“What does that mean?”
“Jeez, Regan, grow up. Our mother was doing the same thing Emerson was. She was never faithful.”
She shook her head. “You can’t know that.”
“Oh yes, I can,” Spencer said.
“All those trips she took,” Aiden said. “Did you think she went alone?”
“Come on, Regan. You had to have known what was going on.”
She and Spencer were suddenly shouting at each other while Aiden patiently waited for the argument to end. Spencer accused her of living in pretend land, and she finally conceded that she had wondered how her mother could fall in and out of love so easily.
“Love?” Spencer scoffed at the notion. “Love didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Mother always wanted what she couldn’t have.”
It suddenly dawned on her that she was screaming, giving both of them hell, and they were still there. No one was walking out on her. Aiden looked as if he wanted to put a gag in her mouth, but she wasn’t intimidated… or worried.
“You need to grow up,” Spencer said, his tone calmer now. “And face facts.”
“Acknowledging that our mother was a slut is growing up?”
He shrugged. “It’s facing reality.”
“All right,” she said. “You both believe that since Mother slept around, it’s okay that Emerson did? Isn’t anyone faithful anymore? Don’t wedding vows mean anything, like now and forever?”
“Apparently not,” Spencer shouted.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Aiden snapped. “We’re getting rid of a problem.”
“The cheapest way we know how,” Spencer said. He shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned at her.
“And nothing I say will change your minds?”
Both of her brothers shook their heads. Then Spencer said, “Sorry, Regan, but we’ve got to play hardball on this one.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
Then they smiled… until she walked to the door.
“Wait,” Spencer called out. “You forgot to sign the papers.”
She pushed the doors open as she turned back. “You need my signature to go forward, and you know what? I need you to triple my budget for next year. When that happens, I’ll sign. And that, boys, is playing hardball.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
“I’ve never heard you lose it like that before.” Henry made the comment, and from the look on his face, it was apparent he was impressed.
“I didn’t lose it. I simply stated my position.”
Henry spotted Spencer walking toward them, and so he lowered his voice to a whisper. “Yes, but you were shouting when you were stating your position. Honest, I’ve never ever heard you raise your voice. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard Aiden or Spencer raise their voices either,” he said. “Except during football games. Spencer yells at the television then.”
Henry hadn’t included her brother Walker, but then why would he? He barely knew him. Walker was never around. Henry had met him a couple of years ago, while he was still training, but he’d only seen him once since, at the dedication in Conrad Park that they had all attended.
Spencer turned her attention when he walked past her. He tugged on a strand of her hair and nodded to Henry.
Aiden came out of her office a minute later. He stopped to talk to Henry. He noticed the article and the photo Henry had framed and hung on the wall.
“That’s nice,” he said. He started to walk away, then changed his mind. “You’re doing an excellent job here. Paul Greenfield, my senior manager, keeps me informed,” he explained. “If you ever want a job making money instead of giving it away, come work for me.”
Henry smiled. “Thank you, sir, but I’m good here. Besides, someday this is all going to be mine.”
Aiden laughed. “The hotel, or this office?”
“Stop recruiting him,” Regan said.
Aiden ignored her. “If this is really what you want…”
“It is, sir. Besides, I could never work with…”
“The dragon? Isn’t that what you call Emily?”
Henry didn’t seem embarrassed or look the least contrite. “Most of the time that’s what I call her, but I’ve also got a couple of other names for her.”
“Yes. I’ve heard about those too.”
“I appreciate your offer,” he said. “But I love what I’m doing, and like I said, I could never work with Emily.”
“Apparently no one can.” He was looking at Regan when he made that remark.
She didn’t ask him what, if anything, he planned to do about his assistant because he might use that as a bargaining chip to get her to sign the papers. She was happy, though, to know that he was aware he had a problem.
Her brother nudged her shoulder as he walked by. “I left the papers on your desk. Sign them.”
“Triple my budget and I will.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
As soon as Aiden was out of earshot, Henry whispered, “He’s never going to go for triple. That was reaching.”
“I know he won’t. So we’ll negotiate, and we’ll get double, which is what we want.”
Henry shook his head. “Aiden’s got to know what you’re up to.”
“Of course he knows,” she said. “But he’ll still give in to us. At least I hope he will.”
“He acts like he doesn’t care about the job we do, but he does care, doesn’t he? It’s not just about a tax write-off.”
“No, he cares, and so does Spencer. They’re just so busy building their empire, they don’t have time for anything else.” She glanced around the office. “Henry, who were you talking to when I was inside with Spencer and Aiden?”
“Alec.”
“Alec was here?”
Her reaction to the news was bizarre. She could feel herself blushing, and she hoped Henry wouldn’t notice. She tried to sound nonchalant when she asked, “Did Alec happen to overhear any of the conversation?”
Henry smiled. “Are you asking me if he heard you and Spencer shouting?”
So much for trying to act nonchalant. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking.”
“I know he heard some of it because he started laughing,” he said. “But I don’t remember how much. Why? Is that important?”
She shook her head and then decided to change the subject. “You know what? I should have talked to Aiden about Emily. He needs to know how much trouble she’s causing, and I want him to know I don’t like the way she blames you for her mistakes.”
“You heard Aiden. He’s going to do something about her. I hope he follows Cordie’s suggestion.”
“And that was?”
“Fire her ass.”
Regan tried not to laugh. “Those were her exact words, weren’t they?”
“Yes.”
“Shame on her, corrupting a young, impressionable boy.”
Henry laughed. “I’ve heard worse.”
