The Devil Wears Black

“Back to work,” my father roared, turning around to glare at the people who stood behind him, ping-ponging their gazes from Julian and me to Ronan, whom they now knew was dying. People ran to their stations so fast you’d think their asses were on fire. Dad turned his attention back to us.

“In my entire seventy-two years of living, I’ve never been as disappointed as I am today. I thought I raised men. I knew you didn’t always see eye to eye. I wasn’t blind to the way you exchanged words and taunts from across the table during dinner for the past few years. I was terribly saddened when Amber decided to end her engagement to Chase and got with Julian so early afterward, but I held my tongue, knowing that, in essence, you were good men who were allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. Julian.” He turned to my brousin. Julian stared at the floor, blinking rapidly. “From the moment we took you in, you were the apple of our eye. You’re my son no less than Chase is.”

Julian’s head snapped up. “Then why did you give—”

“Because he is more suitable for the job,” my father clipped out, smacking his cane on the carpet. “He worked harder and, frankly, made fewer mistakes. His approach is more analytical, and he is not trigger happy when in crisis. He will be CEO because, in my opinion, he possesses the set of skills that a good CEO requires. You’re emotional, Julian, with the tendency for knee-jerk reactions. If you need a point of reference to why I couldn’t trust you as CEO, all you need to do is look back to your behavior in the past few years, or weeks even. Taunting Chase, trying to turn the shareholders against him, trying to make me sign contracts while I was half-conscious—yes, I do remember that—and spilling the beans about my illness publicly before I was ready to tell people.”

Julian let out a groan, covering his face with his hands. It was the first time he’d looked human in years. My father turned his head toward me, frowning.

“As for you, Chase, I really don’t know what to say. Faking an engagement to Maddie. Manipulating your family in order to secure this position—”

“It wasn’t about the position,” I bit out. “It was about you.” The admission felt bitter in my mouth. “I wanted you to think I had my shit together before we said goodbye. I wanted you to be proud.”

It sounded pathetic coming out of my mouth. So much so I wanted to laugh. Dad did laugh. Humorlessly, though. “Evidently, you’ve failed. Your shit is not together. Your shit hit the fan, and now everybody stinks.”

It was Julian’s turn to snicker. Bastard had the audacity to enjoy it.

“Now let’s talk about Clementine.” Dad tapped his cane again, redirecting the conversation to the part that mattered. It felt surreal to stand here in front of my father and watch him unravel every single embarrassing thing his two sons had done in the last decade. “Both of you will need to step up.”

“I will,” I said without hesitation, even knowing what I knew. It didn’t matter. I would always be there for Booger Face, until the end of time, in any capacity, no matter who she belonged to.

“Me too.” Julian nodded, sobered. “God, I’m not a monster. And anyway, a part of me always knew, I guess. Clemmy is mine. Always will be.”

Dad used the very last ounces of his energy to raise the cane, poking it in Julian’s arm. “You do not treat that kid any differently. It is not her fault she was born into the wrong situation. Am I understood?” He hovered the cane between the two of us.

“Yes, sir,” we said in unison.

My father shook his head, sighing. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go apologize to Lori for leaving her with this mess and bring her up to speed.”

He turned around and walked out of my office. It was only when he entered the elevator that I noticed Madison was on the other side of the glass.

She’d heard.

About Clementine. Or at least, what she thought was me fathering Clementine.

About our exposed charade.

About fucking everything.

“Mad, wait.”

But it was too late. She turned around and took the elevator down with Dad.

Chase: You’re not in your office.

Maddie: Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Chase: I’m coming to your place.

Maddie: I wouldn’t do that if I were you.

Chase: I can explain.

(I couldn’t, at this point, but it seemed like something people said often.)

Maddie: Which part, the one where your father uncovered us? Or maybe it’s the part where you screwed my brains out in my office, then proceeded to throw it in Julian’s face when he ruffled your feathers? Yes, Chase. Thin glass door. EVERYBODY heard.