Perfect Grump (Bad Chicago Bosses)

If I can help her hang on just a little while longer, my job is done.

“You all right, little brother?” Ward’s voice booms from my left side.

I glance over. “Yeah. Why?”

“Your mouth’s smiling but your eyes aren’t.”

I turn to meet his gaze.

“Nah, it’s just...”

Ward inclines his head toward my office. “Do we need to speak privately?”

“Yeah.” It’s pointless, and I know it.

I’m sure he’s heard about the heap of chaos I’m in. I go to my office with Ward following.

He sits down in the chair across from my desk.

“It’s not the end of the world, you know.”

Easy for him to fucking say.

“Birdshit’s hit piece?” I growl, hating how the mere thought of it sends fury roaring through me.

“What else?”

“Not the end? Are you joking?”

“It’s not. It may seem like it now, but it’ll blow over like it always does. More inanity will be trending tomorrow that has nothing to do with you. No one will even care anymore,” he tells me.

“They’ll care—and so will we—if anyone from the city bites on that dickwad’s invitation to recheck the depot. Not that I think we’ve got anything to worry about. I’m sure of it. I put my heart into that project, whatever the fuck I said when I was wasted.” I bring my fist down on my desk. Ward gives me a sharp look. “Sorry. You know what the worst part is?”

“No. Enlighten me?”

“I can’t even reach her to chew her out for pulling this shit,” I snarl.

“Her?”

“Carmen.”

“I’ll admit I’m surprised. I thought she wanted to talk to you and used this as bait? Paige thinks Carmen’s still in love with you. I told her it’s hard to call this love when it’s more like a fucked up obsession.” He rakes an annoyed hand through his hair.

“It’s vengeance, you mean. She wants me to pay for breaking up with her. She’s enjoying this torture, dragging this out, feeding Osprey scraps in dribs and drabs.” I pause, taking a deep breath. “She hopes if she makes just enough of my past fuck ups public—minus the big one—I’ll come crawling back before she releases it. Why the hell would I? If I ever piss her off, she’ll just release the hounds. I’ve got my lawyer researching blackmail charges.”

“The big one?” He looks confused, his green-blue eyes narrowed.

Shit.

No point in hiding it. My brother deserves to know just how bad this can get.

“Years ago, when I was a total drunken idiot and we were almost a couple...we made a sex video. I thought I destroyed all the evidence, but apparently she kept a copy.”

“Goddamn.” Ward goes quiet for a moment, then stands, shaking his head. “Well, that’s your business. It’s hardly relevant to what you do here or the deals we close. If it comes out, we’ll cross that bridge then. Everyone makes mistakes, but hell, you’ve changed. You’ve changed a lot this past year. You can’t beat yourself up over old mistakes.”

“The texts on The Chicago Tea—”

He leans against the wall.

“Some of those were a little more relevant to Brandt Ideas, yeah, but you were right. Your team covered your ass no matter how blasted you were. I’ve reviewed all the information presented in that meeting and the plans. They were thorough. The final product cleared proper city planning and permits without a hitch. If someone wants to argue this firm was somehow negligent, they’ll have an army of lawyers up their ass.”

Ward isn’t worried at all. He’s confident we’ve got this.

I wish I felt the same.

I exhale slowly.

He gives me a fierce look. “I’ve got your back, Nicholas. You should be proud, no matter what a few clowns on the internet say. You’ve done a lot of growing up.” He points at the wall I share with the new playroom. “What you’ve done for Reese is proof. You stepped up and helped run the company when Grandma left. You helped us land the Winthrope deal. I couldn’t have done it without you, and for a while, when I thought I’d lost Paige...you helped me with that, too.”

“All the help in the world can’t pull me out of this. This slow fucking character assassination is going to destroy Brandt Dreams before it’s even up and running. We’re at our full advertising budget now, and it’s plastered everywhere that I’m heading the spin-off. Who’d want to work with me after this?”

“Are you listening? I said you’ll be fine.”

I suppress a laugh. Ward has gone into full big brother protector, and he’s about to lay down the law.

Whatever. I nod to let him think it’s that simple.

“No one’s fucking with my company or the family legacy. I won’t let that happen. I’m ten seconds from having Osprey and his BS machine followed by a PI so I can start filing frivolous lawsuits. It’ll keep him buried in paperwork, anyhow. You know an asshole who’s made a fortune off trading everybody else’s dark secrets must have a few of his own.” I pause, pinching the bridge of my nose.