“You told them to ‘fuck off?’ Good man.”
“What?” Sam kept up with the perplexed tone. “You wanted Josh to make good with the people at the party last night, and now you’re happy that he told them to fuck off?”
“You think I didn’t deal with the same bullshit when I and your mother were dating? People thought I was slumming it, that she was a gold digger.” I glanced over at Sam to see his reaction to the word, but he played it cool. “I had to tell more than a few people the same thing when they got on our case about it.”
“Then you’re not upset?”
“I’m not happy you left like you did. But I understand. And it’s good to see that you’re not afraid to stick up for your fiancée like that. It actually makes me think you’re a little more serious about this whole thing than I’ve feared.”
“This is crazy,” said Sam. “Hardly how a future CEO should be acting.”
“It’s how this CEO acted,” said Dad. “Putting your foot down is an important-as-hell part of the job. Glad to see you can do it even when it comes to your friends.”
The relief was palpable. Dad sat back, more at ease.
“Anyway, keep what I said in mind. The house is going to be a damn zoo getting the place ready for tomorrow, so you both stay out of the way as best you can. That’s all.”
I was ready to get out of there and wasted no time in doing it. But as soon as I was back in the hallway, Sam was hot on my heels.
“Dad might be fine with what you did, but I’m sure as hell not.”
“You’re entitled to your opinion, bro.”
Sam put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me in my tracks. Surprised, I turned toward him and was greeted with a hard look in my little brother’s eyes.
“I’m going to level with you. I don’t know what’s going on with you and that girl, but there isn’t a doubt in my mind that it’s shady.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Something tells me you know what the hell I’m talking about. At first I was thinking it might’ve been her after your money. But now I’m thinking it’s something else. But make no mistake—if there’s something going on, I’m going to find out.”
“What the hell do you care?”
“I care because you and I both know that I’m the right man for the job.”
“I don’t know that, as a matter of fact. And Dad doesn’t seem to think so.”
“Only because you’re the firstborn. And he’s always had a soft spot for you. Me, I had to work hard as hell to get where I am.”
Sam was angry, no doubt about that. But I wasn’t about to get sucked in. “Listen, you want to try and crack the case of me and Cass, you go right ahead. But this thing’s happening. So if you want to be happy for me, that’s what I’d want. You want to act like this, do your thing. But it’d be nice to know I had my own brother on my side for one of the biggest events of my life.”
He didn’t have anything to say to that.
“Anything else, bro?”
“Nothing, bro.”
I didn’t need to hear any more. I was tense, and all I wanted was to be around Cass. It took some searching, but I found her in one of the guest rooms in the middle of a phone conversation. She didn’t notice as I entered.
“OK. So you can see me at three today? That’s perfect—thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it.” She turned and saw that I was there, her face flashed with shock she did. “OK-I’ll-see-you-then-bye!” She quickly hung up.
“What was that all about?” I asked as I entered the room and took a seat on the edge of the bed.
“Um, nothing. I’m getting something special for Mom for Christmas, and I need to go into town today to take a look at it.”
“Oh, that could be nice. Might want to get out of the house before the insanity starts.”
“I’m going with Katie.” The words came out in a quick blurt. “Kind of a sister shopping day.”
Something seemed off about her. But I didn’t want to press. She had enough on her mind already without me grilling her. Not to mention the conversation with Sam still weighing on me.
“That should be fun—some sister bonding time. Go out and have some fun, and hang out with your family. Maybe think about what you want to wear to the party tomorrow.”
She smiled. “Maybe I’ll be bad and buy my own clothes this time.”
“Naughty girl.”
“It’s true, and you know exactly how naughty I can get.”
Maybe she was trying to distract me from something, but I didn’t care. Her smile and her words put my cock at full attention.