family. But he shot himself in the foot, and his continued interest in Gran’s building smelled of revenge more than a business decision.
“We’ll fight them with all we have,” I said. “Spare no expense. Take whatever risk necessary. I don’t care. The company is doing well enough. I know it, and they know too.”
“I think they’re hoping we don’t want the hassle,” Declan said. With a smirk, he added, “I guess they’re going to learn the hard way what it means to go against the Maxwells.”
“That’s right. They will. A display of force from time to time is necessary.”
Declan grimaced. “You scare me when you talk like that.”
“I mean it,” I said.
“I know you do, hence the scaring part. Who would have thought that having all this would require having to fight for it every day?”
I scoffed, sitting down. “It’s worth it.”
We lived by a code: protect the family at any cost. With money and power came jealousy, and we had people who wanted to take us down. I wouldn’t allow it.
Gran’s building was part of the Maxwell Trust, and no one was going to strong-arm us into anything. Gran once told me that going to the bookstore, The Happy Place, was what kept her alive. I wasn’t going to allow anyone to mess with it.
I had an extreme measure in mind… but I was going to let Declan try thegentleapproach first.
“Do you want to tell Reese about the newest development?” he asked tentatively.
I looked up at him. “No, not yet.”
“She’s going to be pissed if we keep this from her.”
I groaned. “We’re not keeping it from her.”
“What do you call not telling her?”
I smirked. “Protecting her. We don’t have all the facts. I don’t see why we should worry her.”
“Maybe because it’s her shithead of an ex-fiancé who’s pulling all this, probably to get to her.”
I groaned again, dropping my pen. It was no use trying to multitask, not when I was this pissed. “Of course it’s to get back at her. The guy thought he was going to have the world at his feet, and now he doesn’t.”
I still remembered the day Reese called to tell me the wedding was off and that she didn’t have the strength to cancel everything.
Maybe it was wrong to keep things from her, but I still remembered how fragile she was those days. Even though it was months ago, I was sure this would affect her, and I wanted to protect her from it as best as I could.
“No word to Reese for now,” I said.
Declan nodded. “Okay, but for the record, if she finds out, I’ll say it was your idea not to say anything.”
“Fine. I don’t care.”
He cocked a brow, knowing I did care. I hated it when my cousins were mad at me, but I was sure Reese would understand. We’d always protected them. We told everyone we were their brothers at school so no one would mess with them, and no one did. No one wanted to pull a prank on someone when you had six angry Maxwells ready to pick a fight.
