Chapter 22 #2
I wasn't bringing up Aspen right now. "It was always your business. You were nice to give me a chance to run it, but we all know that I don't have enough experience. You can easily find someone more capable."
Ford had been standing back, allowing his younger brothers to lay into me. Finally, he said, "When are you going to think that you're worthy of something?"
My chest tightened. "I'm doing what I'm meant to do. Working construction."
Maverick waved his hand. "We're mad that you walked away without talking to us."
I looked incredulously at them. "I figured you'd want me gone. I screwed around with your sister."
Maverick winced. "Please don't."
"I screwed up, and now I'm making it right," I stubbornly insisted.
"By walking away?" Ford asked carefully.
I threw my hands in the air. "I betrayed your trust in the worst way imaginable. You can't possibly still want me working with you."
The guys looked at each other, and then Ford asked, "Can we go inside? It's getting cold out here."
I sighed, opening the door, and waited for everyone to come inside.
They filed into the living room. Hudson and Morgan took the couch. Maverick perched on its arm while Ford sat on the armchair as the official head of the siblings. Lincoln was the only brother missing, but he wasn't part of the business.
I stood in front of them, feeling the weight of their scrutiny. "I don't know what you want me to say."
Ford glanced at his brothers. "We want to know why you walked away from everything that was important to you."
"I screwed up. I ruined everything," was all I could manage. My chest felt tight, and the air around me felt thick and heavy.
Ford's brow furrowed. "That's not what we're talking about."
Hudson exchanged a look with Ford. "Aspen says she's in love with you. Is that true?"
I was prepared for them to rail about what I'd done behind their back with their sister. Not for them to ask if we're in love. I thought about the past weekend with her, how I'd shared my feelings with her. How it made me feel inside. "I am."
But none of that mattered now.
"But you're not going to fight for her?" Maverick asked from his perch on the arm of the couch.
I shrugged as if she wasn't the most consequential thing in my life. "She was never mine to begin with. We both knew that it couldn't be anything when it started."
Hudson's brow furrowed. "Why not?"
"Because she's your sister. You'd never allow it. I work for you, and it's the worst kind of betrayal." Now that I'd said it all out loud, they'd finally understand that I didn't have a choice.
Ford crossed his arms over his chest. "As much as we don't like our friend dating our sister, we can't control who she falls in love with."
"And for some reason, she chose you," Maverick said.
I looked away. "I don't think you're listening to me. We can't be anything."
"If you love each other, then I don't think we have a choice. But if you're saying you're not man enough to fight for her, well that's another thing," Hudson said.
"There's nothing to fight for." I leaned against the wall in front of them, wishing they'd leave so I could drown my sorrows in pizza and beer. I'd have to scrub every memory of Aspen Sterling from my house and my brain.
Ford cleared his throat. "We thought you were a better man than that."
Irritation shot through me, hot and thick. I wanted to argue with him and tell him I was a good man. But I wasn't sure I believed that. Not deep down. Not when I thought of my father and how easy it would be to be like him in the world.
Hudson stood. "We never said you had to quit. We'd still like to have you working with us. This is your business. You were the one who said this would take us to the next level. If you're not at the helm, we're going to walk away from it."
That brought me out of my downward spiral. "You can't do that."
Maverick made his way to the door. "Sterling Brothers Contracting is nothing without you."
I scoffed. "It's literally called Sterling Brothers Contracting. If you remove me, nothing changes."
Morgan stood and crossed the room to stand in front of me. "That's where you're wrong. Everything changes. This business was your vision, and you're the one that keeps it."
"We should have thought about this before," Fords said to his brothers.
My gaze swung from Morgan to Ford. "Thought about what?"
"That your name should be in the title. It never should have been just Sterling Brothers."
I rolled back my shoulders because I was sure it had been mentioned, but I'd shut it down quickly. The business was theirs, and they were doing me a favor. Or was that the story I'd been telling myself?
"You have to decide what you want." Morgan moved past me to join Maverick at the front door.
"If you want to come back to the business, we'll change the name. We already have an even split. There's no reason why your name shouldn't be on the door," Ford said easily.
"It's not necessary—" I began, but Ford's glower made me break off.
"You have some fucked up views about what you get out of life. It's time to start questioning that, or you're going to lose everything," Hudson said.
Ford placed his hand on my shoulder. "You're like a brother to us."
Any time someone had said that before today, I'd brushed it off.
I hadn't let the words settle over me and penetrate my soul.
But today was different. I was finally hearing the meaning behind the words they were saying.
I wasn't a charity case. I had something to offer, and they loved me like a brother. "Thank you."
He raised a brow. "That's the first time I've gotten that reaction. You don't want to brush me off or tell me how wrong I am?"
I shook my head, blowing out a breath. "Nope."
He squeezed my shoulder. "You're finally growing up."
"I'd like to think so." I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do about Aspen.
Maverick opened the door.
"Are you saying that you're okay with me being with Aspen?" That seemed almost too good to be true.
"You have to be the man she deserves. In this case, that means believing you're worthy of what you have and want in life. That part is up to you," Ford said.
Before I could say anything else, they disappeared out the door. And I was alone again. I sank onto the couch, running my hand through my hair. Would she give me a second chance when I'd said our relationship was a mistake? I hadn't stood up for her or us.
I'd let her down. Was there any coming back from that?