AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kade laughed. “No doubt, but I don’t believe this is optional.”
Reluctantly, I made my way down to the conference room, but feeling surly, I leaned against the back wall instead of sitting down as my other brothers had.
“Make this quick, Chase,” Ash said, looking like he’d come directly from the gym. “We’re hosting a celebrity party tonight and I need to get down there.”
“With dad getting ready to retire, there are changes being made at Raven Industries,” Chase started sitting at the head of the table where our father normally would have sat.
“Does that mean he’s getting rid of that ridiculous ‘get married and have babies inheritance rule’?” Kade asked.
“No. It means we’re instituting a new work/life balance program as part of the employee wellness initiative,” Chase said.
Kade snorted. “You just want to get home to fuck that pretty wife of yours.”
I frowned at Kade, wondering if he’d ever grow up.
Chase ignored him. “I need all executives and senior staff to lead by example. That means you have to work normal, more manageable hours. You should all take at least one vacation and I don’t mean to check on one of the other properties somewhere in the world.”
“You take enough vacation for us,” Ash quipped. “In fact, you seemed to have taken over the island.”
“If you want to go to the island, do it,” Chase retorted. “No one is stopping you.”
“What about the bottom line?” Ash asked. “Working less means fewer results.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Chase said, pushing a piece of paper to each of us. “This is a study that shows better work/life balance increases productivity. I’d like to institute a telecommuting program too.”
“Let people work from home?” Ash asked, his tone suggesting he didn’t think it was a good idea.
“Yes, as a perk to people who’ve proven their worth and need it. Many of our staff spend hours commuting. They could be using that time for their family or hobbies.”
I shook my head. What the fuck had happened to my all-work-no-play eldest brother?
“You have a problem with that, Hunter?” Chase asked me.
I shook my head. “No problem here.” I didn’t give a shit what they did.
Kade leaned back in his chair stretching out his legs. “You don’t have to ask me twice to work less.”
“Slacker,” Ash said.
“What about you, Hunter?” Chase asked. “You on board?”
“I work until the work is done. Security never sleeps.”
Chase shook his head. “You have staff. You can’t be everywhere all the time.”
Like I wasn’t there when Sara was taken. The thought cranked up my agitation. “When did you become the boss of us?”
I saw Chases’ jaw clench like he was preparing for me to go off half-cocked. He was probably right to do so.
“Dad is out of the country now. It’s my job to keep the company—”
“So now that you’ve settled down, you’re his favorite?” I said derisively.
“He was always his favorite,” Kade said.
“You’re just mad because you were Mom’s favorite, and she’s not here to protect your whiny ass,” I said to Kade.
“That’s enough Hunter,” Chase said. His voice was calm, but I heard the undercurrent of irritation.
“This is fucked. All of you are completely fucked. I do my job—”
“What about Sara?” Kade said to me.
A white blast of rage shot through me. “Fuck!” Violent energy coiled tight, and I struck out, jamming my fist into the wall behind me. I felt the shock of pain in my knuckles and fingers. Saw the dent in the drywall.
Chase shot up from his chair. “You need to get that under control.”
I laughed scornfully. He thought I could control it? “I’m fine.”
“You broke the punching bag this morning.” Ash looked at Chase. “He punched it until the chain came right out the ceiling.”
Chase looked at me with those dark, intense eyes that reminded me of my father’s. “I mean it, Hunter, get help or we’ll get it for you.”
“You really have become Dad’s puppet,” I sneered.
“Think about what you want. The direction stands: get help or get out.”
I looked to my other brothers, although I was not sure for what. Help? Support? Mostly they appeared shocked.
“You need to stop trying to control everything,” I said. “These meetings to boost your ego are a waste of time. I’m going to work.” I strode to the door, slamming it behind me on my way out. If they found a way to get rid of me, it would be a blessing. But I suspected they’d let me stay. After all, they felt sorry for me now that the war had stripped me of my sanity.
2
Grace
Friday
‘Be careful what you wish for,’ played in my head as I sat in my new office at the Rookery, the building owned by the Raven family. After two years of grad school, two years of supervision to get my license, and now two years of working as a therapist, I’d achieved what I’d set out to do: have my own private counseling practice in New York City. But I’d been so focused on that goal since starting college, that I hadn’t taken the time along the way to assess if that’s still what I wanted.
