around, agreeing with me. It’s better than wild applause.
I’ve fantasized about this happening since the moment I took on the daunting task of securing this deal, and now that the moment is here, it’s all I can do to keep from shouting in triumph.
Everyone seems happy except for two people, and they’re scowling as if I pissed in their morning cereal.
Unsurprisingly, one is Chase. The other is my father, Robert Danger.
At sixty, his once-lustrous blond hair is now streaked with grey. His broad shoulders are hunched together as he leans forward in his chair at the head of the table, his hands steepled under his chin as if he’s praying. Not only is he glaring at me, but his cold blue eyes have a hateful look about them, almost as if he detests my very presence in the room.
It’s a look I’ve grown accustomed to. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been my father’s least-favorite child. I’ve never quite figured out why. Maybe it’s simply because Chase is his favorite and I’m a spare son, or perhaps because I’m quick to take command of a situation and father doesn’t like to be challenged. Definitely not by me.
Whatever the case, he has made it no secret that he’d prefer Chase to be his successor. The empire has its crown prince and I’m just the backup plan.
It’s a mindset I intend to change very soon. “So—”
“Quiet!” Dad snaps irritably, and the board room almost instantly stills.
He looks around the room for a moment, as if daring anyone to speak, before settling his eyes back on me. “Very nice work, Scott,” he says, somehow making his words sound more like an insult than a compliment, “but I’m not yet convinced that this is the direction we should be moving in.”
It’s an effort to keep from gritting my teeth. This should be a slam-dunk for me. “Then let me convince you—”
“The meeting is over,” Dad says dismissively, turning his attention to the room at large. “I’m going to take a couple of days to go over these proposals before we call a vote.”
The executives look at each other for a moment before gathering up paperwork and rising from their seats. The restrained formality of the meeting is over, but my father’s words have put a considerable damper on the excitement, and everyone is quiet, merely giving each other telling looks.
“You three stay,” Dad commands. Everyone in the room knows who he means. It rankles me that my father still talks to us like we’re servants or something.
I keep my cool as the room quickly empties, pretending not to notice the bastard grin on Chase’s face. Liv is the only one who is graceful, as she always is, studying me with a cool but inquisitive expression.
She sits regally in her chair like an ice queen, her platinum blonde hair pulled up into an elegant bun, her startling green eyes a reflection of our mother’s.
For some reason, her calm demeanor pisses me off more than Chase trying to fuck with me. At least he’s being transparent by being a dick, whereas Liv always hides her true intentions and thoughts behind an impassive mask.
She looks harmless enough, but I’ve learned to be wary around my dear sister. It’s the slow knife that kills . . . and Olivia can be very slow and very deadly.
“You three surprised me today,” Dad says, bringing me out of my thoughts. He sits back in his chair, appraising each of us with shrewd eyes. “Very nice work. Well done.”
I don’t miss the slight smile that plays across his lips when he looks between Chase and me. He won’t say it, but he enjoyed our little tiff during the meeting. It’s become his favorite form of entertainment, watching us go at each other’s throat in our quest to impress him.
It’s been going on for so long, it’s almost second-nature to us. From a young age, he’s forced us to compete for his affection, always pitting us boys against one another while basically ignoring Olivia.
First, it was who could excel in school, bring home straight As or get the recommendation for advanced placement classes. Later, it was who was a better athlete. It didn’t matter that Chase was older. I was expected to make just as many goals, beat his personal records, and do more all the same. And if I did, Chase made damn sure to beat me again the next time.
Later, in our college years, Dad would have us