Chapter 24 Black Sheep Who? #2
“You’ve recently gotten married. It was announced your brother’s retirement party last night, wasn’t it?” He couldn’t quite mask the acid in his voice at the mention of Brendan, or keep from narrowing his gaze.
Every cell in my body was suddenly standing upright. Despite the fact that I had convinced Laney to come to Boston precisely for this sort of conversation, I didn’t like the way he was mentioning Laney’s existence. I didn’t like him knowing I had a wife at all.
“That’s right,” Dad put in with another sharp glance my way when I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I was too busy biting back a snarl. “We’re all eager to welcome the girl into the family.”
“How nice. Although perhaps this isn’t the right time for Ronan to step up to this seat,” Huntington said. “It seems like the Black family has been going through a lot of changes over the last few months. I wonder if it’s time to consider new leadership.”
“Well—ow!” Owen started to speak just before Shea apparently kicked him under the table.
“I don’t think so,” Dad replied. “That’s why we’re holding a reception for the happy couple at The Martin.
A proper celebration for my son and his new bride, where the board can get to know them both together.
You’ll see that Ronan is becoming the kind of stable, family-oriented man this company needs leading it.
” This time, when his gaze met mine, there was no room for a challenge. “Isn’t that so?”
I knew there was only one answer. But somehow I hated to confirm the fact that Laney was here to be paraded in front of these people to make exactly that point. That I was no longer the family fixer, but someone with clean, respectable hands.
Even if my father and I both knew my hands could never truly be clean.
“Yes,” I spoke through my teeth. “That’s correct.” I felt sick to my stomach.
“Well,” Huntington looked between us, clearly trying to evaluate the situation, the tension I couldn’t quite mask. “I look forward to meeting your new wife properly. She must be… something.”
I had to physically grab the arms of my chair to keep from taking the man by the collar and throwing him through the window. “She’s more than something. She’s incredible.”
Across the table, Owen looked genuinely confused. Shea’s eyes popped open in surprise. Liam tilted his head with interest. And my father… just looked curious.
Fuck. With just a few words, I’d said too much.
The meeting finished quickly from there, but I lingered at the table, drumming my fingers on the mahogany as I fought to control my breath.
“Ronan? Are you leaving now, or can I take Shea and your father home before I come back for you?”
I looked up as Mac appeared in the doorway, ready, as ever, to negotiate care of the “principals.” As she exited the room, Shea went out of her way to shove him aside. He didn’t move.
“I don’t need you to follow me everywhere,” she hissed. “I had enough of you last night.”
Mac didn’t even look at her. “It’s my job to keep you safe. Last night, you needed it.”
“Your job is head of security, not my personal babysitter, and definitely not my designated driver—”
“It’s fine,” I interrupted her squabbling. “Take her and Dad home first. I’ll wait until you get back.”
Their voices faded as they left, but I still wasn’t alone. Owen slid into a seat beside me.
“All right?”
I stared hard at the table. “Fuckin’ peachy.”
“You look like you want to hit something.”
“We’re Blacks. We always want to hit something. We just don’t have the backyard ring anymore to do it.” I gave him a sideways glance. “Plus, I think you’d prefer to keep the rest of your teeth.”
Owen scowled. He hated remembering that I’d knocked out his front tooth when I was eight and he was twelve. “Wouldn’t happen now.”
I opened and closed my fist. “Wanna bet?” I half hoped he’d say yes.
No such luck. “Dad’s just testing you. And he’s showing Huntington that you’re serious.”
“He doesn’t need to do that. He’s a thousand years old with a heart condition, so all he needs to do is let me do my fucking job.”
“If you can do it without losing your cool.”
And there it was. The doubt. The bitterness. The assumption that would probably never go away that Brendan had made the wrong call by nominating me to the position instead of Owen.
Still. He wasn’t wrong.
“You think you could do any better, jarhead?”
He bared his teeth like a wolf. “You’re baiting me, and it’s not going to work. Better get your head on straight before the reception because the press is going to be there. And they’re already onto her. My assistant gave me this after lunch.”
He slid a piece of paper in front of me bearing a printed internet article with the worst headline I’d ever seen.
What Happens in Vegas Doesn’t Stay in Vegas: The Jesper Just Got Hitched!
“Ivy Ink’s newest hit piece,” Owen said.
I pushed the paper away. “You’re obsessed with her. The Herald’s a trash heap. Nothing they say matters.”
“It matters when everyone else reads it. They already think you’re a loose cannon with a penchant for partying, and this doesn’t exactly discourage that notion. If the board is thinking of someone else, you need to convince them you and Laney are for real.”
“We are for real, asshole,” I snapped. “Why would anyone think otherwise?”
Probably because you do.
Owen just rolled his eyes. “I said what I said. Consider it a heads up. But fair warning: you fuck this up, I’m not going down with the ship. I’ve put too much of my life into this company—”
“And you think I haven’t?” I cut in. “You have no idea the kinds of things I’ve sacrificed for this family’s success. No fucking clue!—”
“Too much,” Owen continued blithely, “to see it pass out of our control and into someone else’s hands before I get my shot. So you and Laney better step up, Ronan, or get out of the fucking way.”
“I know that,” I spat. “I don’t need you to tell me.”
“Don’t you?” He looked back at the article.
“Because every time someone mentions your ‘wife,’ it’s like I’m looking at my little brother in the backyard again, too fucking crazy for his own good and ready to tear the world apart just to prove himself.
” He stood. “Brendan cared a little too much about a woman, too, and look what it got him.”
“What’s that, happiness?”
“Exile,” Owen replied grimly. “Remember that.”
He left, and I sat there alone in the empty conference room, staring at the city skyline through the windows. For so long, this family had considered itself the ruler of this city. Boston wasn’t huge, but it was ours. No one dared cross us.
But now I was starting to understand why Brendan had given it all up.
Not just for love, whatever the fuck that meant.
For freedom.
There was a price to being the de facto heir. The crown, I had discovered, was also a yoke.