Chapter 43
WILL
The wedding was in a week. Only seven more days. I could barely stand it, but my brain kept helpfully counting down to the catastrophic disaster I would be forced to bear witness to.
As I walked into the office, I was committed to maintaining the illusion that my life wasn’t quietly falling apart, but I wasn’t here to work. I was looking for Alex, determined to finally give him a piece of my mind.
Last night, when I’d really thought about the events of the last month or so, I’d realized exactly how livid I was at him. That hadn’t faded overnight.
As luck would have it, I found him walking with our younger brother, Zach. Jesse was a few feet away, looking like he wasn’t loving being introduced to a job he hadn’t applied for and didn’t want, but he was following them around anyway.
Zach saw me first, grinning as I approached. “Hey, bro. We’re just showing Jesse the ropes.”
Jesse nodded like he was following, but I could tell he wasn’t. He seemed bored out of his mind. “We’ve even been to Sales. Hooray.”
“Will!” Alex said, ignoring Jesse’s utter lack of enthusiasm. “Perfect timing. Why don’t you take over? It might be better if you showed him around properly.”
I stopped walking and looked him right in the eyes. Then I shook my head. “What’s the point of giving him a tour? He’s just going to pretend he understands what we’re explaining, whether it’s true or not.”
Zach snorted, but Alex ignored him too. “You know the systems better than anyone. If anyone can help him understand, it’s you.”
“That’s debatable,” I said. “Sorry, but I can’t do it anyway. Can I grab you for a second, though?”
Alex frowned. “Now?”
“Yes,” I said. “Now.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as he nodded. “Sure, yeah. Okay. Zach, keep going.”
Zach gave a half salute. “Thrilled.”
I didn’t wait, just turning and heading to the nearest conference room, trusting Alex would follow. Once he was in, I closed the door behind us, locking it for good measure. I didn’t want to be interrupted and most of my siblings—all, actually, except for Charlotte—were in this building right now.
As soon as word spread that I’d pulled Alex in here, looking the way I probably did, one or more of them would come to investigate. Or stir the pot. I wasn’t putting up with either. Not today.
“Okay,” Alex said, folding his arms as his gaze drifted to the lock I’d clicked on the door. “This seems serious. What’s going on?”
I didn’t bother trying to phrase it politely or to soften the blow. “I can’t let Eliza marry Jesse.”
Alex’s eyebrows shot up. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You heard me.”
“No, I heard the words,” he said, stepping forward slightly. “I just don’t understand why you’re saying them.”
Because I couldn’t exactly say I’m in love with her and I’ve already ruined everything, but I’d like to ruin it differently now.
“The marriage shouldn’t happen,” I said instead. “Not like this.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed again, all the way to slits this time. “Is Jesse trying to pull out?”
“No.”
“If this is some kind of stunt you two cooked up—”
“It’s not a stunt,” I interrupted sharply. “Since when do I cook up stunts? Come on.”
“Then what is it?” he shot back. “Because from where I’m standing, it sounds like you’re trying to interfere in something that doesn’t concern you anymore.”
“It concerns me when she’s the one getting hurt.”
Alex’s mouth twisted. “She’s getting hurt? How?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Where do you want me to start?”
“How about the beginning?” He finally stepped back and perched his butt on the edge of the table, arms folding. He held my gaze. “What’s really going on here, Will?”
“You put the three of us in this position,” I said, every ounce of frustration I’d been feeling bleeding into my tone. “You set it up like it was some kind of strategic gameshow and now we’re all just supposed to just carry on like nothing is wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong,” he said. “The contracts are signed. The parties involved are satisfied. It’s an arrangement that benefits everyone.”
“Does it?” I challenged. “I’m not so sure. It seems to me like the only one who feels like they’re benefiting is you.”
His eyes flashed with warning, his chin lifting ever so slightly. “Be careful, Will.”
“No.” I scoffed, my head shaking. “You be careful. This isn’t just a business deal, Alex. It’s her life, and Jesse’s.”
“They both agreed to it. Besides, it’s not Jesse in here right now. It’s you. He didn’t seem to have any problem with it when we were talking earlier.”
“That’s only because you’re paying him to do what you want him to do. You said it yourself. Jesse loves money. He’s not doing this because it’s what he wants, Alex.”
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
“Fine. You want me to say it? I’ll say it. You know Jesse doesn’t want this. You know he’s only doing it for the money and because now he feels like he owes it to me. That’s further than you’ve gone with anyone else. Further even than you went for Charlotte.”
I thought he was going to argue, but instead, he paled completely. Clearly, I’d just hit him where it hurt.
“I am not our father,” he said firmly. “If that’s what you’re insinuating—”
“I’m not insinuating it anymore, but you’re right. You’re not Dad. You’re getting worse than he ever was, and still, you keep using that line whenever things get uncomfortable. You cling to it like there’s some kind of distinction that separates you from him, but there’s isn’t. Not anymore.”
He scoffed. “I’m not forcing anyone into anything. Jesse and Eliza both agreed to this. I saw an opportunity for the whole family and I took it.”
A snort of disbelieving, dry laughter shot out of me. “Now you’re reasoning like him too, but what about Eliza, huh? Because of you, she’s marrying a complete stranger.”
Alex’s mouth opened like he had a response ready, but something stopped him dead in his tracks as he looked back at me. Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up and he blinked a few times too many. “Oh.”
“Oh, what?”
“So that’s what this is about,” he said quietly, his head tilting as he kept looking at me like all the pieces of the puzzle lived on my face and they were sliding into position one by one. “You fell in love with her. It wasn’t just a physical thing between you.”
I crossed my arms, falling back a step as my head shook. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t do that,” I said, my voice tight. “Don’t reduce this to a neatly packaged conclusion just so you can ignore the actual problem.”
“Okay. Well, the actual problem, the way I see it, is that you got involved where you shouldn’t have.”
“You literally fucking told me to get involved. Begged me. Even promised I’d get money too, which I don’t want, by the way.”
“I asked you to step in for him temporarily. It’s not my fault you caught feelings, and you don’t get to blow it all up just because you fell into bed with her,” he argued. “Besides, Eliza already signed the contract. It’s done. She knows what she agreed to.”
“Does she?” I retorted. “That’s funny. See, the last time I checked, she thought she was agreeing to marry one person and got someone else entirely.”
“That’s been corrected,” he said.
“Corrected?” I scoffed. “This wasn’t some clerical error, Alex.”
“Our family is shelling out a fortune on this wedding,” he said, his voice morphing into that familiar, controlled tone he used when he switched from tolerant brother to authoritative CEO. “James has invested massive amounts of his own wealth in our business. This isn’t about you, Will.”
“No,” I said. “It never is.”
He sighed. “Look, the point is that Eliza and Jesse can’t pull out now without major repercussions. Financially and publicly, that would be a disaster.”
Of course, that would be the disaster. Not the fact that she’s about to tie her life to someone she doesn’t love. Not the fact that I—
I cut the thought off before it could finish.
It didn’t matter to him or any of the rest of them.
Dragging my hands over my face, I inhaled a deep breath that didn’t calm me at all, then glanced around the conference room, taking in the glass walls and the polished table, the billion-dollar view of the Chicago skyline, and realized that the past month really had changed me.
Everything about being here suddenly felt wrong. This place had always felt expansive and powerful, but now, it felt suffocating, like the walls were closing in. Like I couldn’t get enough air despite the size of the skyscraper.
I tried dragging in another breath, but it didn’t help. “I can’t…”
Trailing off, I kept trying to breathe, but my lungs just weren’t functioning. It felt like they were collapsing, my chest aching as I tried to get myself under control.
Alex frowned. “You can’t what, Will? What’s going on?”
“I can’t stay here.” I couldn’t keep doing this. Maybe Charlotte, Alex, and Nate had been happy to fall in line. Hell, maybe even Jesse was committed now, but I couldn’t.
I’d always been a team player, the guy they came to when they needed someone to rely on, and I’d always been there. I’d always opened the door, fixed the problem, and done whatever else they expected of me.
But this? I couldn’t do it, and just like that, my next step became crystal clear. “I quit.”
“What?” he asked.
“I quit,” I repeated a little louder this time. “I resign from my position as COO. Effective immediately.”
Alex’s eyebrows mashed together, his head shaking over and over again. “You can’t quit. Don’t be ridiculous.”
At those words, I felt something snap deep inside, but that was also what gave me the resolve to finally start backing toward the door. “I can quit and I just did. The fact that you’d even think I’m being ridiculous right now? I’m just so fucking done.”
With that, I spun around and threw the lock on the door again to open it, not sticking around for whatever argument he was about to make. I just walked out of the room, ignoring him when he called after me.
“Will! Come back, man. Don’t do this. Let’s just talk.”
I shook my head. I’d tried talking. I’d tried reason. Alex was so caught up in his life, in his wife, his baby, and getting this done faster than the speed of light that he just wasn’t listening. He hadn’t been since the very beginning of all this.
The floor blurred slightly as I strode to the elevator. People glanced up from their desks as I passed, but I didn’t stop or slow down. I just kept going.
“Will, wait!”
His footsteps were behind me now, but I still didn’t look back. When I reached the elevators, I jabbed the button a lot harder than necessary, and when the doors finally slid open, Alex was right behind me, but I walked right into the car anyway.
“Will, this is insane,” he said, grabbing the door before it could close. “You can’t just walk away from—”
“I already am,” I said without looking at him. “It’s done, Alex. Let it go.”
Exasperation tightened his features. “Just stop and think about what you’re doing.”
“I am,” I said. “For the first time in a really fucking long time, I actually am thinking about what I’m doing instead of just going along with what you all think I’m supposed to be doing.”
I hit the button and the doors started closing instantly. Alex stood right outside them, frustration written all over his face as the gap narrowed between us.
Wrenching my gaze away from his, I caught sight of Jesse standing a few feet behind him, watching us with a perplexed expression on his face and a curious tilt of his head. Just before the doors snapped shut, he inclined his chin in a slight nod and fell back.
Relief sped through me. He might not have said anything, but he hadn’t needed to. Jesse was about to clean up one of my messes for once and I wasn’t even a little bit sorry about it, but the weird part was that he hadn’t seemed sorry about it either.