Page 7 of Roots of the Wicked

Chapter Four

Chase

The next day, my secretary Kimberly, stood behind her desk when I walked in. Her stressed face and stiff posture slowed my stride.

“Good morning Mr. Taylorson.”

“Good morning Kim. Is everything okay?”

“No sir. Your brother’s here. He bullied his way into your office about ten minutes ago. I’m so sorry sir, but I didn’t want to make a scene and call security.”

A glance at my watch showed it was seven in the morning, and I was willing to bet Blake’s breakfast had been a liquid one.

“It’s okay Kim. You have no reason to be sorry. The next time he tries this, you have my permission to cause a scene and call security.” She nodded, but I didn’t miss the smirk on her face. Blake had shown up on several occasions talking down to the staff, ordering them around, and causing his own scene.

His last act had been particularly bad, as one of the employees had recorded him in a drunken rage, shouting, and knocking things off employee’s desk. He ranted nonstop about me steeling his role as CEO of Swift Capital. The video had gone viral, and painted him as the troubled brother that I was forced to deal with. The incident caused an even bigger riff between us as he blamed me for the recording and sharing the video on social media.

The sight of Blake, sitting in my office, behind my desk, made me want to turn around and start my day over.

“Hey brother,” he spoke when I walked in, his tone filled with contempt. “Blake,” I greeted, walking up to my desk. “Out of the chair,” I ordered, hating the fact that he had access to the building, much less into my office. However, any push or resistance on my part made him that much more destructive in his behavior.

Blake was older than me by two years, but you would never know it based on his conduct. Multiple DUI’s, gambling, caught in the act of cheating on his wife multiple times. He had been campaigning for a job as CEO of this investment firm when he had zero control over his own finances. After gaining access to his twenty-million dollar trust fund at twenty-five, he had eaten through it in less than three years.

I imagine having his younger brother cast him in shadow was a hard pill for him to swallow. Instead of making an effort to get himself together, he wallowed in self-pity and chose to blame everyone else for the mistakes he made.

He stood in a rush, marching away from my seat and rounding my desk. My intent was to take a moment and brainstorm my plans for me and Jax, but Blake was infringing on the little free time I had. He’d been to rehab for alcoholism five times that I was aware of. What was the allotted number before one accepted defeat?

I was at a loss as to how to help him. According to Blake, my attempts were labelled as nothing more than opportunities for me to make him look bad.

“I couldn’t get you on the phone, so I figured I would come and see you in person. I won’t take up much of your time. I need to borrow one of your houses. If I don’t get away from our father, he is going to drive me crazy. Fucking treats me like I’m ten.”

“Maybe because you act like you’re ten.” I replied.

“I don’t need shit from you too. Can I use one of your houses or not? It’s not like you can live in all of them at the same time.”

“No.”

“Are you serious?! You have four houses and a penthouse last I counted, and you’re telling me no. You hate me that much?”

“You know that I don’t hate you Blake. The last time I allowed you to stay in one of my homes, you nearly burned it down. Over a hundred thousand in damages. I ended up having to sell it for less than I paid for it.”

His nostrils flared as anger seeped from his pores. “It’s not like you can’t afford it. I’m your brother, you’re supposed to have my back.”

Since I assumed the role of CEO, he had taken it on himself to sabotage many of my efforts to make this company money in his failed attempts to gain control. However, our troubles ran much deeper than him wanting control of the company. Even as kids, when he would mess up, our father would replace him with me. Blake saw me as the favorite son he had always wanted to be. Over time, the resentment he harbored, seemed to escalate his self-destructive behavior.

He took a belligerent stance on the opposite side of my desk. “I’m only going to ask one more time. Can I use a house or not?”

“I’m only going to tell you, one more time, no.” He and his wife, Tonya lived in our family home with our father.

Blake swung an angry hand across my desk, taking out a stack of paperwork before he stormed out. I closed my eyes, concentrating on keeping myself seated, so I didn’t go after him to knock some sense into him. The last thing I needed was a viral video of me beating the daylights out of my troubled brother. If this was how my day was starting, I could only hope that it got better from here.

***

A week had gone by since my short encounter with Jadzia “Jax” Saint-Pierre. She had sent me hunting for any information I could find on her. Thankfully, being the CEO had its advantages. Rhonda, in Human Resources didn’t bat an eye when I requested Jax’s file.

Images of her that I had memorized from our first and only meet, tempted me, and I found myself spacing out when I should have been paying attention during briefings and conversations. The luxurious feel of her skin and that enticing mouth. If I concentrated hard enough, I could practically feel my dick pushing past her lips and sliding over her tongue.

She was a triple-threat, smart, beautiful, and from what I had learned, hardworking. Meeting her had stirred up raw sexual desires, but there was also an undercurrent of emotions she had motivated that left me anxious to see her again.

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