Page 89 of Savage Suit

“I want Ryan Hagen fired,” Nicholas said. “You don’t deserve happiness. I want to see you miserable for the rest of your fucking life. You almost ruined Duke, my best friend. You put me and Tina through hell every fucking time she has to go away. Mother took you on vacations, but barely had time to read me a fucking book. She gallivanted across Europe with you for weeks, six months before her plane crash. She couldn’t even take my fucking calls for the first two weeks. Dad said she didn’t have time for us because she was withyou.I was ten, Noah. My only crime was I wasn’t you.”

Even if I’d still had the medical records and other documents proving she’d had a heart attack, I wouldn’t have shown them to Nicholas, Nathaniel, or my sisters. I’d given my word to my parents that I’d take my mother’s secrets to my grave, and I would.

“Fuck, Nick, I got on Noah’s ass to go to counseling,” Nathaniel grumbled. “Maybe, I was talking to the wrong brother. Your bullshit doesn’t help Noah. Find a therapist or shut the fuck up about it.”

“You don’t tell me what to do, Nate,” Nicholas sneered.

“You might not follow what I have to say, but you can’t tell me what the fucktosay,” Nathaniel retorted. “You’re not Noah.”

Nicholas smirked at me. “I don’t control the purse strings.”

“No, fuckhead. I didn’t mean that,” Nathaniel said. “You’re a selfish fuck. That’s what I meant.”

Nicholas and I exchanged glances, then stared at Nathaniel.

“You aren’t Noah,” he said, doubling down. “I call and he comes running. It doesn’t matter the time of day. And it isn’t only me he’ll drop everything for. He’s done it for you, Rosie, and Rem. He does it for Tina. He looks after us and is there for every family meeting, birthday, or milestone. That’s more than I can say for you.”

“You were barely out of diapers when Mother died, so you’re talking out of your ass, Nate,” Nicholas said.

“She was my mother too, dickhead,” Nathaniel said in frustration. “What’s wrong with you, Nick? You might’ve been a kid, but so was Noah. He was twelve. It wasn’t his fault Mom favored him. If I’m the fucking idiot, that should be an obvious fact, genius.”

“Knock, knock,” Megan said as she strutted through the open door, halting upon seeing Nathaniel.

He smiled at her. “Hey, gorgeous.”

A blush stained her cheeks, and she lowered her lashes. “Hi, Nate.”

“Besides Uncle Ed, you’re the only Keegan with a cock Megan hasn’t fucked, Noah,” Nicholas announced.

“You’re mean, Nick,” Megan croaked, glancing uneasily at me.

“And you’re a whore,” Nicholas said without apology.

“Enough,” I ordered as Megan’s face crumpled. “You will respect Megan and every other woman, Nicholas.”

“As you do?” he mocked. “How the fuck do you respect my wife by hiding my affair from her?”

“She’s your wife, fuckhead,” I snapped. “It’s up to you to police your cock and, as unfortunate as it is,you’remy brother.”

“More’s the pity,” he agreed, echoing my sentiment. “Allegiance to me has nothing to do with your silence. It’s because you want her to suffer for being a working woman.”

“Nick—” Megan started, snapping her mouth shut at his glare.

“Tina isn’t my wife, Nicholas,” I said. “She’s yours, so she can work to her heart’s content.”

“Really? Every time she leaves for a business trip, you curl up in a corner with your blankie and teddy bear, worried the plane’s going to crash.”

“Jesus Christ, Nick, you’re possessed,” Nathaniel said with disapproval.

“This is going no fucking where,” I said.

Our public cordiality would remain a façade. In private, we’d never like one another. At this point, neither of us would mourn the other were we to die. Nicholas looked ready to murder me. I, too, could’ve killed him and felt no remorse, but I knew the heat of the moment had me homicidal. Once I saw Ryan and assessed her state myself, I’d calm down.

Needing to restore control, I looked among my brothers and Megan, noting their collective unhappiness. In addition, she appeared humiliated. The problem dawned on me, and I scowled. Between my brother and Megan Buford, I’d prefer to see the back of Nicholas. Unfortunately, my father made sure that wasn’t possible. “Miss Buford, you’re fired—”

“Are you out of your mind?” Nicholas demanded. “Do you know what will happen to us if you terminate Megan after that scathing article?”

“The same thing that would happen if Noah fired Ryan after her first fucking day?” Nathaniel asked with biting sarcasm.