considered letting Kent hack into him. But that would get everyone else riled up, and she and Ethan couldn’t stop a brawl.
Instead, she turned and faced Dennis, hands on her hips and the rage she’d already been feeling boiling within her. “If you have something to say about me, you need to say it to my face, Dennis.”
He stopped fighting Ethan but remained tense, and didn’t release him. “You don’t belong here, Brett. I’m giving you some time here out of respect for your brother and your daddy. But you can’t handle this on your own, and you’re deluded if you think Martin is coming back. He’s been gone too long to think he’s alive and interested. Pretty soon, you’re going to have to hand over the reins to someone else, and all I’m trying to say is that I wear the VP patch. That someone else should be me.”
“You don’t know the first thing about being a leader!” Kent shouted from behind Brett.
She held up a hand to stop him, not turning around. “He’s right, Dennis. You’ve got to get your head out of your ass. You’re the VP because you and Martin used to be best friends, not because you know anything about leadership or business or politics. Just because you’ve been around since the beginning doesn’t entitle you to anything.”
“And you think being related to the founders entitles you?” Dennis challenged.
Brett’s chest heaved as she tried to control her temper. “You better watch yourself, Dennis. I can get you voted out, without entering a vote of my own.”
He scoffed. “But you won’t.” He shook his head. “Like I said, I’m honoring you with respect because of who you are. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to keep control over us. You don’t know half the shit that has been going on in this club before your brother just decided to ditch us. This is a man’s place, and you don’t have to balls, literally or figuratively, to stick around.”
Brett raised an eyebrow. “I never planned on being in charge forever. I’m going to find my brother, dead or alive, and then I’m going to help guide this club toward the leader Martin would have wanted. In the meantime, you deal with me, and you stop talking shit behind my back.”
“Are you good, brother?” Ethan asked, the group quiet enough now that he could speak quietly into Dennis’s ear and still be heard. Dennis gave a short nod, and Ethan let him go, Dennis jerking away and shrugging it off harshly.
“I’m good. But you’re not my brother,” he countered. With a glare at Brett, he stalked away.
She glanced around at the rest of the crew, realizing just what a disaster this could have been if Ethan hadn’t been here. She was grateful but hated her limitations. Grudgingly, she admitted she needed his help and would have to work something out with him, whether she trusted him or not. “Anyone else got a problem with the way things are?”
Nobody said a word, a few of them looking away. While she knew some of them were holding back similar opinions, she took it as a sign of acceptance and backing down to her dominance. It gave her the renewed confidence she needed to continue. “Good. Nothing changes. Like I told you before, Ethan is here to help figure out what happened to Martin, and your cooperation is mandatory. Anything you know might help find him and get the ball rolling. So, for those of you who don’t want a woman running the show, respecting this request could get you back to business as usual faster.”
She looked at Ethan, who met her gaze, and she felt an understanding pass between them. She’d been rash, judged him based on someone else’s words, and that wasn’t fair. And he’d come in this morning, backing her the way he’d promised, not trying to take over. If she had an ally anywhere in the world, it was Ethan, and she needed to keep that in mind before she flew off the handle again.
And before she let her libido call the shots.
As the crowd started to disperse, Ethan lit a cigarette and ambled slowly toward her, looking a bit cautious. With a glance as if to make sure no one else was near enough to hear him, he said, “I’m still on your side, Brett.”
She nodded. “I see that. And your club?”
He sighed. “I talked to Corey, told him how I’m handling this. He respects my