Chapter 31
“Nothing says ‘team meeting’ like Baby Shark and naked baby photos.”
Zane
I whistle as I send the email with the mock-up for our next marketing campaign. Once the other members of the board at Buccaneer’s Whiskey & Distillery – also known as my brothers – approve the mock-up, the real work begins. I’m really proud of my ideas and excited to get started.
Rhett peeks into my office. “Oh, you’re here. I was wondering who was whistling.”
I frown at him. “I’m here. You can’t complain about me missing work when Adele’s sick. You do the same with Mira and Pearl.”
He holds up a hand. “I’m not referring to when your kid is sick. I’m referring to you being here at all.”
I scowl. “I work here. I’m the marketing manager or did you forget, old man?”
“Who do you think signs your paychecks?”
I roll my eyes. “No one uses paychecks anymore. Besides, Eli approves the payroll.”
Eli is the CEO of the distillery, whereas Rhett is the CFO. Chief Financial Officer is the perfect position for Rhett. He’s incredibly anal about numbers and enjoys guarding the finances.
While Eli worked two jobs so my brothers and I had money for extras growing up after my asshole dad left us, Rhett was the one protecting us – making sure we weren’t bullied, checking we got our homework done, getting us to school on time.
Eli knocks on the door before strolling inside. “You ready for the meeting?”
“I don’t have a meeting in my agenda. What meeting?”
“To discuss your email. You said you wanted to meet to discuss it.”
“Have you even had a chance to read it?”
Miles skips into the room. “I haven’t. I was too shocked to find out you were here.”
I glare at him. He’s the sales manager for the distillery. And he’s in the office even less than me. His true love is surfing. He wanted to be a professional surfer until a rotator cuff injury in Hawaii stopped him. Nothing stops him from skipping the office for the waves now, though.
“I haven’t traveled anywhere in ages.”
“Oh right. Since you fell in love.” Miles feigns throwing up.
“Don’t be jealous of me because the woman you want won’t give you the time of day.”
He scowls. “I don’t want Hazel.”
Hazel was Miles’s first girlfriend. They were together all through high school. But when he left for Hawaii – convinced his professional surfing career was about to explode – he dumped her. She’s never forgiven him and I can’t blame her.
Kai slaps Miles on the back as he joins us. “Someone’s lying.”
Miles elbows him. “I’m not lying.”
“Liar. Liar. Surfboard on fire.”
Miles flies at Kai but Rhett shoves his way between them. “Enough. This is an office.”
“And we have a meeting,” Jaxon adds as he arrives. He checks the time. “I’d appreciate more advance notice of a meeting in the future. I’m in the middle of taste testing a new batch of summer whiskey.”
Miles perks up. “Taste testing?”
Kai rubs his hands together. “I’m in.”
“Last one there’s a rotten mermaid,” Miles sings.
They start for the door but Jaxon blocks them. “I am not a stupid man.”
Miles tries to push past him. “No one said you were.”
Jaxon raises his eyebrow. “And yet you think I didn’t lock my office where the samples are.”
Kai chuckles. “As if a lock will stop us.”
Jaxon smirks. “I added more security to my door after the last time you two hooligans rampaged it.”
“Rampaged?” Kai clutches his chest. “I would never rampage a part of the distillery. I’m the operations manager.”
“Being the operations manager didn’t stop you from drinking all of my whiskey samples. And, once you were good and drunk, you decided to rearrange my office.”
Kai bows to Jaxon. “You’re welcome.”
“It took me weeks to return everything to its proper place.”
Miles places a hand over his heart. “I promise not to rearrange your office, no matter how much I’m tempted by your obsessive use of the alphabetical order.”
A muscle in Jaxon’s jaw ticks. “You will not be entering my office. End of discussion.”
“But—”
Eli interrupts him. “There’s whiskey in the conference room.”
Miles’s shoulders slump. “But it’s not as fun as stealing Jaxon’s samples.”
Kai sighs. “Agreed.”
Eli motions toward the hallway. “Shall we meet in the conference room to discuss Zane’s proposal before he jets off somewhere on us?”
“Not fair. I haven’t gone anywhere since Adele arrived.”
“But now you officially have full custody,” Eli says. “You can travel with her as much as you want.”
I let the thought – Adele is mine! – warm me for a second before responding. “I’m not dragging my six-month-old baby around the world. We’ve barely managed to get her to sleep through the night.”
“We, as in you and Sloane? How are things going?” Kai wiggles his eyebrows.
“I get why Miles wants to fight you.”
“Thank you!” Miles lifts his hand and I slap it.
“If we’re not having this meeting, I’m returning to my office,” Jaxon declares.
“We’re having the meeting.” Eli herds everyone out of my office to the conference room.
Everyone takes their place except for Jaxon, who pulls on a pair of gloves to inspect his chair.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Ensuring someone didn’t decide to coat the chair with molasses the way they did last time.”
I chuckle. “You trying to get up was hilarious.”
Miles grunts. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t have to clean out the stills. I reeked for weeks.”
Jaxon concludes his inspection and sits. “You shouldn’t have pranked me.”
Miles points to Kai. “He helped.”
Kai raises his hands in the air. “I didn’t help. You asked for molasses. I thought you were actually interested in the distilling process.”
Rhett growls. “Can everyone please stop reminiscing about your past pranks? Some of us have families we want to get home to.”
Eli and I nod in agreement.
Miles groans. “You might as well start a nursery here, as many babies as your partners keep on popping out.”
“Technically.” Eli holds up a finger. “My partner is the only one who ‘popped out’ a baby. But a nursery isn’t a bad idea.”
“I’m on it.” Rhett flips open his notebook. “I’ll make some calculations. Paying for a nanny is expensive.”
“Not for everyone,” Miles sings. “Raider brother number four, I’m looking at you.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t start with me.”
He bats his eyelashes. “What? Is it not true? You don’t pay Sloane, do you?”
I can’t answer. I don’t want him to know how Sloane was homeless when we began our arrangement. I won’t embarrass her.
I grit my teeth. “Whatever happens between Sloane and me is none of your business.”
He snorts. “It’s totally my business when she cheats at I Spy.”
I groan. “Not this again. You can’t cheat at I Spy.”
“She said the cloud resembled a grumpy monster. A cloud can’t resemble a grumpy monster.”
“Stop whining. You’ve cheated at plenty of games in your life.”
Miles gasps. “I am not a cheater.”
“This is why I stay in my lab,” Jaxon mumbles. “These meetings are a waste of time.”
Eli clears his throat. “Why don’t you present your marketing idea, Zane?”
I stand and make my way to the front of the room. I log into the computer connected to the beamer and click on my presentation.
“Since we’ve decided to expand the distillery to include—”
I’m cut off when Baby Shark blares from the speakers. What the hell? This presentation isn’t connected to music.
“I don’t know, Zane. Sloane may enjoy pictures of you splashing in a bubble bath as a baby, but I don’t think it’ll sell many bottles of whiskey.”
At Rhett’s comment, I whirl around to look at the slideshow. Instead of my mock-ups for commercial ads for whiskey, there’s a picture of me as a young child racing into the living room naked.
Eli stands and switches off the presentation. He slaps me on the back as he passes me. “Good to have you a part of the team, brother.”
I scan his face for any signs of sarcasm, but he’s being serious. I open my mouth to tell him I’ve always been a part of the team but I slam my mouth shut before I can utter the lie.
The truth is, I haven’t always been a part of the team.
I made sure to finish my work on time, but I wasn’t here.
I was gone as often as possible. Even if I was here, I didn’t participate in the management of the company.
Not in the way Eli envisioned when he founded the distillery to ensure all of the Raider brothers could stay on the island.
But things have changed. Since Adele arrived in my life, my priorities have changed. Canyoning in the Philippines doesn’t hold the appeal it once did.
Now, I can’t wait to go home and spend time with my baby and Sloane. Those two are what’s important.