Page 11 of All for Love

“You don’t get to say stuff like that to me. Now stop talking and get dressed.” She spun around and fled from her room. A few seconds later, I heard what sounded like a kettle starting to boil.

Let’s hope she changed her mind about the coffee.The girl was way too uptight. After last night, which apparently hadn’t been a dream, I’d have thought she’d at least give me some caffeine to refuel before she sent me packing.

The bundle of clothes she’d thrown at my face to wake me up consisted of my shirt and pants, but I found my underwear, belt, socks, and shoes sitting neatly at the end of her bed. I was almost ready to go when she strode back in, holding a cup of tea with both hands wrapped around it.

“Let’s just get one thing straight. You and I are never going to talk about this again. Not to anyone. Ever. You got it?”

I shrugged, pulled on my shoes, and rose to my feet. “No can do. I don’t keep secrets from Kaden. He’s my twin. He knows this kind of thing anyway. Even if I don’t tell him, he’ll know. Trust me.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t trust you, but I’m begging you to keep quiet about this.” Those big green eyes glued to mine, a shimmer of desperation in them. “Please, Kody? Can you please just do the right thing for once in your life?”

“Saying it like that isn’t really going to help your cause. I do the right thing all the time.” As I fastened my belt, I brought my gaze back to hers. “What are you willing to do in order for me to swear myself to secrecy?”

She paled, and I could practically see the wheels spinning in her head. Amused as hell, I waited for her to think of something. It took a few seconds, but then she snapped her fingers.

“I’ll do all the thank-you cards to the wedding guests. You were supposed to help, but I’ll let you off the hook and no one needs to know.”

I considered it. “That’s something, but it’s not enough.”

“Fine, I’ll sweeten the deal.” A strangely smug light came on in her eyes as one corner of her lips rose in a victorious smile. “I’ll turn down the job offer your dad made me.”

I frowned, all traces of amusement vanishing in an instant. “What offer?”

She shook her head. “Never mind!”

With that knowing little smile still on her lips, she set the mug down on her dresser and strode over to me, taking me by the shoulders and shoving me out of her room. “It’s time for you to go now, stepbrother.”

She marched me all the way to the front door and then went back to grab my jacket before pushing me out onto the front step. The last of my clothes landed in a pile by my feet as she tossed them at me. Then she shut the door in my face and I heard the click of the lock.

Holy hell.

As I bent over and finished getting dressed, I was stuck on what she’d said about a job offer. Wagner Industries still belonged to my father, but he’d been grooming my brother and me to take over from him all our lives.

Now he was bringing her into it? I think not.

It was still dark out, but the birds were chirping and lights were coming on in the houses on her street. I sighed, but my jaw tightened and I dug into my pocket for my car keys.

What the hell was she talking about? What job offer?

This was the first I was hearing about it, and the prospect of having to work with her did not make me happy. Striding toward my car, I wondered if Kaden knew what the fuck was going and what our dad was trying to pull now.

Wagner Industries was ours, and Mercedes, while she was a fantastic lay, was not a Wagner. I didn’t care about the money. She could have as much of my father’s as she liked, but I wasn’t about to have her worming into a company where she didn’t belong and where, inevitably, she would start bossing me around.

Fucking her had been one thing. Working with her? No thank you. I didn’t know what my father had been thinking when he’d made her whatever offer he’d made, but I was about to find out. And then I was going to stop the deal from closing.