January 10, 2023

  Subject: Re: Lunch

  Husband,

  We’ve spent the last two weeks on vacation. We don’t have time to sneak out for lunch. But yes, I agree. I do look edible. As do you. Now stop looking at me with those glasses on. Pay attention to Rose’s pitch.

  Love,

  Your wife

  From: JHanson@jolie.com

  To: CJames@jolie.com

  January 10, 2023

  Subject: Re: Re: Lunch

  Wife,

  You do realize I meant I want to have you for lunch, right? As in I’m going to lick that pussy until you beg me to stop. Spank that ass.

  Fuck. I’m hard now.

  Kitten, please. I’m not above begging.

  Love,

  Your very horny husband

  From: JHanson@jolie.com

  To: CJames@jolie.com

  Wednesday February 28, 2023

  Subject: Tonight

  Wife,

  I got tickets to the game tonight. You, me, and Chloe courtside.

  Love

  Your husband

  From: CJames@jolie.com

  To: JHanson@jolie.com

  April 6, 2023

  Subject: Hi

  Husband,

  Don’t forget, Cynthia is picking Chloe up from school today. I’m heading to Bristol to help set up for Grace’s baby shower, so you’re on your own for dinner.

  Also, the caterer needs an estimated head count for the wedding. Call them, please.

  Love you,

  Wife

  From: JHanson@jolie.com

  To: CJames@jolie.com

  April 6, 2023

  Subject: Re: Hi

  Wife,

  Can’t believe I have to spend the entire weekend without you. Also, can’t believe that in four months, the world will finally know you’re my wife. I’ll call the caterer. Make sure you stop by my office before you leave. I need a taste of you to hold me over for the next forty-eight hours.

  Love you,

  Your husband

  67

  ALL I WANT BY KODALINE

  Jay

  “Stop staring at your phone. That’s the fourth time you’ve looked at it in the last hour, I swear,” Gavin grumbles.

  Guilty. I can’t help it. My wife writes the dirtiest fucking emails, and I live for the chime that signals each arrival in my inbox. But I put down my phone because it’s Saturday afternoon, and both of my brothers came to watch the Boston Bolts play hockey with me.

  Gavin groans when Beckett’s phone rings next. “You too.”

  “It’s Liv.” He shoots his brother a look.

  “Who’s Liv?” I ask.

  “She works for me. And right now, she’s pissed.”

  I nod. “Ah, sounds like my Elyse. Don’t piss off the second in command, Beck. You’ll be attending the wrong meetings and drinking cold coffee for a long time.”

  Gavin laughs, and his eyes dance. “She doesn’t look like your Elyse.”

  Kevin’s brows shoot up and he scoots to the edge of his seat. “Oh, she’s hot? I can dig a secretary. Dirty sex in the office. Ask Jay. That shit is hot.”

  “Stop talking about my wife,” I grit out.

  “Stop talking about my Liv,” Beckett growls.

  “Your Liv?” I say, practically holding back a gasp.

  Gavin laughs. “Calm down, Beck,” he says to his brother. Then, to us, he mouths, “She’s married.”

  “This just keeps getting better,” I mutter.

  “I meant Liv. Fuck. Not my Liv. Just Liv. Gavin, look what you started,” Beckett grumbles as he pockets his phone.

  Gavin’s shoulders shake as he laughs. He turns his focus back to the game, dropping his elbows to his knees. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Why do you even know his secretary?” Kevin asks.

  Gavin sits up straight again. “She’s not his secretary. She’s the head of HR. For all of Langfield’s divisions. My baby brother here is just the one who needs her services the most.”

  I bark out a laugh. “It’s because you’re an asshole.” I elbow Beckett.

  “Fuck you guys,” Beckett says, rising from his seat and stalking to the back of the box where Garreth is standing. They both turn to their phones.

  More and more, especially when Garreth is around, I look back and wonder why I ever thought I wanted to run Hanson Liquors. I enjoy life too much to be all business, all the time like he is these days. Just glancing back in their direction makes my chest feel tight.

  When we were in London, Garreth sat Hayden and me down to discuss just how bad the James merger was looking. It felt like a wildfire. Every time we’d deal with one problem, another one would pop up. I told them to look in the direction of Edward James.

  It’s clear he hasn’t slunk off into the depths of hell like we’d all hoped. No, the man is using his father’s poor health to mount a campaign to take over instead of Cash.

  Not that I think it’ll work.

  I also filled my brothers in on the whiskey bottle I received from Evan McCabe. The threat.

  He didn’t give any indication that he knew about Cat’s connection to the stolen money. But that he knows about her at all eats at me. He’s like a scab. He won’t go away. And he never will. We need something to hold over him. More than just the power I gave him. Something that has obviously gone to his head. What he doesn’t understand is that I’m the one who put him into the position he occupies, and that I have no problem doing to him what I did to his predecessor.

  Hayden told me not to be too hasty in my actions—murder is a last resort as far as he’s concerned. Garreth just sipped his whiskey and nodded when my brother wasn’t looking. If we have to take care of Evan McCabe, we will.

  Moments later, Garreth was lighting up, though, when we told Chloe that we were taking her to Lucy Montgomery’s store. She’s a fashion designer based in London, and Garreth is friendly with her husband Elliot. His real estate company handled the acquisition of our London office, and although it was a much smaller purchase, he helped me find the apartment for Chloe, Cat, and me.

  That night, Garreth surprised us all with the news that Sienna Langfield was joining us for dinner.

  The look on my wife’s face was priceless. She’d planned a cooking class for all of us—probably because of the incessant teasing about her lack of skills in the kitchen that Chloe and I subjected her to. If she’d had time to plan, she would have had dinner catered to help her convince one of her favorite designers to partner with Jolie for a project she’d been discussing with me.

  It's a brilliant idea, and I knew Sienna would jump on it.

  Except we didn’t have a chance to discuss it, because Chloe accidentally flicked tomato paste in Hayden’s eye, and he took the opportunity to yell “food fight,” and moments later, the entire kitchen was covered in food, as were all of our guests, which included a fashion designer and a princess.

  Smiling at the memories made with my family, I pocket my phone and turn back to the game.

  “Thought you said you were trading Parker.” The second the words are out of my mouth, the player in question gets slammed into the wall by an opponent, and the three of us grunt in unison.

  “Seriously? You weren’t listening to a word I said that night. Did a memory of that conversation magically float through your mind all these months later?” Gavin brings his old-fashioned to his lips.

  I grimace at him. It drives me nuts that he doctors up my whiskey. Especially when he adds sugar. Whiskey is meant to be experienced all on its own.

  I shrug. “I can multitask.”

  “Or is it all that magical pussy you’re getting now?” Kevin elbows me. “Makes you smarter.”

  “The fuck?” Gavin grumbles, glaring at Kevin.

  My response isn’t so subtle. With far more force than I should, I knock my arm into Kevin’s shoulder. “Watch your fucking mouth. It’s not pussy.”

  Kevin smirks. “Oh, now that you’re engaged, it magically transformed into something else.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Fucking asshole. Point is, you don’t talk about another man’s wife that way. The hell is wrong with you?”

  Gavin nods beside me. “You’re an idiot, Kev. You obviously haven’t been eating from the magical pussy,” he says with a laugh.

  “Jay,” Garreth calls from behind us.

  The tone of his voice has me turning, and when I catch sight of his concerned expression, my smile drops.

  “Have you seen the news?”

  “What news?”

  “There was an explosion outside of James Liquors.”

  68

  KARMA BY TAYLOR SWIFT

  Cat

  My father is dead.

  And no matter how many times I utter the words, I still don’t feel a thing.

  My father is dead, Grace was injured, and my brother is a basket case who’s shadowing Grace’s every move. Not that I blame him. Jay is just as bad, and I wasn’t anywhere near the explosion two weeks ago.

  “Seriously, Jay, I’m fine,” I huff. Again.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

  “Did you want to talk about your father after he died?” I counter.

  His face falls, and immediately, I feel like shit.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, pressing my palm to his cheek. “That was horrible.”

  Shaking his head, he pulls me onto his lap. “I just want to be here for you. I know that I had a strained relationship with your father—”

  “I had a strained relationship with my father,” I remind him. “You hated the man.” I let out a low laugh, although none of this is funny.

  “He was still your father.” Jay cuddles me closer. “No matter how much I hated him, you’re in this world because of him.”

  I sigh. Nothing in life is truly uncomplicated, I suppose. “Honestly, I’m fine. Do I wish that I had spoken to my father more than that one time in the past ten years? That he had even tried to be a better human? Yes. Obviously. But the last thing he ever did was try to kill my brother’s pregnant girlfriend. He’s not worth mourning.”

  The motives surrounding Grace’s kidnapping and attempted murder are murky at best. None of it makes sense. Why would my father go after her? Outside of the night of my engagement party, none of us had seen or heard from him in years. What did Cash do to upset him so much?

  Asking Cash is pointless. I won’t get a straight answer. If he even has one.

  All I can do is let go and move on.

  “Can we do something?” I ask, perking up.

  His lips quirk up in a smile. “Anything. What were you thinking?”

  I stand and pull him off the couch. “Let’s grab Chlo and go to the park. I want to ride on one of those swans.”

  Jay grimaces. “In the dirty pond full of bird feces?”

  “You said anything, husband.”

  “Bird. Shit,” he enunciates, as if I don’t understand.

  “Yes, and you can work on those calf muscles while you pedal around the pond. You know,” I say, waggling my brows, “for all the kneeling you’ll do later.”

  Jay’s laughter echoes around us, and he pulls me into his chest, hugging me close. “Fuck, you’re my favorite person. Okay, let’s take our daughter to the shit pond, and I’ll get my workout in.”

  An hour later, I wink at Chloe as I glide my hand over the water, then splash Jay’s face. Her giggles are as loud as his shriek, and both are the balm my tender heart needed today. The park is filled with families paddling around the pond, lounging on the lawn, and biking along the trail that cuts through. I can’t help but turn wistful when I compare today to what a typical day looked like a year ago. Last year, I stood in my office and looked down at a beach full of families doing just this and wondered if I’d ever get out from behind the glass and live again. Now I’m riding in a swan and laughing with my husband and daughter.

  It’s surreal.

  “Can we have takeout tonight and a dance party?” Chloe asks as Jay grumps and wipes his face.

  I cuddle closer to her. “Sounds like the perfect night.”

  We’re just finishing dinner when Chase’s name flashes on my phone’s screen.

  “Hey.” I shoot a look at Jay, then make my way to the living room. Chase has been a wild card ever since the Vanessa articles, and I’d rather not upset Chloe if this conversation goes off the rails.

  Not that I have any intention of broaching the subject tonight.

  But his voice on the other end of the line is a painful reminder that we still haven’t told him that he and Jay are brothers. My stomach is in knots at just the thought. If only we could avoid it forever.

  “Hey, do you have a minute?”

  “Yeah, just finished dinner. What’s up?”

  For several moments, all I hear are heavy breaths. I can imagine my brother pacing and raking a hand through his blond hair while he works out how to say whatever’s on his mind.

  “Everything okay?” I prompt.

  Chase coughs out a laugh. “No. Nothing has been okay for a while now.”

  Nervously, I pick at my sweater. Is it possible he’s found out who his real mother is?

  “I know things have been hard, Chase—”

  “Hard?” He laughs again, the sound far from jovial. “I feel like I’m losing my damn mind. I don’t even recognize our family anymore. You’re marrying a Hanson, Carter has stopped dating, and Cash? Don’t even get me started on him.”

  “Maybe we should all sit down. It’s been a while since the four of us have been together. I miss you.” As I say the words, I realize how true they are. I’m tired of fighting with my brothers. And I’m tired of hiding my family from them. “I think it’s time we get some things out in the open.”

  Chase hums. “That’s why I’m calling. Our family has harbored too many secrets. Too many lies. Before you marry Hanson, you need to know what Cash has done. Fuck, you don’t even need to marry Hanson now.”

  My heart lurches at his insinuation. “What do you mean what Cash has done?”

  “Oh, it’s not just Cash. It’s Pa too. They were both in on it.”

  Unease tugs at me in the same way I’m unraveling my sweater with my incessant pulling. “What are you talking about?”

  “Cash started a new company. Bankrupted James Whiskey. The merger”—he lets out a breathy laugh—“will be one big dent in Hanson’s portfolio.”

  My stomach drops and my mind spins. I blink a few times, sorting through my brother’s words. “He what?”

  “He and Pa started a new company. In Bristol. Cat, this is good news. It means you don’t have to go through with the sham of a marriage.”

  The phone falls from my hand, and I sink into the couch, drowning in a pit of quicksand and lies.

  We should have been honest months ago.

  I should have been honest years ago.

  And because I wasn’t, Jay’s family is going to pay the price.

  69

  YELLOW BY VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINIC

  Cat

  Hand in hand, Jay and I walk into my brother’s new office in Bristol. I dig my fingernails into his hand, willing him to stay with me. Jay didn’t yell or rage when I broke the news. It was almost like he wasn’t surprised. Like it made sense. And then he took me in his arms, kissed my forehead, and told me it’d be okay.

  How, though?

  The revelation led to a late-night phone call with his brothers and a vehement defense on my behalf. I can only imagine how much they must hate my family now. Will the feud ever end? Or are the Jameses and Hansons destined to hate one another for the rest of eternity? And if so, where does that leave me? And more importantly, where does it leave my daughter?

  But the man sitting at the head of the conference table is not my brother. A small gasp escapes me at the sight, though I’m not sure why I’m surprised. For years, my grandfather has apparently been playing puppeteer with my life. I always believed he was the one person who saw me for who I really was and accepted me. That he was my protector. Somehow, he’s become the villain in my story.

  “Theo,” my husband says, pulling me out of my stupor.

  “Take a seat.” My grandfather nods at a chair to his right without greeting us.

  Before we can sit, Cash strolls in wearing a smug smile. I don’t even recognize him anymore. “You can let go of my sister’s hand now.” Cash reaches for me but keeps his eyes on Jay. “She’s no longer your concern.”

  Jay goes rigid beside me, as if he thinks I’ll abandon him at my brother’s behest.

  I pull my hand back from Cash and press it to Jay’s heart. “Look at me,” I whisper, ignoring my brother and my grandfather. “It’s you and me. Only you and me. Got it?”

  The surprise on his face breaks my heart. Does he not understand that no matter what, I’ll choose him? That there has never been an actual choice.

  “Please tell me you didn’t actually fall for him.” My brother groans, rounding the table.

  My blood heats in my veins. “You don’t even know him.”

  “I know enough—”

  “Enough!” my grandfather growls, and for a moment, a flicker of hope that he’s on our side ignites inside me. “Sit down and keep your mouths shut.”

  Jay pulls out my chair, and once I’m settled, he sits beside me and pulls me close so he can rest his palm on my thigh. He gives me a gentle squeeze, and then his attention returns to my grandfather. “I see you put our ideas into action.”

  I bolt up in my chair in response, and across from me, Cash gapes.

  My grandfather’s jaw tics. Despite being relegated to a wheelchair, he looks good. His color has come back, and the look in his eye is sharper than ever. “And you betrayed every one of them,” he says, his voice hard and his gaze locked on Jay.