A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)(184)

[page]Austin exhaled heavily and rubbed a palm over his mouth. “I thought we did everything in our power to cover this up.” He gestured toward the black-and-white photographs Ben Thomas had left. “I was told that things were in place to keep my company safe.”


Adam’s anger surged. And not for the first time. Austin had always considered WCS his. In all the time he’d been in charge, Austin had never once acknowledged Adam’s help or the work he did to keep him clean of all the shit he got into. Of course, there were the obligatory raises and single-malt gestures that would show up on his desk every once in a while, but neither made up for the amount of times that Adam had paid or bartered with people in order to keep his brother’s indiscretion’s off the board’s radar, his dealings with Casari included. Adam had told him Casari was bad news, he knew he was watched by the Feds, but his brother hadn’t listened.

Enough was enough.

The crunch, for Adam, was when it became a pissing contest over Kat, with Carter on one side and Austin on the other. It was pathetic, and Adam had wanted no part of it. He genuinely couldn’t understand why Austin wouldn’t just let Carter have his share of the pie. It would simplify things, keep Carter quiet. But Austin had had other ideas.

The photographs with Casari were all Austin’s doing, and Adam had reached his limit.

Shit, everyone made mistakes, for Christ’s sake, and it wasn’t fair to keep Carter reliving his over and over. Kat was, as Beth had conceded, very much in love with Carter. The guy had a real chance at turning his life around and being happy.

Adam couldn’t stop that from happening. And neither could Austin.

“Austin,” Adam muttered. The other five men in the room shuffled and fidgeted.

“No, Adam,” Austin barked back. “We need to figure this out, work out the next step.”

Adam blinked in confusion and caught Rick’s equally bewildered eye. Sighing, Adam took a cautious step toward his brother and clasped his hands at his front.

“There is no next step,” he said quietly. “This is concrete. This is happening.”

Austin’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell is this?” he asked in disbelief. “Have you all lost your balls?” He eyed each man menacingly, finally coming back to Adam. “This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

Adam rolled his eyes and pushed his hands into his pockets. “It is over. It’s been over for a long time. It’s time to move on.”

The look of absolute fury on Austin’s face surprised even Adam. He tightened his fists at his side and dropped his chin. “Everyone out!”

Adam watched the staff scuttle out, closing the door firmly behind them. The room was oppressively silent for the thirty seconds it took Austin to reign himself in. He was furious, Adam knew, but honestly, he couldn’t have cared less.

“What the f*ck is wrong with you?” Austin murmured through tight lips.

“There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Then what the hell are you doing standing there shrugging? Do you not understand what this means?” He held up the fax and shook it.

“I know exactly what it means,” he answered calmly. He took another step toward his brother. “It means that you and I each get a settlement that will ensure we never have to worry about money again, and Carter gets what’s rightfully his.”

Austin blanched. “I beg your pardon?”

Adam shook his head. “Oh, come on, Austin. Let it go. This is how it’s meant to be! He’s the rightful owner; it was written in black and white all those years ago. He deserves to have it back and not coveted by you!”