Surprise Delivery(104)

Which is, of course, why I’m taking such joy in exposing it and needling him with it right now.

“You’re so blinded by a pretty face that you can’t see what she’s doing,” he mutters. “I don’t want you to throw away your life for her.”

“First of all, maybe this is the life I want, so fuck you. Secondly, once again, if this was all about the money for her, she would have taken your deal. Also, she wouldn’t have been hiding the fact that Aurora is my daughter from me,” I explain. “If she was trying to use me, she’d have used Aurora as leverage from the beginning to get money out of me. If there’s anybody who’s blinded here, it’s you. You’re blinded by your money, Henry. Use some common fucking sense and logic – oh wait, we don’t do that here at Clyburne Financial anymore.”

“You need to leave,” he growls.

“Actually, since I do still technically own fifty percent of this company, I don’t have to do a goddamn thing you tell me to do,” I say.

“This is my company,” Henry hisses. “How dare –“

“Actually, it’s Dad’s company,” I interrupt. “You’ve merely been standing on the shoulders of a great man and using his legacy to prop yourself up. Oh, you’ve done some good things and have grown the company, sure. But without standing on the ladder Dad provided, you wouldn’t be doing shit. And worst of all, you know it. But you continue to delude yourself into thinking you’re a great man. Well, let me tell you something, big brother, you’re not half the man Dad was.”

Henry takes a few steps toward me and I turn to face him, ready to start trading blows. The anger in me is churning like an angry sea, and I’m ready for a fight. But he backs down. He drains the last of his drink, walks back to the sideboard, and pours himself another.

“You claim to be all about our family name and our family legacy. But Mom and Dad’s legacy – the Clyburne legacy – is helping people. It’s practicing compassion, charity, and kindness. It’s not judging people who may not be as fortunate and privileged as you are. Our family legacy, big brother, since you’ve quite obviously forgotten it, is to be a decent fucking human being.”

“Get the fuck out of my office,” he mutters, sounding defeated. “I may not be able to make you leave the building, but this is my fucking office and I want you out.”

“Sure, sure,” I say. “But, one last thing. And I want you to pay real close attention to this part because it’s really important. You ready? You want to write it down or something?”

“Say what you need to say and get the fuck out, Duncan.”

“Okay, great,” I say. “Our family legacy is rooted in the most important word – family. And what you’ve done for years – and continue to do – is destroying that legacy. You’re destroying our family. I mean, as far as I’m concerned, the Clyburne family – the actual Clyburne family – is down to Mom and me. Oh, and Alexis and Aurora now too. As far as I’m concerned, I no longer have a brother. To me, Henry Clyburne died alone and miserable – which is fitting for such a miserable asshole.”

“You done?” he spits.

“One last thing. You can take that contract and shove it up your ass. And if I ever hear about you coming around my family again, if I ever hear about you saying one negative word about them, rest assured that I’ll come back here to beat your ass within an inch of your life,” I growl. “Do you fucking understand me, Henry? Say one thing or come within a hundred miles of me or anybody I love, and I will fucking kill you.”

Without waiting for a response, I turn and leave the office, slamming the door as hard as I can behind me. Alice is glaring at me as I pass by her desk. I’m pretty sure she heard every word of our argument, and quite obviously, does not approve. Alice is most definitely Team Henry.

“You can go fuck yourself too,” I snap at her.

She looks positively apoplectic as I leave the executive office area and head down the corridor to the elevator. I hum a little tune to myself as I push the button calling the car, suddenly feeling light, free, and unencumbered. All of my anger has somehow magically dissipated. I’m feeling great.

Today is a good day. A very good day.





Duncan





“My mom has been looking forward to this for the last two weeks,” I say. “Aurora is in very good hands, can you relax?”

I grin at Alexis, who’s fidgeting in her seat. She sticks her tongue out at me but laughs. My mom offered to watch the baby to give us a night out of adult fun. And given the last couple of weeks we’ve endured, we definitely need it.

It’s been a rough time for both of us, for a few different reasons. I can’t deny that, after the initial rush of excitement, cutting my brother out of my life entirely hasn’t taken an emotional toll on me. We may not see eye to eye on things and have a very strained relationship with each other, but at the end of the day, he’s still my brother. I still love him. I just won’t tolerate what he stands for or the way he treats people – especially those I care most about.

For Alexis, she finally worked up the nerve to call her bosses at the firm to start sorting out that situation. It didn’t take them long to getting around to the fact that they might have to downsize her – which actually lifted a huge weight off her shoulders. It took the guilt of her telling them to screw off away completely. She read the guy she talked to – Tyler something – the riot act and cursed up a blue streak in the process. I’ve never been prouder of her.