PULSE: A Stepbrother Romance (31 page)

PRESTON

There
was something about Maddy’s disapproval
that made mincemeat of my heart, especially as she dressed down my father.

I wasn’t sure exactly
what it was, but as she glanced over at me like that with such a righteous fire
in her eyes, I felt incredibly small. No one ever made me feel that way, not
even my father. He had made me feel a lot of things in my lifetime, very few of
them good, but I could always tell myself that he did it as some kind of
perverse power play, and that would make me feel better again.

I couldn’t do that
with Maddy, and I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because, deep down, I knew she
was right. But what was I supposed to do? Mr. Verger was one of the biggest
clients we had. It was definitely going to upset Maddy, but I couldn’t just
tell him “no.” The kind of shit storm that would bring down on my father’s head
would be unreal. I might have done it just for that reason, if not for the fact
that shit rolls downhill.

No one said much else
during dinner, though I could tell from Maddy’s mother’s sighs that she
considered the evening ruined. I still didn’t fully understand what we were
doing here. Was this some kind of “atta boy” for handling the Verger problem?
Or perhaps some misguided reinforcement to ensure I didn’t chicken out on the
whole sordid matter? If so, it seemed very unlike my father.

When we’d all
finished our meals, he stood up from his place at the head of the table.
“Vivian,” he said, “why don’t you take Madison into the parlor for some
after-dinner drinks. Preston, you go ahead and take a few minutes to finish up
here, and when you’re done, we will finish this discussion in the study.”

Now it made sense.
There was more to it than met the eye, but not something my father wanted to
discuss in front of Maddy and her mother. Madison looked absolutely terrified
at the prospect of spending alone time with Vivian, and I couldn’t blame her.
As my father retired to the opulently decorated library at the far side of the
house, I very quickly decided I wasn’t hungry anymore. I took a moment to
intercept Maddy just outside the parlor door.

“I’m sorry,” I told
her. “I’ll try to make this quick.”

“It’s fine,” she
snapped. I could tell she was still upset about the thing with the shelter. “I
can handle myself against my mother. I’m sure you have other things to worry
about.”

I sighed, running a
hand through my hair. “You just don’t understand, Maddy. This is the way of the
world. If I don’t do this, somebody else will, and then…”

“And then you’ll all
have just a little less money,” she finished for me, her fiery eyes leaping up
to meet my own. “Gee, when you put it like that, Preston, I can almost wrap my
tiny plebian brain around it.”

“I didn’t mean…” I
began, but Maddy was already pulling away from me and heading into the parlor
with her mom. It spoke volumes that she’d rather subject herself to Vivian’s
unique brand of torture than remain in my company one more minute. Was she
really going to put me through the ringer over this?

The whole thing was
unsettling for a variety of reasons, the least of which involved memories of my
mother and father’s relationship before she’d finally divorced him and moved
out.

She had been a lot
like Maddy. She had morals and principles, and she never backed down when
someone like my father challenged them. He always regarded her with a
condescending kind of amusement, as though someone like her couldn’t possibly
understand the nuances of running a multi-billion dollar business. I realized
with no small sense of shame that I had been treating Maddy similarly, and as I
turned to walk into my father’s office, I wondered if it was worth it.

My father had hardly
ever bestowed a kind word on me before. Even when I was doing his bidding. But
the way he’d looked at me over dinner this evening, I could tell that he was
proud in some sick and twisted way. He wanted me to be cutthroat, and knocking
down a building was just one in a long line of tasks he’d forced on me that ate
away at my moral pillars.

And the twisted thing
was, I wanted this.

It was what I’d
always wanted from my father. I could afford all the diamonds and gold in the
world, and yet I’d never been able to afford his approval. It was always just
out of my price range, so to speak, and I’d spent my whole life coveting it.

Perhaps if my father
hadn’t demanded full custody of me, I’d have had my mother there to put things
in perspective. But he and his team of lawyers had seen to it that my mother
wasn’t granted even the barest of visitation rights. Money could buy a lot of
things, including a family court judge.

What changed?
I
wondered as I slowly pushed open the office door.
What kind of game is he playing tonight?

I waited patiently
just beyond the threshold of the study. Clearly he’d expected to have a few
more minutes before I arrived. My father was on the phone.

“No, of course not,”
he was saying, his back to me as he stared out the window at the garden beyond.
I realized he probably had no idea I was even there. I was just about to clear
my throat when he continued: “Just because I’m going through with the marriage
doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

I stood stock still
as I let those words sink in. Who the hell was my father talking to? It sure as
hell wasn’t Vivian. My stomach churned. Was he cheating on Maddy’s mother?

The answer was
obvious, but that didn’t mean I wanted to believe it. Of all the things I’d
imagined my father was over the years, a philanderer wasn’t one of them.

But now it all made
so much sense. I’d always wondered what made my mother ask for a divorce.
Philosophical differences were one thing. My mother was a tolerant person, and
to a degree, she could have looked past those. But infidelity—
adultery?
That was something my mother
wouldn’t have been able to ignore.

Very quietly, I sat
down on the opposite side of his desk and listened to the remainder of his
conversation.

“No, darling. It
isn’t like that at all,” he continued. I’d heard that tone before, the one he
used when trying to keep irate board members nice and calm. He was working this
woman over, and if I knew my father’s powers of persuasion, then she was buying
it hook, line, and sinker. “She’s no more special than you are. In fact, I have
it on very good authority that mistresses have more fun. You benefit from my
attention and my money without being tied down to a family. Isn’t that what a
young girl like yourself wants?”

I shook my head. It
was pathetic, really. He probably had some twenty-something waiting for him in
the wings, hanging on his every word while he reaped the benefits of her youth.
I didn’t want my father’s approval anymore. I didn’t want anything to do with a
man who would put everyone around him at risk just because he wanted to have
his cake and eat it too.

As the conversation
devolved further, I’d finally had enough. I cleared my throat loudly and
watched my father spin around, his eyes widening.

“Darling, I have to
go,” he said and hung up his phone.

I stared him down,
waiting to hear him concoct some excuse for his behavior. But all he said to me
was, “How much did you hear?”

I laughed bitterly,
shaking my head. “Enough to know you’re cheating on Madison’s mother,” I said.

For just a moment, my
father looked like he didn’t know what to do. For once in his life, it was like
he had no clue what to say or how to talk his way out of it. For a minute
there, he resembled something close to human. But then he just snorted and sat
down across from me, leaning back in his leather chair as he said:

“Don’t be naïve,
Preston. Do you really think Vivian’s marrying me for love?”

I thought back to all
the things Madison had told me about her mother. I couldn’t deny my father’s
allegation, but that didn’t make him right. I hardly knew what the two of them
did in private together, but I was betting that whatever it was, Vivian had
come to have a reasonable expectation of fidelity from the man she was about to
marry.

As always, my father
thought that money excused everything. I shook my head in disgust.

“How long has this
been going on?” I asked him. And then, “I don’t just mean this one, either. Was
this what made Mom leave?”

That he chose not to
answer. Instead he waved his hand dismissively and muttered something about his
private life before getting to the task at hand.

“You might still have
a lot to learn about the nature of the world, Preston, but your performance
with Harold Verger speaks for itself.”

“Speaking of which, I
thought we might talk about the Verger deal…” I began, but my father cut me
off, continuing as if I hadn’t said a word.

“You’ve proven that I
can rely on you, son, and that’s no small feat. I think you’re ready to start
taking on more responsibility for the company. I think you’re ready to move up
in the ranks.”

I narrowed my eyes at
him. “And what does that mean?”

My father laughed.
“It means that my time at Harvey Enterprises is coming to an end. Maybe not
this year or even the next—but soon. You are my heir, and it’s time that
I treated you like one.”

He paused, as if
expecting me to say something in return. When I didn’t, he said, “You’re going
to get more involved in the day-to-day operations of Harvey Enterprises, which
means more money for you and a bigger office. You’ll come work for me in the
Harvey Tower downtown. No more telecommuting from that little hole in the
wall.”

That ‘hole in the
wall’ was my oasis, my sanctuary. It kept a firm boundary between me and my
father, and I wasn’t so sure I wanted to demolish it for
any
amount of money.

“What about Maddy?” I
said. “Are you going to hire her, too?”

My father shrugged.
“Sure. We can find something for her. Those part-time mail clerk positions have
high turnover. No reason I can’t stick her there.”

“What, for eight
dollars an hour?” I asked, raising my brows. “She’s making a hell of a lot more
than that now, and she deserves it. I know you’ve seen my productivity this
month.”

“Yes, yes, you’ve
been busy, but with the exception of the Verger deal, I must admit much of what
you’ve accomplished hasn’t been to the level of profitability that I expect.
Profits are down nearly eight percent, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say
you went soft right about the time you hired on your sweet little stepsister.”

I tried to keep my
cool, avoiding his attempt at putting me on the defensive. “Profits are down,
but employee morale is higher than it has been in years. Sure, I’ve made a few
hard choices that will negatively effect this quarter, but I did the right thing,
and people respect me for it. If you really want me to take over this company
some day, I’m going to need the chain of command to know that I’m a man worth
respecting.”

My father slammed his
hand down on a table, my body instinctively wincing against its impact.
“Respect is far easier attained through fear. Do you think I reached my station
in life being nice? Did you think I wouldn’t notice that you pushed dozens of
part time workers into enough hours that they qualify for benefits? That
includes Maddy. There isn’t a personal assistant on the planet worth the kind
of money you’re paying her.”

“I’m not going to
argue with you about this. Maddy deserves…” I began, but he cut me off again,
his voice raising to an octave I’d only heard when he was truly angry.

“It’s not about what
people deserve, son,” my dad said, his body visibly working to keep his rage
contained as he pulled a cigar box out of one of his desk drawers. “It’s about
giving them just enough to keep them from revolting. I thought I taught you
better than that.”

I shook my head,
standing up. “I don’t think this is going to work out,” I said. “Not unless
Maddy gets a fair shake in all this. I mean, if I’m going to take on more
responsibilities, I’m going to need a personal assistant. Why demote her and
hire someone else when we could just transfer her position to the tower? You
want to pay her less, fine. I can cover the difference out of my own salary.
I’m not cutting her pay, and that’s not up for negotiation.”