Chapter One
Charlie
"You're fired."
I laughed.
Why wouldn't I? Aiden was joking. He couldn't fire me. I was Charlotte Winters, and we were sitting in the executive offices of Winters Incorporated. I'd been working for the family company since I was eighteen. I belonged here. Sometimes, it felt like this was the only place I belonged.
Aiden couldn't fire me. I waited for him to laugh along with me.
The laugh never came. He sat behind his desk, his usually warm, brown eyes chilly and impenetrable. Aiden was the only man I knew who could loom while sitting down. I fought the urge to shrink into my chair.
I'd seen him aim that cold stare at plenty of people—employees, clients, his ex-wife. Never me.
"Aiden, you're not firing me," I said, trying to force amusement into my voice. This was all a joke, right? Aiden held my gaze, unflinching. I sat up straight, feeling my own eyes go cold. "Is this about Hayward?"
Aiden paused for a split second before shaking his head. "This has nothing to do with Hayward," he said, meeting my eyes. He was lying. He had to be.
"You agreed that we had to turn him in. You went with me to the FBI. How can you fire me over it?"
Aiden's jaw was set as he said, "Charlotte, this has nothing to do with Bruce Hayward. You handled that situation perfectly and I'm proud of your courage."
"I don't understand."
"I already told you. You're fired. Security has cleared out your desk. When we're done here, they'll escort you from the building."
His words were a punch to the gut. Tears threatened. I knew that prickle in the back of my eyes. I bit down on the inside of my lip, my teeth cutting into the tender flesh so hard I tasted the copper of blood.
I would not cry. I refused. Swallowing hard, I stood, planting my fisted hands on my hips. I knew I was in real trouble when Aiden stayed where he was.
If this was a power play, he would have come to his feet and reestablished his dominance. If he was letting me take physical control of the room, it was only because he knew he'd already won. Fear was an icy wave cresting behind me. When it broke, I'd be lost.
I was my job. If he kicked me out of Winters Inc., what would I do? I didn't know who I was without the company. Not anymore.
Steel bands wrapped my ribcage and I couldn't draw a breath. Turning my back on Aiden, I inhaled slowly, digging my nails into my palms and dragging my emotions under control.
I'd learned the hard way to keep my feelings to myself. Always. Even with my family. No one saw my pain, my fears. No one saw me cry. Ever. Not since I was ten.
Aiden knew me better than almost anyone alive, and he gave me time to pull myself together. Also not a good sign.
When I thought I could keep my voice level, I said, "I'd like you to explain this to me. After years of giving everything I have to this company, I'd like to know why you think you can shove me out the door."
There, I'd done it. I was calm. In control. I was not about to scream and burst into tears. I was not going to curl into a ball and sob. And I was not going to kill Aiden. Not yet.
In the same cool voice he used when he'd fired me, he said, "Charlotte, keeping you on isn't what's best for you."
My voice as icy as his, I asked, "What's best for the company, or what's best for me?"
"For you. It's not what's best for you," he said.
A volcano of rage burned away the ice. What the fuck? Keeping a lid on it, just barely, I managed to grind out one word from between my clenched teeth.
"Explain."
Aiden let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, dropping the chilly CEO persona. His eyes on mine had all the warmth I was used to from my big brother. It only made me more furious.
"Charlie. You've been working here since you were eighteen. It was bad enough when you were in school. Now that you've graduated, you work all the time."
"So do you," I said in a short burst of sound. He did. He worked every day. He was here first and was the last to leave. Except when I was here late. Or early.
He might have a point about me working too much, but I was no worse than Aiden and he knew it.
"But I love my job," Aiden said, his tone so gentle I had to fight back tears. "I love this company. I always have. And you don't."
"You can't fire me for not liking my job!" I shouted. "No one likes their job. That's why it's a job and not a hobby. This is ridiculous!"
I felt myself losing control, my fury and terror spiraling up and spewing out of my mouth. "You can't fire me because I don't love my job. I'm an exemplary employee—"
"You are," Aiden interrupted. "You're an excellent Vice President. If you weren't my sister, I'd be giving you a raise."
That little bit of complete illogic pushed me over the edge. I kicked my chair, sending it rolling to crash into Aiden's huge walnut desk. He didn't flinch. I pointed at him, stabbing my finger into the air to punctuate my rage.
"This is completely sexist. You're doing this because you want me to get married and start having babies like Maggie."
"That's absurd," Aiden said with a wince. "I do NOT want you to get married. Jesus. Not until you get better taste in men. And I'd rather not think about my baby sister having babies of her own."
"You wouldn't be doing this if I were a man," I said, sullen, my arms crossed over my chest.
"Charlie, how many senior executives do we have who are female?"
"Seven," I said, knowing the point he was going to make.
"Exactly. Just under half. And how many of those have families?"
"Five. So why me? Why are you firing me?"
I bit my lip to shut down the plaintive whine in my voice. I knew Aiden wasn't sexist. I was grasping at straws. I knew it wasn't my performance. I was good at my job, even if I didn't like it. If it wasn't sexism, then what?
Why was he doing this to me? Didn't Aiden understand that my job was all I had?
"It isn't about your gender, Charlie," Aiden said in that same gentle tone. "I'd do the same if you were Holden or Tate. Even Jacob."
"But not Gage?" I asked, half sarcastic and half trying to figure out what the hell was going through Aiden's oversized brain.
"Not Gage. Gage loves the company," Aiden said, his tone almost wistful.
"Then why isn't he here?" I said in exasperation, feeling my temper slipping its leash again.
"I never should have let you come on board, sweetheart. But you were so determined and I was selfish."
I sat in my chair abruptly, my anger down to a simmer. "Aiden, you're never selfish." He wasn't. Aiden was about two things—his family and the company. He'd open a vein for any one of us in a second.
"I was," he insisted. "I never pressured any of the others to join the company.
I knew Holden and Tate would find their futures elsewhere.
And Jacob loves business, but he needed to run his own shop.
With Vance and Annalise, it was clear they had no interest in a nine-to-five job.
I was right with all of them. Except you. "
"Aiden," I protested, "You’ve always supported me. That's why I don't get this. You don't have to fire me. We can work something out. I'll cut back."
"I supported you, but I didn't look out for you. I was selfish. I always thought Gage would come home and we'd do this together. But he's doing what he needs to. I understand that. When you wanted to come on board, I should have told you no."
"But why?" I begged. "Don't try to tell me I haven't done a good job."
"I can't. You're bright and you have a head for business. No one works harder. But your heart isn't in it."
I shoved to my feet. "I'm not the only one here who isn't in love with Winters Incorporated."
"No, Charlie. But you're the only one who's my sister. I love you. And you're not happy. I can't be a part of that anymore."
"You don't get to choose that for me."
"Maybe not. I can't tell you what to do now. You're going to have to figure that out on your own. But I can tell you what you aren't going to do. And that's come to work tomorrow."
"I'll go somewhere else. There are a hundred companies who would love to give me a job." I wasn't being cocky. It was true. I might not love my job, but I was good at it.
Aiden shook his head, looking almost sheepish before the expression dissolved into a grim look that made me nervous. "You won't find another job in Atlanta," he admitted. "You'll have to take some time off to think about what you want."
"What? You blackballed me? How could you do that?"
Everything I'd worked for since I was eighteen was slipping through my fingers and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks. Horror congealed in my stomach. I never cried. Not in front of anyone.
I wiped my cheeks with my palms, hurt and anger a hot, poisonous ball in my chest. I would have expected betrayal from anyone else before I would have looked to Aiden. He was more than my older brother. He'd practically raised me after our parents had died.
Through the blur of tears, I saw him coming toward me.
I put up a hand to stop him. If he tried to comfort me, I was going to bash him in the head with the heavy Baccarat pen holder on his desk.
All our family needed was for me to end up in jail for killing Aiden.
After two suspected murder/suicides, we'd had all the scandal we could take.
I backed up, putting my chair between us. Biting hard on the inside of my lip to stop my tears, I said, "Back off. I hate you right now."
"I know you do, Charlie. I can live with that. But I miss you. I miss the Charlie you used to be. And I know you miss her too."
I held my breath, strangling my shout of rage.
I stormed out of Aiden's office. No one commented on my red eyes as I rushed through the halls.
Aiden had been thoughtful enough to have my desk packed into a box while we were in his office, the bastard.
Security didn't exactly escort me out, but they were there, lurking.