A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) (80)

Colton searched the crowd for her and found her all the way on the other side of the room, standing with her back to him. Her mother was gesturing for Jack and Frasier’s attention, but it was Gretchen’s posture that grabbed his attention. Her spine was rigid, the exposed muscles of her back popping as if she were engaging every single one to remain upright. Against her thighs, she held her hands in tight fists.

“What’s going on?” he asked, facing Evan again.

“I think they’re just delivering the news.”

“What news?”

“Gretchen was hoping to get a spot on the foundation board, but, uh, well, we voted to go another way.” The blood drained from Colton’s head, leaving him light-headed as Evan continued. “We’re announcing the new member tonight, and my parents thought we should give her a heads-up.”

“You unbelievable sonofabitch,” Colton breathed.

He shoved his champagne at Evan and skirted the edge of the crowd to get to her. As he neared the group, her voice rang out, hollow and tinny. “You can’t be serious.”

“Honey, I promise you,” Diane was saying in a beseeching voice. “We tried to intervene. We know how much this meant to you.”

“Bullshit,” Jack barked. “Evan orchestrated this entire thing. That little prick is a vindictive piece of shit.”

Frasier drew up tall. “That little prick is my son.”

“Yeah, some father you turned out to be. Letting your son bully your daughter their entire lives?”

Colton inserted himself into the group and planted his body between Gretchen and the rest of them. Her face had drained of all color. Colton tried to tuck her against his side, but she stood stiffly, unbending.

Colton glared at Frasier. “What the hell is wrong with you people? You call this a family?”

Diane’s eyes darted nervously around them at the curious stares directed their way. “We need to take this someplace private.”

“Yes, because God forbid anyone find out the truth about us,” Gretchen snapped.

Jack pointed at Frasier. “Five minutes. The back office. And bring Evan. This isn’t over.”

The family scattered, but Colton held Gretchen back. He searched her face. “Do you want to leave?”

A spark ignited in her eyes. “No. Not until I hear it from Evan himself.”

“He’s drunk.”

“What else is new?” She gathered the skirt of her dress in one hand to keep from tripping on it as she stormed through the crowd after her parents. Colton had no choice but to follow. He’d never punched another human being in his entire life—except for the occasional scrap between him and his brother when they were kids—but it was going to take superhuman strength tonight to keep his record clean. He’d never met a man more in need of an uppercut to the jaw than Evan fucking Winthrop.

The back office that Jack referenced was yet another palatial absurdity. Like a library from Downton Abbey. Any minute, a butler was going to walk in and bow with a demure your ladyship.

Jack and Diane hovered by the door as Gretchen stormed inside. Jack stepped in front of her with what he probably thought was a reassuring look. “We’ll overturn the decision. I have sway on the foundation board.”

“You have no more sway than I do,” Diane snapped. “You’re just as close to being pushed to the side as I am.”

Jack clenched his jaw. “I have more power than you think around here.”

“Then why the hell have you never used it?” Diane blurted out the question with a rage that suggested she’d been holding that one in a long time.

But before Jack could answer, Frasier and Evan chose that moment to join the party.

“You sonofabitch,” Jack seethed. “How could you do that to her?”

Evan crossed to the wet bar behind the massive desk on the other side of the room. He grabbed a crystal decanter and started pouring. “We did what was best for the foundation.”

Jack pointed. “That is not a decision you get to make on your own.”

“Look, we know how unreliable she is,” Evan said, replacing the stopper on the decanter. “She thought she could join the board knowing full well that she’s planning on moving.”

Her mother whirled around to face Gretchen again. “What is he talking about? Where are you going?”

“She’s taking some new job in D.C.” Evan took another long drink.

Colton circled in front of Gretchen. “What’s he talking about?”

“Ha,” Evan snorted. “She didn’t even tell her boyfriend. I told you she wasn’t worth the trouble, man.”

“I got an offer from a college friend to go work for his nonprofit, but I am not taking it.” She turned on Evan. “But you and I both know this has nothing to do with that.”

“She had one task. I asked her to do one thing. And what did she do? Did she prove that she could be counted on? Nope. She started fucking him instead.”

Colton growled. “Insult her one more time, Evan, and I am going to shove that entire glass down your fucking throat.”

Evan rolled his eyes again. “You don’t actually expect any of us to believe this little thing between you is real, do you?”

Her mother stared with disgust at Evan, as if seeing her son for the first time. “Evan, what is wrong with you?”