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“I wasn’t planning on asking you that.” She shortened the distance between them.
“Why’s that?” Slowly, he turned to study her from his perch on the back of one of the terrace sofas.
Her lips thinned. “Maybe he deserved it.”
Tielle’s words didn’t go as far with Grae as they might have. His extraordinary gaze thinned to reflect irritation. “Maybe he’d always deserved it.”
“Grae, I didn’t come to argue—”
“’Course not, since that would mean admitting you were wrong about my jackass of a brother all the times I tried to tell you he wasn’t worth a shred of your damn time.”
“Grae?” Tielle regarded him incredulously. “You couldn’t have known that then. You had no basis—”
“Basis, Tel?” he roared, bolting from the sofa. “Try every day of hell he put me through while we grew up under the same roof! I think that’d give me a little context for my opinion, don’t you?”
Cringing, Tielle knew she couldn’t argue his point. She didn’t want to. “You’re right.”
“About damn time.” Grae smirked, resistant to any peacemaking attempts. “All it took was four years of drama involving that fool and a divorce that’s kept us separated for a year.”
Tielle felt her slow-to-rise temper begin a definite simmer. Her cognac-colored stare flashed with brilliant fury. “Don’t you forget that you were the one who set our divorce in motion.”
“What was that?” His voice went dangerously low. He invaded her space, pretending not to have heard her.
“Is that why you came to see me that day?” she asked, refusing to be cowed. “You wanted me to agree to Faro having the retreat here, knowing all along that you planned to use this place to hash this all out.”
“Faro already had plans to bring you in on it. I only wanted to ensure you went for it.”
Disgust fueled the snort she gave. “In spite of everything we’ve gone through about him, you throw me back in this hell.”
His smile held no humor. “You’d have been in it regardless. Faro would’ve run down some line to get you on board with his plan. Given his track record with drawing you over to his side…I only came to see you because this all gave me an excuse to do so, and when it’s all said and done, I’d have tried anything to get him out of the business.
“It was only a matter of time before all the questionable crap Faro pulled over there screwed the family anyway.” He shrugged, spreading his hands. “Guess you were right, Tel, and I’m the bad guy in this after all.” With those words, he pushed past Tielle and headed from the terrace.
* * *
“Was it all worth it?” Desree followed Faro from the dining room when he left.
The hallway hadn’t quite cleared, yet Faro stopped and rounded on his aunt to fix her with a sneer. “You all laid the groundwork for this, trying to pass that garbage off like he deserved that place at the head of Dad’s company. All the while you treated me like I was an outcast.”
“You know you left us no choice but to treat you that way,” Leo said, catching up to aunt and nephew.
“That’s not all I know.” Faro’s voice had softened.
“Let it go,” Leo urged. “No one’s interested. No one’s been interested for a long time. Why is it everyone loves your brother except you?”
Faro seemed stunned. “Are you really asking me that?”
“He’s still your brother. Regardless,” Desree said. “He’s still your blood.”
Faro was opening his mouth to respond to Desree when he saw Graedon rounding the corner. “My blood! My brother!” He extended a hand. “I may have been able to fall in love with Grae as deeply as the rest of you if only my father hadn’t forgotten he already had a son.”
* * *
Tielle followed Grae from the terrace. She traveled at a light sprint, not wanting them to leave issues unsettled between them amid so much family discord. She turned down the dining room hall to find that a crowd had gathered. Many of the breakfast attendees had found their way into the corridor.
