30. Brantley
B rantley~
I didn’t care that we were at work. I didn’t care that there might be witnesses.
I didn’t even care if someone recorded the damn thing and it went viral.
After all, that stupid video of me and Ares fighting was still out there, so no one could accuse me of giving a fuck what the public thought of me or how I conducted myself.
When I stormed past my father’s secretary, the look on my face must have been enough to warn her to stand down. While this wouldn’t be the first time that she’d ever seen this look on my face, it was the first time that I didn’t care about the consequences.
Throwing the doors opened to my father’s office, I immediately saw my brother jump up out of his seat, and all the more better for me.
“Brantley, what-”
My fist to Beau’s face shut him the fuck up.
“Brantley!” my father roared in shock.
Grabbing a falling Beau by his shirt, I hauled him back up, wanting to kill the fucker.
“If you ever- and I do mean ever -go near my wife again, I will fucking kill you,” I swore.
“If you think that us being blood will stop me, you’re wrong, Beau.
I will fucking kill you if you ever go near Keris again. ”
“Brantley, what is this?!” my father shouted, clearly losing it because I hadn’t bothered to shut his office doors. “Have you gone crazy?!”
Letting my fumbling brother drop on the floor, I turned to face the man that might have given me the greatest miracle in my life but was still a piece of shit.
“I don’t know if your ego’s just gotten so big that you’ve forgotten just who the hell I am and what I do for this company, but you’re about to learn really quick-”
“Now, son...” he uttered, his hands up, trying to talk me down, but it was no use. “I’m not sure what you’ve heard-”
“I heard that you were going to try to marry my wife off to my brother,” I snapped.
“I heard that you were going to keep those mines, no matter what it cost.” I leaned further across my father’s desk.
“And do you want to know how I know that? Because your son couldn’t keep his mouth shut about your plans for him and my wife. ”
Darius paled a bit, but I was past giving a fuck. “Brantley, it was just a misunder-”
“I told you that I was fucking in love with her!” I roared. “I told you that I was in love with her, but all you care about is goddamn money!”
“Money that has given you your life,” he snapped back. “Don’t forget that it’s my money and success that has made all of this possible for you.”
I straightened to my full height. “Not anymore,” I announced, and his face really did pale this time. “You crossed a line that you can’t uncross when you plotted against my wife.”
“Now, Brantley-”
“I’ll give you all my shares back, but I’m walking,” I went on. “I’m also taking Onyx and Magnus with me, and if you think that I’ve worked my ass off to make Kingston Industries the best in the country, just wait until you see what I’ll do to destroy it all.”
I could hear Beau actually sobbing like a disappointment on the floor, and it was no less than he and my father deserved.
Even though Keris had begged me not to do this, it hadn’t been up for debate.
If I was ever placed on life support, Keris would be the one to determine if I lived or died, not my parents, not my brother, not my friends, not even my children.
My life was literally in my wife’s hands, and that made her the most important person on the planet to me.
So, I needed to show people that I wasn’t fucking around when it came to my wife.
“I’m sorry,” my father finally said, desperation clouding his face. “It...I was wrong. I see that now. I just...I guess I didn’t believe you when you said that you loved her. I...” I watched him let out a deep breath. “You can’t quit, Brantley.”
“Watch me,” I hissed.
“This is your legacy,” he said, frantically trying to change my mind. “It’s your life’s work. It’s your family’s future. You can’t just abandon...what about all the people that work for Kingston? Do you really not care about their liv-”
“I only care about my wife,” I said, cutting him off. “Onyx and Magnus are a close second, but they’re still not as important to me as Keris.”
“Okay, okay,” he rushed out. “What do you want? What will it take to keep you from walking out?”
I wanted to tell him nothing, but then I thought back to how upset Keris had been when I’d told her that I was leaving Kingston Industries.
She’d given me the same arguments as my father had, only her reasons had come from a good place.
My father was still just as greedy as he’d always been, and the only reason that he was begging me to stay was because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sustain what Kingston Industries was today without my leadership.
“I’m giving my wife back her mines and ripping up that fucking contract,” I said as my first condition, and Darius could only nod in defeat. “Second, you will retire fully by the end of next year or I will quit immediately.”
“Brantley-”
“I’m not fucking done!” I thundered.
Resigned, he said, “Of course.”
“Lastly, you will support Beau out of your own pocket or throw him to the wolves, I don’t give a fuck. However, he will no longer be employed by Kingston Industries, and if either of you go near my wife ever again, I’ll destroy you both.”
“No, no, no,” Beau rushed out, finally getting up off the ground. “No, Brantley, you can’t do that. It was all Dad’s fault-”
“What?” I turned around to face my brother, and as much as I hated to admit it, this was my father’s fault; a combined effort between my parents to raise an entitled jackass. Beau was awful because my parents had raised him to be that way.
“I’ll apologize,” he offered. “I’ll-”
I threw my hand up to stop his pleas. “You go to a rehab for three months, get some counseling, get your shit together, and then I’ll think about keeping you on,” I offered because my wife was turning me into a pussy.
“But you will stay away from Keris, Beau.” I eyed him carefully.
“I can’t stress that hard enough. If you go near my wife again, you can consider yourself an only child.
” I glanced between my father and brother.
“That woman means more to me than both you sonsofbitches combined, so if I were you, I’d keep that in mind. ”
Not bothering to waste any more time on them, I stormed back out of my father’s office, his secretary and another administrative assistant staring at me with wide eyes, shock etched on both of their faces, the gossip mills about to run wild.
In the elevator, I fired off a quick text to both Magnus and Onyx to inform them not to pack up their offices just yet, promising to explain more later.
After Keris and I had made up on Friday night, I had invited Onyx and Magnus over the next day to clear the air and finally introduce my wife to my friends the right way.
In turn, she had invited Huntley and Dylan over later on, and it was good for us that our friends just wanted us to be happy.
As soon as I entered my office, Keris stood up from my desk chair, her face marred with enough concern to annoy me. I didn’t like her being upset for any reason.
“What happened?” she asked, walking around from behind my desk.
“We came to an...understanding of sorts,” I hedged.
Keri shot me a look with those green orbs of hers. “Meaning?”
“Meaning that I still work here, but if either of those two fuckers ever step out of line again, then I’m gone,” I told her. “My father’s going to retire at the end of next year, and Beau’s going to go to rehab and counseling to learn how to be a better human being.”
I watched all the tension leave her shoulders. “I know that you didn’t want to give them a second chance, but you would have regretted giving up Kingston Industries, Brantley,” she said. “Your father would have won if you had walked away.”
I reached out, then yanked her towards me. “So, since you dislike your parents and I dislike mine, I’d say that the holidays are going to be rather cozy from now on.”
Keris grinned. “I actually like the sound of that.” My baby sighed as she added, “Even though my parents brought you to me, I still can’t seem to forgive them. At least, not yet.”
“No rush,” I replied. “Besides, we have better things to do than talk about our fucked-up parents.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
“I’m about to prove to everyone on this floor just how much my wife matters to me more than anyone else on this fucking planet,” I answered as I palmed her sweet ass.
“Like I needed to ask,” she chuckled, and that sound was fucking everything to me.