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I couldn’t tell if that was a dig or not, but coming from Colton, it most likely was. “It’s just not right,” I continued.
“Ryan, you’re a lawyer, not the ethics police. It’s not your place to judge. Some people just don’t follow rules.”
I held up my index and middle fingers. “There are two rules a man should never break: the law and his vows.”
Colton sighed. “Are you done? Can you get off your high horse now so we can talk business? I need to know if there are any legal loopholes we can use to get the mayor to sell McArthur farm to us.”
Old man McArthur died without a will or any living relatives to claim his land, so the city acquired the property. Since Crawford Corporation acquired, leased, and sold corporate real estate, Colton was obviously interested.
“I’ll take a look now,” I said. “I haven’t had a chance to review it.”
“See that you do.”
“Don’t try that tone with me, Colton. You know it doesn’t work.”
“What tone?”
“That I’m-your-boss, I-can-tell-you-what-to-do—tone.”
He checked his watch, as though bored. “Well, that’s all true. It’s not a tone.”
My lips turned up involuntarily. It always happened when I got an idea for a wager with my brother. “I bet I can get you to do something you don’t want to do right now.”
“Don’t you dare take that bet,” said another voice. Our younger brother, Luke, walked into my office holding a yellow folder. “Don’t you ever learn, Colton?”
Colton scowled at Luke, then turned to me. “You’re on. Fifty bucks says you can’t.”
“Come to the bar with me tonight?”
Colton smiled. “No.” Then waved his hand. “See, it’s that easy.”
My lips stretched in response. Colton’s smile faltered just a bit, but enough for me to notice he was worried.
Good.
Luke interrupted before I could finish. “Look, before this gets ugly, I came up here to tell you guys something.”
“What is it?” asked Colton.
“Accounting found some discrepancies in last year’s expense report. I think we should go over the line of the items one by one.”
“Fine. Go through it all until it makes sense. Report back to me when you’re done.”
Luke’s eyebrows shot together and he shook his head. “Ryan’s right. Your tone needs work.”
“If we’re done here,” Colton rose from his chair and turned toward my office door.
I stopped him before he took another step. “I’ll set up a meeting with the mayor today. Go over the loopholes. You should definitely be there.”
“Absolutely. Pick a time, and I’ll get my assistant to book it.”
Colton made this too easy.
“The bar. Tonight, at eight.” I pressed my lips together to stall my smile, but when Colton swore under his breath, I couldn’t contain my bark of laughter.
His eyes shot daggers at me, and his jaw ticked three times before looking away. He shoved his hand in his pant pocket and slammed fifty dollars on the table, muttering profanities as he left.
Dropping onto the black leather office chair, I swiveled to face the view and chuckled at besting my brother again. It never got old.
