I rolled my eyes. Come on, I hadn’t given any details.
“You see?” Owen waved a wild hand. “Brendan’s out of his mind nominating him. How can we trust the company to Ronan when he thinks everything’s a fucking joke?”
I leaned back in my chair, studying my brother. Owen had wanted this job since we were kids, practically killing himself trying and failing to outshine Brendan in every way. That only made the prospect of taking a role I’d never personally wanted that much more attractive.
“Tell me, brother.” I crossed my ankle over my knee and admired the way the flickering firelight lit up the amber-colored liquid in my glass. “How did we get involved with the Huntingtons again? Something about your failed real estate venture comes to mind…”
“Fuck you. That hasnothingto do with it. This is because Brendan and his little girlfriend sold out?—”
“Or maybe it’s because, per usual, you’re too much of an impulse buyer to make a good deal,” I added. “Hard to make good decisions when you’re too mired in PTSD to see straight.”
A hush settled over the room.
Okay, fine. It was below the belt. Owen’s disorder hadn’t reared its ugly head in years, not since he went through a program following his second tour. Tying it to a poor business decision was unfair.
But the Black brothers had never been taught to fight fair. Not even in our own backyard.
I turned to my father and Liza, who were both watching the exchange with keen interest. There was maybe even a shade of respect brewing in Dad’s ruthless expression.
“Brendan nominated me because he knows that I’ve been successfully and profitably managing the tech division of Blackguard for years, and that, unlike you, I’ve been solving this family’s problems for years, not making them. You think I’m a loose cannon, but in reality, I’m the safest choice.” I took out a cigarette, uncaring of the fact that we were inside.
“Ronan, put that out.” Liza snatched the cigarette away before I even lit it up. “You’ve made your point, and your father just got off oxygen.”
“Give it back,” Dad ordered. “If the boy wants a cigarette, let him have it. He’s earned it.”
Coming from my father, that was practically a declaration of love.
“But Owen’s also right,” he continued, turning those sharp eyes on me. “You’re not a picture of stability. Never have been. And that’s going to be a problem for the board,”
Liza’s warning rang through my mind.They want someone who’s going to settle down, get married, have kids. Present a respectable image.
In other words, I couldn’t keep playing the jester role I’d borne for years. I needed to flip the fucking script.
That is, if I even wanted to be CEO at all.
Maybe I just wanted to prove all these assholes wrong.
I tucked the cigarette back into the pack and sat forward. “Well, you’ll be happy to know I did more than party in Vegas this time around. I got married.”
The silence was deafening as every person in the room froze.
Owen and Shea were statues by the window. Liam and Liza stared like I’d grown a second head. Dad’s eyes narrowed. Mac,who was silently shaking his head in the doorway, was for once the first to break and move.
“Uh, Rone?” Liam finally ventured. “Did you just say you got married?”
“Oh, yeah. Rings, vows, Elvis impersonator.” I snapped my fingers at each item off the list. “The whole Vegas experience.”
“It’s another joke, right?” Owen shoved his hand through his hair, causing it to stand up in black spikes. “He’s fucking with us, or else it’s a play for?—”
“A play for what? Your approval?” I snorted. “Please, brother. I’d never lower myself to that. And before you say anything, it’s not a play for the board either. If I wanted to stage something for public consumption, I would have done the big fancy wedding like Brendan and Simone couldn’t even manage. As it happens, I walked down the aisle before I found out about Brendan. It was an act of love straight from my romantic, drunken heart.”
I looked at Liza at the end so she would understand what I was trying to say—that, yes, I’d been married when she called.
No one else seemed to know what to say.
“So… whoisshe?” Shea finally piped up. “We didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.”
That’s because I wasn’t, I thought but decided to keep that detail to myself. It certainly wouldn’t be the first secret about my social life I’d kept from these people. “We have a connection. It felt like the right thing to do. And unlikesomepeople in this room, my instincts rarely guide me wrong.” I took pleasure in the color that returned to Owen’s face when I made my last statement, forcing him to turn back to the window again to calm himself.