Page 44 of The Maxwell Brothers

Declan caught on immediately. “There’s no warning you, is there?”

“You can try, but it won’t work.”

I needed to look that fucker in the eye. He thought he could push us around, did he? Malcolm was in for a nasty surprise.

I was restless after Declan left my office, so I called Luke immediately, and he answered right away. I didn’t often make personal phone calls from the office, but every member of my family picked up at once whenever I did.

“Hey, are you coming up to headquarters today?” I asked.

“No, I’m visiting construction sites. Why?”

“Declan told me that Malcolm is suing Gran and Reese.”

“Fucking hell,” he exclaimed. “I’m gonna punch that moron.”

Luke was so much like me—no wonder Declan was concerned. In fact, all five of us were stubborn and hotheaded. Declan was the only odd duck.

“I haven’t ruled that out,” I said honestly, knowing Luke wasn’t going to judge me. Quite the contrary.

“Good, whatever you’re planning, I’m in. I don’t care what Declan says.”

“For now, I want you to talk to Reese about this.”

“Come on, man. Why are you making me the messenger?”

“You’re closer to her than I am.” That was only partly the reason.

“Try again.”

Damn, my brothers could see right through me. Luckily, I did a better job with negotiations in business matters.

“Fine. You’re better at… talking to people than I am.”

“That’s more like it. I’ll speak to Reese.”

“Make sure she knows we have her back, okay? And in case she wants to confront him, we can both go with her.”

“Duly noted,” Luke said.

“Thanks. I’ll tell the others.”

Declan’s warning rang in my ears. I knew why he’d explicitly mentioned leaving Tyler out of it. The rest of us owned our business. We could take PR shit if it came to that. It was different for Tyler. He belonged to a team. His career depended as much on his talent on ice as it did on what was written about him in the press.

I didn’t want to share this with my brothers to get them riled. I wanted to hear their views on the matter. We always fought back as a group.

I spent a good chunk of the afternoon on family matters, so I ended up working late enough that I had to ask Gran to go home and stay with Paisley so Lexi could leave. It bugged me because I didn’t like missing out on dinner with my daughter. And I’d been looking forward to seeing Lexi. But I had bottle designs and social media campaign budgets to approve.

When I finally left the building, it was 11:00 p.m. Luke hadn’t gotten back to me, and Declan didn’t have any more news. The idea of meeting Malcolm face-to-face was still nagging at me. I wanted to look him in the eye and tell him to fuck off. Intimidation was a strategy that served me well with assholes—but it was a face-to-face kind of thing. I was determined to protect Reese and Gran. I didn’t even care how much it would cost. It didn’t matter.

When I got home, Paisley was already asleep. After a driver picked up Gran, I went to Paisley’s room but only watched her from the doorway; she was a light sleeper, and I didn’t want to wake her. Then I went to my bedroom, but I was filled with too much adrenaline to go to sleep.

I hated that I’d missed dinner with Paisley… and with Lexi. I wondered what she was up to. Was she already asleep? Was she out on the town with friends? Male friends? The thought did not sit well with me.

Damn it, how could I already feel so possessive of her?

Sitting on my bed, I punched in her number. I needed to hear her voice, and I wasn’t used to needing anything or anyone. I hadn’t allowed myself to in a long time. But I was powerless when it came to this woman.

“Hey,” she answered in a breathy voice. “Is anything wrong?”