26. Brantley
B rantley~
After assuring Magnus that Shera wasn’t going to bankrupt the company with her two finds, I found myself needing a drink.
In all honesty, there was very little that could bankrupt Kingston Industries.
I was also pretty sure that Magnus and Shera’s one-night stand was at the heart of most of their fights, and it was stupid, considering that it had happened over two years ago.
Apparently, she’d taken offense to Magnus being so drunk that he couldn’t remember the encounter, but I really couldn’t sympathize with the woman.
This was Magnus Saint that we were talking about; she really should have known better.
Silver lining, it'd been the first and last time that Magnus had ever gone near company pussy.
As I wrapped my hand around another glass of whiskey, I almost dropped the tumbler when a pair of blue eyes glared up at me.
Dylan Finnick-Pickerel.
“Is there a bigger sonofabitch on the planet?” she hissed up at me, and I had no idea what was with these combative women.
“Excuse me?”
“You couldn’t even wait for the divorce papers to be served before parading other pussy all over the place?” she asked, her eyes glittering with sincere anger.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snapped down at her. No one knew that I was planning on divorcing Keris. Well, other than my father, Magnus, and Onyx. Even Beau didn’t know because the fucker didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.
“Or is that the plan for paving the way for your brother?” she sneered. “If everyone sees you fucking around, then no one will bat an eyelash when Beau ends up marrying your ex-wife, right?”
That had my blood hot.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I repeated. “Not that my marriage is any of your business, mind you.”
“Hate to break it to you, dick,” she kept sneering. “But your marriage is very much my business since Keris is my friend.”
“Be that as it may, I still don’t see how you have a say in our relationship,” I snapped. “Besides, if you really are that close of friends, then you’d know that she wants nothing to do with me.”
“She overheard your father scheming to get her pregnant, and you not doing a damn thing about it,” she countered, and that was the problem with eavesdropping and rumors.
“I still don’t see how any of this is your business,” I fired back.
Her lip curled with disdain. “Oh, so you’re just fine with her marrying your brother? Does she really mean so little to you?”
I shook my head at that absurdity. “What in the hell are you talking about? The last thing that my brother will ever do is get married.”
“Well, when the wife in question comes with mines worth billions of dollars that your father refuses to part with, I’d say that the youngest Kingston won’t have a choice,” she shot back.
“Unlike you, Beau doesn’t have your financial success to fall back on, so he’s going to be a good son and do whatever your father asks of him, which includes marrying Keris before the ink is even dry on your divorce papers. ”
“You’re lying,” I spat. My father knew that I was in love with Keris. I’d been brutally honest when I had informed him of my plans to divorce her and give her back her family’s legacy.
“Well, someone might be lying, but it’s not me,” Dylan retorted.
“Last week, we ran into your brother at Skipper’s Lounge, and he was drunk enough to spill all the business.
” My back straightened at that. “He overheard you and your father arguing, so he felt it necessary to let Keris know just how much he was going to enjoy fucking her. He sounded as eager as a kid on Christmas.”
I could feel my blood pressure spiking to unhealthy levels. I was letting Keris go because I couldn’t stand to have her in my life and not beg for scraps. There was no way that I was going to watch her on my brother’s arm, wearing his ring, seeing them together during the holidays.
“She doesn’t need to marry my brother,” I pointed out. “Once she gets the mines back, she can do whatever she wants. She’ll no longer be dependent on anyone for her sister’s health care.”
“That’s true,” she agreed. “But never having had to mine them before, I wonder who’s going to step up to help her with that. Granted, it doesn’t have to be your brother because I can totally see Ares Cormac offering his assistance, especially considering.”
“Considering what?”
Dylan took a step closer, and I could totally see this woman picking a fight with the fiercest of lions to protect her cubs.
“When you’re dick of a brother told Keris that you were planning on divorcing her, her feelings for you cleared up rather quickly,” she said, and I could feel dread begin to form in the pit of my stomach.
“So, for over a week, she’s been trying to get a hold of you, so that she can lay it all out on the line, choosing honesty over her pride.
However, you were too busy ignoring her calls, blocking her number, and having her removed from the precious grounds of Kingston Industries.
” I could feel my heart start to beat frantically in my chest. “And like the stupid fucks that we are, Huntley, Faron, and I had advised her to come here to work things out, and...well, we all saw how that worked out. Your date is absolutely beautiful by the way.”
“She works for Kingston Industries,” I automatically explained.
“Even better,” Dylan scoffed. “Pussy during working hours, how convenient.”
“She’s one of our charity heads,” I bit out, angry with myself and the entire world. “Her specialty is in antiquities.”
“We know,” she drawled out. “Huntley was kind enough to let us know what a powerful player your date was in the antique world.”
“I’m not the villain here,” I snapped.
“Oh, no?” she huffed. “Well, then...I guess we can all just blame Keris for this mess, then be on our way.”
“After our night together, she should have given me the benefit of the doubt,” I argued. “She should not have automatically believed what my father was saying.”
“You’re right,” Dylan agreed. “And for that, she was going to apologize. Believe it or not, after your brother informed us of your father’s plans, Keris had chosen you over her pride.
As hard as that was for her, she’d been ready to take the leap of faith, but, hey.
..what the fuck do you care? Like you keep telling her, it’s not like you need the money or help or whatever. ”
“There’s no way in hell that I’m going to allow my brother anywhere near her,” I spat. “Whether you believe me or not, I didn’t give her back those mines just so that she could become my father’s victim all over again.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I love her,” I admitted, the words sounding right and true. “Pretty sure that I fell in love with her the day that we got married.”
Dylan laughed, and the sound sent dark chills down my spine.
“You know what? With as stubborn as both of you are, you would have made such a formidable couple.” Dylan shook her head in mock joy.
“Well, if nothing else, at least she won’t be sitting home alone and heartbroken while you’re spending the night with your ‘charity head’,” she said, and heat quickly filled my veins.
“Meaning?”
“Had you been paying any kind of attention to your wife, instead of your gorgeous date, then you would have seen her leave with Ares Cormac over thirty minutes ago,” she announced, and she looked so fucking smug that I wanted to put hands on her.
“No, she didn’t,” I argued, refusing to believe it.
“Oh, but she did,” Dylan replied haughtily. “Would you like me to find security, so that they can play the recordings back for you?”
I shook my head in denial. “There’s no way that Keris would leave with him. Not after the way that he treated her; not after the way that he’d spoken to her.”
“That’s the funny thing about rejection, Kingston,” she said seriously. “After being cast aside, most people will do anything to make that feeling go away. After all, isn’t that what you did?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you tell Keris the same thing the night of your fight? According to her, you’d made it perfectly clear that your whores on speed dial were going to be warming your bed that same night,” she said, reminding me of the shit that I’d said to Keris during our fight.
“I haven’t been with anyone-”
“Well, there’s no point in denying yourself now,” she clapped back, that smug look returning to her face. “Because, by my calculations, Ares Cormac has probably given Keris a good two orgasms by now.”
Forgetting everything else in my life, I left Dylan to her bullshit, then raced out of the building.
Handing the valet my ticket, time had never felt like such an enemy before.
Pulling out my phone, I unblocked Keris as I waited for my car, but my call had gone straight to voicemail, ruining my entire life.