Page 56 of Rival Hearts

Like I said, a win.

Somehow, though, it didn’t feel like it.

My heart ached, and it felt a hell of a lot more like a loss.

16

ALEX

“Oh good, you’re all here,” I said when I walked into the boardroom. My three brothers and my dad were all present.

Seeing all the Blackwoods together was a sight to behold. We were all tall, strong guys. We might not have had the same blood in our veins but the Blackwood confidence and pride didn’t fall far from the tree.

My dad was shorter than the rest of them, but that didn’t mean that he lacked any of the qualities that made him a worthy Blackwood. After all, he was the one who’d raised us to be who we were.

I glanced at Daniel. He was the second oldest, coming in at thirty-one when Ben was thirty-three, and he was out of town, state, or the country more often than not.

He was the only Blackwood with shares in the company and a say in what happened, but he didn’t work directly with the company. He was a pilot and lived his own life in a lot of ways.

“Welcome back, bro.”

“Thanks.” Daniel grinned. “Looks like shit hit the fan while I was gone. Can’t turn my back for one second…”

Chris chuckled and shook his head, and Ben punched Daniel playfully on the shoulder.

“Don’t flatter yourself, bro,” Ben said. “We can fuck things up just fine even if you’re here.”

Chris guffawed, and Daniel laughed, but I shook my head, irritated.

“Thanks for that, Ben.”

“Hey, I’m just calling it as it is,” Ben said with a wink.

“Come on, settle down,” Dad said. “Let’s talk business.”

I was glad Dad called them to order. My brothers were a handful on a good day, and I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit. When they pointed out that things were going wrong, it put me in a bad mood.

But today, my mood was better than it had been in a long time, and not even their shitty jokes felt too personal.

“I want to talk about the activists,” I said.

“They’re causing more trouble than they’re worth,” Chris said, bristling.

“Yeah, I heard she called you out on television,” Daniel quipped.

I groaned inwardly. “She’s green. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

My brothers exchanged glances when I defended Charlotte.

“Which is what made me think—” I carried on quickly before they could start asking questions about why I was defending her when I’d been pissed off just a few days ago.

“They’re just causing shit with no good outcome,” Daniel said.

“That’s not entirely true.”

Ben frowned. “What’s gotten into you? You’re just as against them as the rest of them, aren’t you?”

“We’re looking at it all wrong. It’s not supposed to be like that. Us against them. Good against bad, or whatever. Because we’re not bad—or good—and they’re not our opposites.”