Page 101 of Bargain With the Boss

“Then let her have my shares. I don’t want them.”

“Jude, you can’t do that. You need your shares to help cover the cost of the business. You still have to pour money into building Lakeview Terrace.”

“Then I’ll sell her my shares. All she sees is the business.”

“She’s going to fire all my people.” The tears spilled over my cheeks and I could feel how hot they were. The fear and the guilt made my stomach churn even more. “Dammit, I hate crying. There’s no crying in business.”

“Pretty sure it’s baseball.”

The laugh that bubbled up ended in a sob.

“Hey.” Jude gathered me into his arms. “What’s this about your people?”

“Mother threatened to fire my entire team if I didn’t get you back to Seattle. She wanted me to sabotage your relationship or your business—whatever it took to get you back home.”

He pushed me back and stood. “What the actual fuck?”

I buried my face in my hands. “I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to, but coming here…I couldn’t. Not when I truly saw how beautiful this place was. Your family—even though you don’t need me here, I couldn’t do that to you.”

“Syd, it’s your family too.” He pulled my hands away with a sigh and crouched in front of me. “Owen lights up when he sees you. Maddie loves you. I love you. And I know you’d love Oliver and Seth if you gave them a chance.”

I stiffened at the name of my half-brothers. I wish they’d just stayed secret. Never ruined everything in my life.

My eyes burned.

“I know Seth and Oliver are a sore subject. I got really lucky that they wanted to get to know me. They have such huge hearts—I know they’d be the same with you.”

I swallowed down the lump. “Everything changed when you found out about them.”

He gripped my hands harder. “You’d rather we never knew? That I never came here?”

“Yes!” At his stricken face, I crumbled. “No. No, I really don’t,” I whispered. “It’s just been hard.”

“And I didn’t see it.” He hauled me into his chest. The familiar scent of him only made me feel worse. It really had been me and Jude against the world for so long and now it was just me.

How could I wish away his happiness?

I tried to wiggle away, but he held on. “I’m sorry, Syd.”

“Oh, God. Don’t apologize to me. Not when I?—”

“You what? Felt alone.” He set me back.

I sagged, my shoulders heavy with the secret. With knowing our mother cared more about her own needs than mine or Jude’s. And I’d been in the middle of it all.

Her tool.

Always.

The sob fought its way out of my chest and he just held me.

The pain and loneliness was like a root-bound plant. I’d been slowly packing everything down to just get through the day for so damn long. The team relied on me, my own wants and needs pushed further and further away to take care of everyone except me.

“Ah, Syd. I’m so sorry that I didn’t see how much you were struggling.”

My head pounded, but the torrent abated to a few sniffles. “Coming here made it so much worse. From Seattle I could almost believe that bringing you home would solve everything, but it wouldn’t.” I eased away from him and dabbed at my eyes. “She’s delusional.”

“Why sabotage?”