The Tyrant (Banker #3)(64)

“I don’t understand it either.”

Bates rubbed his palm along his jaw, sighing quietly. “He’ll come around. I know he will. There’s something more complicated going on with him. I’ll talk to him.”

“I know he must have been hurt by my reaction.” He’d poured his heart out to me under the stars, saying the sweetest things I didn’t think he was capable of. He’d turned into the tenderest and more caring man I’d ever known. And then he asked me to marry him…only to be rejected. “Maybe that wounded his pride. He does have an ego. But I don’t want to build a life with him under these circumstances. I have to keep my family safe, and as long as he continues to be involved with this business, we’ll always be targets. We have to learn from the past…”

“I understand, Siena. Really, I do.” He patted my thigh. “I’ll talk to him.”

“I’m not sure how well that’s going to go.”

“It won’t go well at all,” he said with a chuckle. “But I have to try. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him. I’m not going to let him throw you away.”

I smiled at him. “That’s sweet of you…”

“I don’t know what’s going through my brother’s mind, but he’s obviously in a bad place.”

“Maybe he feels too guilty leaving you to handle the company on your own.”

He shook his head. “Ideally, I’d like him there. But I’d understand if he wanted to step down. I can handle it on my own. Besides, I want my brother to be happy. How could I be mad at him for being happy?”

I rubbed his arm and felt my affection for him grow. “Whether Cato and I end up together or not, I love you, Bates. I love you like a brother.” I rested my head against his shoulder and linked my arm through his.

He stayed still as he felt me lean against him. It seemed like he had nothing to say, and the silence lingered between us. Then he rested his head against mine and sighed. “I love you too, Siena.”





23





Cato





The second Bates arrived at her doorstep, I knew he was there.

And it was only a matter of time before he ended up on my doorstep too.

Nosy fucking asshole.

Two hours after he arrived at Siena’s house, he came to my front door and stepped into the entryway. My men told me when he approached the gate at the end of the driveway, so I walked downstairs in my sweatpants and waited for him to walk inside.

He opened the door himself and crossed the threshold, because he was the only person in the world who had the right. He came face-to-face with me, and when he saw the pissed expression I wore, he knew I knew everything. “You should have told me yourself.”

“I didn’t expect you to go behind my back.”

“I didn’t go behind your back. She has my niece.” He was still in his suit because he went straight to Siena’s at the end of the workday. “She’s still family. And I have to make sure you don’t fuck up the greatest thing that ever happened to you.”

“Well, too late,” I said bitterly.

“Too late?” he asked. “It’s definitely not too late.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared my brother down in the entryway. I was livid with him for talking to Siena, but since I didn’t confide in him myself, I couldn’t be too angry with him.

“She’s miserable without you.”

And I was miserable without her.

“Why are you doing this? Just give her what she wants. It’s not like her request is unfounded. Her family was wiped out because of the shit we do on a daily basis. She wants her life to be different.” He slid his hands into his pockets and kept several feet in between us. “If you’re worried about me, don’t be. I’ll be fine, Cato. And you even told me how bored you are. We did that deal with the Chinese, made millions, and you looked out the window and said you were bored. You’re definitely not bored with Siena. So giving up your stake in the company shouldn’t be difficult.”

I didn’t expect anyone to understand how I felt. No matter how many times I explained it, it seemed like all I cared about was money. “My entire adult life has been about that company. It aged me, hardened me. It turned me from a boy into a man. It was the first time I stood on my own two feet and proved I didn’t need anyone else. I didn’t need Mother to take care of me—I took care of her. I proved to our father that I turned out fine without him to raise me. I proved to the world, to my friends as well as my enemies, that I was the most powerful man in this country.”

Bates listened but looked slightly confused, as if he didn’t understand why I was saying all of this.

“That’s the man Siena met. The powerful, dominating, wealthy man who could make anything happen. Without that company…I’m just a man. I’m not special. I’m not different. Siena is a strong woman who needs a strong man. What am I without that company?”

“Cato…you’re the exact same man you were before. You don’t need it as a crutch anymore. Maybe it was your identity in the beginning, but it’s not anymore. She loves you for you, the man in sweatpants, not the man in the suit. Just walk away from it.”