Page 22 of His Gift
“Are you in love with him?”
I nearly jerked the steering wheel and crashed into the car next to us. “What? Um,no. He’s my brother.”
“Just asking,” Enzo said, his broad, cheeky grin returning. “Because as taboo as it is, there are people who are into that.”
“I amnotin love with my brother,” I insisted forcefully. “I feel responsible for him, guilty. Our parents never treated us equally, and because he’s the omega, he always got the thin end of the wedge. It’s made him?—”
I stopped, mostly because Enzo was grinning at me like a Cheshire cat. The bastard. He’d deliberately provoked me with the whole incest thing so I would blurt out the truth instead of holding back.
Actually, that was incredibly clever of him. He would do brilliantly in a business negotiation. He’d have clients and colleagues eating out of his hand in minutes.
I looked at him, feeling how hot my face was. “Do you always do that?”
“Do what?” he asked with fake innocence.
“Get people to talk about things they might not otherwise talk about by nudging them into it.”
“I nudged?”
I smiled before I could stop myself. I liked him. God, how I liked him! Part of me wanted to pull over, drag Enzo into the back seat, yank his trousers down, and bury myself in him like he had the elixir of life up in his womb and I could only reach it through vigorous fucking.
That was not like me at all.
“Okay,” I said, smiling and relaxing way more than I thought I ever could under those circumstances. “Yes, I think Walt is jealous of me, of the favoritism our parents show me, and of the position I’ve been given in the family company. It bothers me, though. The older he’s gotten, the angrier he is. We used to be close when we were kids, but now….” I sighed. “Sometimes I think he hates me.”
“Because as you grew into adults, your parents favored their alpha son instead of their omega,” Enzo said, nodding like he understood.
“It gets worse than that,” I said as I took the exit for central Norwalk. “It hasn’t just been favoritism these last couple years. I see it and Walt sees it. Dad has been trying to push Walt out of business and into getting married and starting a family.”
“Ouch,” Enzo said, like he understood and appreciated the pain of the situation without too much explanation. As an omega, it made sense that he’d get it.
“Walt is brilliant, though,” I went on, heading straight to the Pullman Center, where Walt was probably waiting. “He really is clever. Dad never appreciated it and Papa constantly warned him to tone it down because no decent, society alpha would want a clever omega for a husband.”
“Old school much?” Enzo asked.
I laughed humorlessly. “Very. A lot of the richest and most powerful families in Barrington and beyond would happily go back to the days of arranged marriages within top society circles if they could. Some actually do. I had an alpha friend growing up whose parents arranged his marriage. At least they ended up happy together. So far.”
Enzo’s brow shot up in surprise. “You’re actually, genuinely rich?”
Another bolt of embarrassed dread shot through me. “Um, yeah,” I said, eyeing him sideways. “That’s not a problem, is it?”
“No, not at all,” Enzo said. He had a weird look on his face, part shock, part curiosity, but mostly amusement, like I’d inadvertently fulfilled some sort of inside joke.
“Anyhow,” I went on. “Walt has been fighting to keep his place in the company for the last year or so. He’s rejected every suitor Dad and Papa have thrown in his path. He’s determined to prove that he’s as strong and competent as I am. He definitely works tirelessly.”
“But somehow you’ve become the enemy of his ambitions, even though you’d gladly help him if he’d let you,” Enzo finished my thoughts perfectly.
“Yes,” I said, glancing at him before I made another turn. “How did you know?”
Enzo shrugged. “It was just a guess, but based on everything you told me, how he sounded during that call, and what I know about you so far, it makes logical sense.”
“Any suggestions about what I should do?” I asked as we approached the Pullman Center.
“Take your brother’s side in every argument,” Enzo said. “Stand up to your dad on his behalf whenever you can. Support him and make him feel important, especially when it comes to business—and ohh. That’s why we’re here instead of horizontal and messy in a room at Kincade Slopes. I get it now.”
I sent Enzo an apologetic look as I pulled into the parking lot of the Pullman Center and pulled up next to Walt’s sports car. “I’m sorry for cutting our time short,” I said. I blinked as something else hit me, then said, “Shit. And I’m sorry for forgetting to drop you off at your place before coming here.”
Enzo laughed. “It’s no problem. I don’t live that far from here anyhow. I can walk.”
