Cruel (The Buck Boys Heroes 2)

I don’t get in the middle of that because I could use another drink and a few minutes with Sean.

He’s one of three men I consider friends. I’d never admit that to any of them, but Graham, Sean, and Harrison Keene have stood by my side since I was a fifteen-year-old kid navigating my way through a family battle.

They witnessed the height of that and the aftermath when my life fractured before I worked to piece it back together.

“How’s the Trade Minds deal going?” Sean tosses that out there and then takes a drink.

“Dead in the water,” I say with an even tone. “They backed out last week.”

Scratching his beard-covered chin, he glances around the almost empty bar. “You’re shitting me, right?”

I wish I were.

I can’t deny that acquiring Trade Minds would have been a huge win for Bane Enterprises as the plan was to merge the technology firm with the company we acquired several years ago. That would have strengthened our position in the market as we set out to launch a new line of products, including smartphones, laptops, and security devices.

Technology is only one branch of the business we do, but it’s worth investing in. I view this as a setback but not one that’s insurmountable.

“They didn’t like your terms, did they?” He chuckles. “You need to learn how to negotiate. When was the last time you gave an inch, Bane?”

Five years ago, I gave much more than an inch. I sacrificed everything for someone.

I take a drink from the newly filled glass in front of me.

“Back at Buchanan, you would have cracked a joke about my dick if I asked about giving me an inch.”

I stare straight ahead. “Back at Buchanan, you were working with an inch, maybe an inch and a half. If memory serves, it took some time for you to mature.”

“Your memory is failing you, Kavan. I’ve always had more than most women can handle. I’m talking eight and a half very satisfying and thick…” He trails off, nudging my elbow with his.

I turn to glance in his direction to catch a smirk on his lips as his hand threads through his brown hair. He wiggles both brows in silence.

“One more word about your dick, and our friendship is over, Sean.”

He takes a mouthful of his drink and swallows it. “Agreed if you tell me why you were on RumorMel. Are you buying the site?”

“Is it for sale?” I ask, amused that he’s not giving up his hunt to get to the bottom of why I was scouring that website when he walked in.

“Everything and everyone is for sale,” he quips. “Name a price. I bet old Mel would take you up on that offer.”

He might if he hadn’t sold the enterprise to Marks Creative several years ago.

Sean may have caught me reading a story about a social media star I’ve never heard of and the hideous ring her athlete boyfriend bought her, but I have no interest in any of those people.

I’m curious about the woman who penned that piece.

Juliet Bardin.

I saved her from being mugged last week, and then I took the necessary steps to keep my name out of that complication.

It was the right move considering the fact that Miss Bardin earns a living reporting on the lives of people in the public eye, and I work very hard to avoid the spotlight.

Chapter Seven

Kavan

I’m not a man who permits anyone to back him into a corner.

I’m always aware of my surroundings, including my position now.

Nigel Rothe, my late father’s right-hand man and current personal advisor to me, is standing in front of my desk with his gaze trained on one of the many windows in my office that overlooks Manhattan.

“The board isn’t going to drop this, Mr. Bane.”

It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve insisted that he call me by my first name. Nigel is old school and loyal to his core.

He worked for my father for many years, and as soon as I took the reins of the company, he accepted the advisor position. It’s impossible for me to remember a time when Nigel wasn’t a prominent part of my life.

He’s right about the board of directors.

I spent the bulk of the afternoon in a meeting with the group. Each of them took their turn explaining what they perceived as the root cause of the declining price of Bane Enterprises stock and the core reason Trade Minds backed out of our agreement.

I wasn’t surprised when every finger came back pointing at me.

All of the dozens of books written about me over the past few years that professed to contain ‘firsthand knowledge’ of my life or ‘gruesome (never before heard) details’ about the night the Bane family changed forever are bullshit.

That includes the one released just last week with the uninspired title of The Bad Bane. It’s currently topping every bestseller list.