Anna narrowed her focus on Adam.
“It’s the one thing we didn’t account for,” Adam said flatly. “We’re going to lose controlling interest in the company and I doubt there’s much we can do about it. He’s had a chip on his shoulder forever about LangTel, and you know how he feels about me in particular. Jacob and I were just strategizing on ways to raise the capital to fight this.”
Anna sat down in the chair next to Jacob’s. This was not the time for panic. There had to be a solution. “No. Adam, you have to reach out to him. Don’t fight this with money. That’s going to make things far worse. Send him an email. Tell him we know about it. But do it kindly. We don’t want to scare him. Tell him that we want to talk, that we want to find out what would make him do this.”
“How is that going to work?”
“You have any other bright ideas? He’s our brother. If we do anything less than extend the olive branch, he’ll never forgive us. Put yourself in his shoes.”
“Maybe you should do it. He actually likes you.” Adam’s voice had an uncharacteristic wobble. Their father had left an awful lot on Adam’s shoulders—the CEO position, now this. The root of the problem with Aiden was undoubtedly their father. He’d pitted the boys against each other from the very beginning.
“I think it will mean more from you, especially if you use a softer touch,” she said. “He’ll expect you to be all bravado, so don’t do that. Be his brother.”
“This is business. Do you really think that’s advised? It sounds awfully girly.”
Anna sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Then ask Jacob what he thinks.”
Adam cocked both eyebrows at Jacob. Anna was amazed they’d managed this much without taking pot shots at each other.
“Anna’s right,” Jacob said, taking his seat next to her. “If your brother is feeling like he’s on the outs with your family, it’s going to take a softer approach. If you try to steamroller him, he’ll steamroller you right back. Except he can flatten you with this one, Adam. Completely.”
Adam looked as befuddled as Anna had ever seen him. “That’s a surprising answer coming from you, Mr. Number Cruncher.”
“I know exactly what it feels like to be on the outs with the Langford family. It’s not a fun place to be.”
Anna swallowed, hard. She couldn’t argue that point. The good news was that as of now, Adam and Jacob had to be going on at least twenty minutes of being in the same room and everyone was still living and breathing.
Adam visibly tensed. “Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll play the nice guy and reach out to him.” He went to his laptop and started typing. After a few keystrokes, he looked up at the two of them. “Are we done? I have work to do. I’ll let you know when I hear back from Aiden.”
Jacob cleared his throat and stood up. “Actually, there’s one more thing.”
“What?” Adam pushed back from his desk and crossed his arms.
“I need you to know that I love your sister more than anyone or anything on this entire planet. And I’m hoping that she and I can find a way to work things out, but we have some obstacles to get past and I want to get rid of one of them right now. You and I need to drop the fighting. It’s stupid, and frankly, I have more important things to worry about.”
“Do you really think it’s as simple as that?” Adam retorted. “We decide to forget it? I can’t believe that you, of all people, would think that you could just come in here and declare a truce and make it all go away. It’s far more complicated than that.”
“Actually, Adam, it’s not. It’s really very simple. Do we love Anna more than we hate each other?”
A puff of astonished air left Anna’s lips. Six years of feuding and Jacob had boiled it down to one question.
“I know what my answer is,” Jacob continued. “I love her far more than I ever hated you, which should tell you just how much I love her. Because I really, really hated you.”
Adam sat back in his chair, his jaw slack. He was clearly letting this tumble around in his head, and they had to let him process it. “Wow. I guess you really can make it that simple.” He looked at Anna, seeming to get a little choked up. “Anna Banana, I definitely love you more than I hate him. I don’t know what I would’ve done during the last year without you.”
“Then let’s bury the hatchet, Adam. Please,” Jacob added.