Billion Dollar Beast - Olivia Hayle Page 0,70

more thick-headed than usual. Would you give up this easily if it was a company you wanted to take over, huh? Would you give a fuck if your reputation wouldn’t become attached to hers?”

I’m shaking my head too, this time in disbelief. “You can’t possibly want me to continue seeing Blair.”

“Don’t tell me what I feel.” Cole’s fists tighten at his sides. “God help me, no, I don’t want that. I’ve always said you needed a proper relationship in your life, but I never expected you to choose my sister for that.”

I reach up to run a hand over the back of my neck. “I’m not sure I really chose anything,” I mutter.

Surprisingly, Cole’s lips twitch. “I remember the feeling,” he says. “I can’t believe I’m talking you into this. But for some godforsaken reason, my sister wants you. And I want her to be happy. And even though I’m furious at you right now, I want you to be happy. So fix it, Nick.”

The order rankles me. He can see that it does, and the smile blossoms into a full one, savagely amused. Part of his revenge. “Do it,” he says.

I don’t know how to respond.

“You didn’t react like I expected you to,” I say. I’m pushing my luck by pointing this out, but that seems to have become a habit by now.

“Yes, well, don’t give me a reason to change my mind.” Cole shakes his head, stepping toward the door. “Make it right for both of your sakes. And for mine, because I’m forced to spend time with both of you.”

And then he’s leaving, and I’m alone with his words and my own thoughts, spiraling in every which way. And beneath it, a deep, yawning fear that I’ve pushed Blair too far this time. That had been my goal, after all. Push her away to avoid disappointing her. Stop this all from spinning out of control.

But I’d never had control when it came to her.

And maybe… maybe that wasn’t such a terrifying thing. Maybe it might even lead to something good, if I was brave enough to try.

24

Blair

Nick and Cole aren’t talking.

Skye informs me about it over brunch, a week after the horrible fall party and the showdown in my brother’s study. She tells me while Cole’s busy letting the puppy out into the garden to play, and with a careful glance in his direction.

That look tells me more than her words ever could. So whatever discussion they’d had hadn’t gone down well.

I look down at my buttery croissant and swallow a rising tide of despair. Cole and Nick are unlikely friends, but they’re true ones. Both of them need each other. Competitive and type-As and hard-working.

And I’ve come in between them, and for what? Nick and I aren’t anything now. We’re just two people who once used to spend time together. We were never even friends, not really.

“Oh, Blair, I’m sorry.” Skye’s hand lands on top of mine. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, I’m glad you did,” I reassure her. “I want to know. Even if…”

Even if it hurts.

Skye nods, her eyes more understanding than I have any right to. It’s my mess, this. Play with fire and you get burned. Hadn’t I always known that in regards to Nicholas Park? And still, I’d poked and prodded, ignoring his attempts to distance himself. Was this what he feared? That he’d lose his best friend?

And I’d made it come true.

Cole returns to the table. His cable-knit sweater is frayed at the collar, and I make a mental note to buy him a new one for Christmas. “Strike is out,” he says. “He’s more obedient by the day.”

“Because you’re the one training him,” Skye notes. “I’m not half as good at that.”

“It’s because you’re not consistent.” Cole drapes an arm around the back of her chair.

“Strike? You named him?”

“Timmy did,” Cole explains. “We went over a list of baseball terms and settled on Strike.”

“It suits him,” I say. Next mental note: get them a collar with Strike’s name emblazoned on it. I’m a Christmas gift queen.

Cole raises a finger at me. “Now, you told me you had more information about your company. Will you finally tell me the launch plan?”

I look through my bag for the papers I’d printed. It’s massive, what I’ve planned. A tight time schedule. It’ll be like throwing myself out of a plane window without knowing if the parachute works. But that’s business, right? Not to mention life. You can stay at home, hiding under