Brother to the Boss (Managing the Bosses 8)

“Are you doing anything that isn't working?”

“Well,” Christine said, ducking her head to hide a smile that Jamie was surprised to see was actually shy. “I kind of met someone.”

“You did?” Jamie leaned forward a little against the table. “Who? Tell me!”

Her sister answered with laughter, and paused to take another bite-size snack from the appetizer platter. When she'd finished eating she took a sip of wine, and Jamie wondered just how long she was going to stall for. “I met him at work,” Christine said finally. “He's a really nice guy. And totally gorgeous.”

“Rich?”

Christine shook her head. “I'm sure that he is, but that doesn't really matter to me anymore. There are more important things.”

“Like how gorgeous he is?” Jamie teased.

“Like how nice he is,” Christine answered a little stiffly, but she smiled at Jamie. “I mean, he's nothing like Stephen.” She turned her glass around between her fingers, thoughtful. “I never thought,” she continued, “that I would get over Stephen, honestly. Even when I'd started to move on and really become someone different, someone who wasn't that bitchy woman I used to be, I still clung to Stephen. He was this familiar thing. But he didn't care. And it took me way too long to figure that out. Once I did, it got a little easier, but I wasn't sure it would ever go away.”

“But it did?” Jamie asked.

“One day, honestly, I just woke up and it was gone.” Christine shrugged a little, and shook her head, like she wasn't sure how to describe it to Jamie, who was listening intently. “I could remember loving him, and being so wrapped up in him that everyone outside our little bubble seemed like an enemy if he wanted them to be. And I remembered the way it hurt once he was gone. But it didn't hurt anymore. And I wasn't too blind an

ymore to see what he'd been.” She gave Jamie a look, and laughed a short, sharp laugh. “Now, I'm actually glad he's in prison. I guess it's where he belongs.”

“I'm glad, too,” Jamie said. “The fact that you still felt like that about him was just making you miserable, and you're so much better off without him, Christine.”

Her sister smiled. “Yeah, I know that now. And, like I said, Karl is totally different from Stephen. It's not even comparable. And I think that's a really good thing, honestly. I don't want anything to remind me of him, especially not in a relationship.”

“It is a good thing,” Jamie said. She was so happy for Christine, honestly. Her sister had been through a lot in the last couple years, and she deserved something nice in her life. Someone who would take care of her and love her better than Stephen had. “Have you been on any dates yet?”

Christine shook her head. “No, but he's taking me out on Friday, actually.” She smiled. “We're going to go to dinner, and to see a show after. I'm really looking forward to it.”

“Good,” Jamie said. “You should be. And I want to hear all of the details as soon as you get back from it.”

“All of the details,” Christine said. “Sure.”

Silence fell between them. The restaurant was full of murmured conversation, but none of it was loud enough to disturb the peace of their table. Jamie ate a few more things, and while she was trying to be happy for Christine she couldn't help the way that her thoughts were drifting back to Alex and the fight that they'd had. It had been really tense between them since then, although Jamie had tried to apologize. Alex had made some excuse about being busy, and had walked away, and Jamie was a little afraid that she had made a mistake that wouldn't be able to be fixed.

After everything they'd been through together, would he give up over that?

He couldn't. Jamie wouldn't be able to take it if he did. She was just going to have to go home and make sure that he didn’t have the chance to stew any more in the leftover anger from their fight. They were stronger than one silly argument, and she was going to prove it to him.

“Thank you,” she said, looking up at Christine.

Her sister, midway to grabbing another chip from the pile in the corner of the platter, paused. She looked surprised. “What for?”

Jamie smiled. “For reminding me that no matter how tough things get I need to keep fighting for what Alex and I have.”

Chapter 11

Mark still couldn’t believe Alex had just walked away.

After all the time they had spent trying to be actual brothers again, that was just going to be it? Over something that, as far as Mark could see, really wasn't as much of an issue as Alex was making it out to be? Nicholas was bad. People did business with people they didn't like all the time. Like he'd said, he wasn't going to be scrambling to do Nicholas' bidding any time soon, and if the guy was using his country club for business meetings, then Mark was going to be able to keep an eye on him. What he'd said about keeping enemies closer he'd actually meant.

Shit, he’d worked for Alex. He knew firsthand what Nicolas was capable of.

Of course, Alex might have realized that if he'd bothered to stop and think for a moment. He would’ve known to trust Mark had he bothered to try to have a relationship with his family growing up. All Alex had was anger from the past. Alex hadn’t had it easy as a kid, but he should have just trusted Mark. They were brothers. Mark wasn't going to do anything to hurt him. Hadn't he shown that over and over again? Hadn't he tried everything to reconcile with Alex? It was their dad's dying wish, and now they were going back on everything that they'd managed to create together.

Sighing, Mark dropped his head into his hands.

He didn't know what he was going to say to Erica. The whole thing was kind of her fault, honestly. If she hadn't been so set on keeping Nicholas around because of the nice tips he gave, he would have sent the man packing as soon as he'd realized it was Nicholas. But he wasn't very good at denying people he loved, and he really wasn't very good at saying no to Erica. So now he'd managed to lose Alex again.