Almost Fired by the Cowboy - Natalie Dean Page 0,10

on firing anybody, Sal. Especially if she was just stopping one of us from making a mistake.”

Sal could feel the shaking starting up his arms, something that always happened when his temper was getting too riled up too quickly. When he was younger, he would have slugged his brother for making him so mad, but he knew better now.

He was far too strong to just punch someone willy-nilly, even if he was angry. And if he wasn’t responsible enough to keep his muscles in check, then he didn’t deserve them.

Taking a deep breath, he turned on his heel and stalked out. If his brothers wouldn’t see reason, he’d go straight to his dad and rat them out.

…maybe after a shower and some deep breathing.

Turned out that he needed a lot of deep breathing, ending up meditating for nearly thirty minutes before he felt like he was ready to go inform his father in a cool, confident manner. Striding to his parents’ wing, he went to his father’s study and knocked on the door.

He figured it was hit or miss to the man actually being around. Considering that last election season hadn’t gone in his father’s favor, McLintoc Miller had been taking to golfing with his buddies and doing more “war room” sessions to gear up for the next round. Personally, Sal didn’t get the obsession with winning office, but that was why he wasn’t the brains of the business.

Or at least that was what his father always liked to tell him. Sal certainly didn’t appreciate those comments, but there was a reason Solomon had been chosen to be the heir to the company and not Sal.

Then again… things were changing. If Sal proved himself, maybe he would have a chance at the top spot and his brothers would stop treating him like a muscle-headed afterthought.

Fat chance.

“What is it?”

“Hey, Dad,” Sal said, opening the door and letting himself in. McLintoc Miller was in his favorite chair, reading another biography about some rich dead guy. Sal had learned to stop asking which dead guy, as usually all the stories ended up pretty much the same. And Sal actually liked reading, despite what people assumed about him. “I wanted to bring up a personal issue with the new hire from the last budget discussion we had.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

Sal couldn’t help but be surprised at his dad’s sudden response. It was laced with both vehemence and irritation, and Sal couldn’t think of what he had done to earn such ire right off the bat.

“Um… no?”

“Son,” his dad said, closing his book and giving him the most admonishing look Sal had been on the receiving end of in quite a long time. “I am dealing with an all-out coup from your brothers and our board. Serious stuff involving the future of our business. There’s so much to be worried about with those three determined to upend everything that I’ve worked to build that I don’t have the time or the patience to hear about whatever little squabble you’ve had now.

“For Pete’s sake, you’re twenty-six now, Salvatore. Man up. I can’t keep holding your hand like you’re a child. Even Simon is out doing things of his own volition, even if they are a waste of time.”

Sal swallowed, a deluge of reactions rushing through him. He was the biggest of the Miller sons, but why did his father always make him feel so small? Like he was still that skinny, high school runt who everyone said didn’t even look like a Miller. It wasn’t a good feeling, and he just so desperately wanted his father to be proud of him. Why was that too much to ask?

“I’m sorry,” he ground out, all of his anger deflating. This was why he wasn’t the heir of the empire. He was too dumb, too childish. “What can I do to help? I want to be useful.”

Dad sighed, rolling his eyes before sitting up. “Fine, if you really need me to hold your hand. What you need to do is establish dominance and stop acting like such a pushover. Win over at least some of the workers because they all seem to be drooling after Solomon’s new benefit package and the twin’s obsession with updating all of our perfectly fine equipment.

“Show them that they don’t need all that stuff, and in the end the more we make, the more job security they have. In the long run, your brother’s plans will leave them with less than they