Hard Rules

“Why are you up so early?” I ask. “And don’t say for me. We both know I’m worthy of a robe and bad hair.”

“Because you give unconditional love, honey. And you do remember that I do interior design work, right?”

“Not at this time of the day.”

“Some jobs inspire me. And this one is for the mayor, who in case you don’t recall, is highly thought—”

“To be a future presidential contender. You do aspire big, don’t you, Mother?”

She laughs. “You came by it naturally.”

“You’re acting like nothing happened last night.”

“Your father has always had affairs.”

“Always?”

“You find this hard to believe?”

I grimace. “No. No, I suppose I don’t. And you’re fine with it?”

“I’ve had a lot of years to be fine with it, son.”

“Do you have affairs?”

“Yes. I do.” She sets her cup down. “And before you judge me—”

“I’m not. I know who he is and what he is.” I hesitate. “He brought that woman to the Four Seasons.”

“I know.”

“What do you mean, you know?”

“I hired her.”

I lean on the counter. “Mother, what the hell did you do?”

“He’s going to have someone in his bed other than me until the day he dies. I want to know if he’s sick—”

“We know he’s sick.”

“He won’t tell me what the doctors are saying. Besides. I need our empire protected and that means I need you in charge, not Derek. This potentially allows me to access information you may need.” I give her my back, running a hand through my hair, in a rare display of frustration I don’t even try to contain. “Shane, look—”

“No,” I say, facing her again. “Every time I think this family can’t get more fucked up, you all prove me wrong.”

She leans on the counter. “I’m protecting us both. I’m helping you.”

“There’s nothing about this that helps me. And why was this mistress you hired seen with Derek?”

“Your brother works fast. She spent one night with your father and he tried to milk her for information.”

“Like I said. There’s nothing about this that helps me, or any of us. I need to go.” I start to leave and force myself to stop. “Why did Father allow Mike Rogers onto the board? Why would he give away that kind of power?”

“Mike’s a good man, Shane.”

“You say that like you have personal knowledge.”

“He was your father’s first major client. He’s been with us since almost the beginning. He put us on the map.”

“And I’m supposed to expect that justifies father trusting him with twenty percent of the stock when he trusts no one else?”

“We gave him stock for putting us on the map.”

“You know your husband, my father, would not allow him to stay. He’s too greedy and cautious for that. Either he has some kind of leverage over Mike to control him or the opposite is true.”

“Mike’s a billionaire, son. That’s a lot of motivation to your father, not to mention he’s high profile and good for the brand. But of course, your father has ammunition on everyone involved with the company.”

“What does he have on Mike?”

“He doesn’t tell me these things, Shane, but if that’s what you need to know—”

“I need to know what he has on every member of the board.”

“I’ll dig around his private files, but Mike isn’t a problem.”

“Mike’s a twenty-percent stockholder,” I repeat. “He’s a problem for me.”

“And an asset when you take over. He’s not like the others.”

“Exactly my point,” I say. “Who’s the woman you’ve placed in Father’s bed?”

“A med student who needs some help paying the bills. I thought she’d be an asset in evaluating your father’s health.”

I’m not sure I’ve ever fully appreciated my mother’s cunningness until this moment and I’m glad I didn’t. If I’d known how screwed up both my parents were as a child, I might have ended up more like Derek. I don’t even bother to tell her my suspicions about my father’s health. I turn and walk away.

“Shane,” she calls out, but I don’t stop or reply, heading for the door and exiting into a light rain that reminds me of Emily’s probable departure by foot.

I climb in the Bentley that also reminds me of her, but unfortunately also drives home the many flavors of my father’s manipulation. What I’ve failed to see until now is my mother’s equal skill. I’d known she was smart and fiery enough to stand toe-to-toe with my father, but in the past twenty-four hours my eyes have opened to what I didn’t want to see. At some point, she became like him to survive him, just as Derek did.

Starting the engine, I shift into gear and head down the driveway, idling as the gate opens, my brother’s words repeating in my head. I know who’s in my corner. I wonder if you do. My mother is telling me she’s in my corner, but I wonder. Is she telling him the same? And does she have any side but her own? I pull through the gate and the rain erupts again, a prelude it seems to the battle brewing in the heart of the Brandon family empire that I intend to win. I’m just not sure there will be a family left to back the name.