Despite the call with Tokyo going well, that nap haunted me the rest of the night and into the next morning.
I had a hard time falling asleep, which I blamed on Ellie the Unicorn and her magic nap-whispering. Maybe I wouldn’t have spent hours staring at the ceiling and thinking about the next deal if she’d stuck around.
Even after swimming my morning laps, taking a shower, and eating a quick breakfast, I still couldn’t stop thinking about how well I’d slept during that damn nap. It wasn’t until I was brewing a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen that a text from my brother finally distracted me.
Harrison
Had a weird dinner with Grandfather last night. Did you two have a fight? He asked if I’d be interested in the UK position.
My eyes narrowed at the screen.
The old man had offered Harrison my promotion?
I pulled up my grandfather’s contact and smashed the call button. It rang before going to voicemail. So, I tried again. And again.
He finally picked up on the fifth ring while I poured a cup of coffee. “Caden, I’m at breakfast?—”
“Did you offer the UK position to Harrison?” It took effort to keep my tone even.
A heavy sigh drifted through the phone.
“Relax. There wasn’t any offer,” he said. “I’m just exploring all my options.”
“No, what you’re doing is losing your mind,” I said, even though he wasn’t. The scheming bastard was pitting us against each other on purpose. “Tell me you’re not seriously considering this. I just spent months convincing Pembroke to sign his company over to us. An acquisition everyone said couldn’t be done. What did Harrison spend that time doing?”
“Well, he was probably enjoying life with his new wife,” Tobias said. “That’s important, too.”
The coffeepot’s handle strained under my grip, and I set it down. “If you’re implying I’m being punished because he’s married and I’m not, that’s discrimination.”
“I’m not implying anything. This is about him having a work-life balance while you’re burying yourself in projects.” He gave a small cough. “I built Westbrook Capital so our family could be comfortable for generations, not so work could overtake our lives. You grind harder than I ever did, but what’s the point of building wealth if you don’t take time to enjoy it?”
I frowned. “Building it is the enjoyable part.”
Soft grumblings came from his end of the line.
“I love your ambition and how much you’ve done for the company, but you’ll drive yourself to an early grave at this rate,” he warned. “We’ve always been about family first, and you’ve lost sight of that. Fortunately, it’s not too late to course correct.”
I paced the kitchen. “So, it’s not about pitting me against Harrison?”
“Not unless you want it to be,” he said smoothly. “If I could combine both of you, you’d be the perfect candidate. With his networking skills and your dealmaking? You’d be a shoo-in. But individually, you both have areas to improve in before taking on a position like this.”
My grip tightened on the phone. “And my room for improvement is to workless?”
“It’s to spend time with your family and reconsider joining your brother on his trip.” The clinks of plates and silverware being cleared carried through the line, and Grandfather raised his voice. “I haven’t made any decisions yet, but there’s a lot to think about. I strongly suggest leaving your work at the office and getting on that yacht if you’re serious about the promotion.”
Pinching the skin between my eyes, I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Harry’s trip has nothing to do with the UK position. It’s just a hoop you want me to jump through that doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me. Show me you can have a work-life balance, and the position’s yours.” He hung up.
I lowered the phone and stared at the screen.
Because it wasn’t a request.
He wasorderingme to take a vacation.
It had to be the strangest ultimatum I’d ever heard of.
But that itch inside me—the one that wanted this promotion more than anything and knew how much harder I’d worked for it than my brother—could play along.