In the Heat of the Spotlight

‘I appreciate she’s probably pretty good in the sack, but she goes, Luke.’

Luke didn’t think then. He just swung. His fist connected with his brother’s jaw and white-hot pain radiated from his knuckles. Aaron doubled over, righting himself with one hand on the desk, the other massaging his already swelling jaw.

‘Damn it, Luke. What the hell has gotten into you?’

‘I should have done that years ago,’ Luke said grimly. He cradled his throbbing hand. It had felt amazingly good to hit his brother. ‘You stay out of this, Aaron. Stay out of my personal life and stay out of the store.’

‘The store? The store is part of—’

‘Bryant Enterprises. Yeah, I get that. I also get that you’ve got to have your sticky fingerprints on every part of this empire, even though there’s plenty for both of us, and Chase too, if he’d wanted it.’

‘Chase,’ Aaron answered, ‘was disinherited.’

‘You could have given it back to him. You knew Dad was just acting out of anger.’

‘I wasn’t about to go against our dead father’s wishes.’

‘Oh, give it up.’ Luke turned away, suddenly tired. ‘Like you’ve ever cared about that.’

Aaron was silent for a moment. ‘You have no idea,’ he finally said, his voice flat and strange. Luke turned around.

‘No?’

‘No. And the fact remains that you might be CEO of Bryant Stores but I’m still your boss, and I say she goes.’

Impatience flared through him at his brother’s autocratic tone. ‘Have you read the papers? Have you seen the positive press—’

‘Yes, and along with the positive press they’re raking up every bit of tabloid trash that woman has generated. Do you know how many photos there are of her—’

‘Stop.’ Luke held up a hand. ‘Stop, because I don’t want to hear it and if we continue this conversation I’ll punch you again.’

‘This time I’ll be ready for it,’ Aaron snapped. ‘I don’t care if you’re screwing her, Luke, but she can’t—’

‘Shut. Up.’ Luke’s voice was low, deadly in a way neither of them had ever heard before. ‘Don’t say one more word about Aurelie, Aaron. Not one word.’ Aaron remained silent, his mouth thinned, his eyes narrowed. Luke let out a low breath. ‘Bryant Stores is under my authority. I’ve been trying to prove to you for over fifteen years that I’m perfectly capable of managing it myself, but you always step in. You’ve never trusted me.’

‘I don’t trust anyone.’

Surprise rippled through Luke; he hadn’t expected Aaron to say that, to admit so much.

‘Why not?’

Aaron lifted one shoulder in an impatient shrug. ‘Does it matter?’

‘It matters to me. Do you know how hard I’ve worked—’

‘Oh, yes, I know. You’ve worked hard for everything in your life, Luke, always waiting for that damn pat on your head. You didn’t get it from Dad and you won’t get it from me.’

Rage coursed through him. ‘That’s a hell of a thing to say.’

‘It’s true, though, isn’t it?’ Aaron stared at him in challenge. ‘You’ve always been working for other people’s approval. Trying to prove yourself, and you never will.’

Luke stared at his brother, realisation trickling coldly through him. He didn’t like the way Aaron had put it, but he recognised that his brother’s words held a shaming grain of truth. He’d been trying to prove himself for so long, to earn people’s trust as if that would somehow make up for that one moment when he’d lost his father’s.

‘I’ll stop now, then,’ he said evenly. ‘You either step off Bryant’s or I do.’

Aaron raised his eyebrows. ‘Are you threatening to quit?’

‘It’s not a threat.’

‘Do you know what that kind of publicity could do—’

‘Yes.’

‘You’ve worked for Bryant’s your whole adult life. You really want to just leave that behind?’

Luke knew his brother was testing him, looking for weaknesses. He wouldn’t find any. He’d never felt so sure about anything in his life. ‘I’ll leave it behind if I have to keep answering to you. I’m done proving myself, Aaron. To you or to anyone.’