"What do I care if you’re my sister?" he spits back at me. "You’re nothing more than a common slut, Clarise, but your party ways have finally screwed you over. Now go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, and leave me the fuck alone."
Everyone has their limits, and I’ve just reached mine.
This time I don’t even bother with slapping him; no, I cock my arm back and let my closed fist fly straight into his face. It connects so hard that Earl falls out from his chair, clutching his nose as bright blood starts dripping out of his nose.
"You fucking bitch!" he cries out in pain, trying to get up. Staring down at the pathetic excuse of a man that’s my brother, I place my high-heel on his chest and keep him down on the floor; reaching for his glass of whisky, I grab it and throw its contents all over him.
"Here, have a celebratory drink, asshole," I tell him coldly, feeling ice running through my veins. Finally taking my foot off of his chest, I make for the door and unlock it. Before I leave, though, I turn around to look into his eyes one final time.
"If you think I’m giving up on everything I’ve ever wanted, you’re out of your mind. I won’t give up on the company, I won’t give up on our family, and I sure as hell won’t give up on Connor."
"Yeah?" he asks me, that mocking tone still in his voice. I guess he still hasn’t learned his lesson. I almost go back just so I can punch him again, but this time I manage to restrain myself. Nothing good will come out of that. This is a war that won’t be won with fists. This is a war that’ll be won with brains… And, unfortunately for my brother, my brains are much bigger than his.
"What are you going to do about it, Clarise?" he taunts me, and I can see his teeth painted in bright red blood as he grins. Not really an improvement on his ugly mug, but I did my best.
"I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, Earl. I’m going to make sure you’ll never run the family business. You’re done."
With that, I bolt out of his office, my brain working at full speed.
I might not have started this war, but I sure as hell am going to finish it.
34
Connor
I should be long gone by now, but I never got to deliver Jonathan my letter of resignation. Crap, I think to myself as the elevator climbs up to the top floor of the Donovan building.
This is going to be bad; today’s the day of the yearly board meeting, and I was supposed to attend it as the Donovan’s adviser. But now here I am, ready to resign right before one of the most important meetings of the year. Yeah, give me the Adviser of the Year award already.
But it’s not like I can do anything else. If I step inside the boardroom, I’ll have my back against the wall. I’ll either throw Clarise under the bus or I’ll back Earl in what’ll be an idiotic move for the company. So, while it might not be ideal, I’m just going to remove myself from the equation.
"Oh, you showed up," Earl tells me in a surprised tone, looking at me as he watches me walk inside Jonathan’s office. He’s sitting by his father’s side, and it looks like the two of them are going over some documents before the meeting.
"Oh, just in time, Connor!" Jonathan greets me happily, getting up from his seat and clapping me on the back. "You won’t believe the gem Earl found. An airline in Indonesia, can you believe it? And the numbers look great! I know it’s a bit premature to be thinking of a move like this, but perhaps Earl’s right. Risking a part of our fortune in a strong company like this might be the right move f
or us."
Red Lion Aviation, a strong company? I have to resist the urge to laugh. After Earl revealed his intentions of backing an Indonesian airline with over $2 billion dollars, I couldn’t resist the urge to dig deeper and I’ve reached out to a few of my contacts in Rome. It’s all pretty muddy, but it seems that Red Lion Aviation is nothing more than a front for something very, very shady…
My best guess is that Earl has been seduced by the quick mountains of money that can be made in the drug-trade, and he’s trying to position himself in that market. Of course, what he doesn’t know is that I’ve already alerted a few of my higher-ups to the fact. If he manages to convince Jonathan to make the investment, he’ll quickly realize that the American authorities will put a quick stop to his ambitions.
So, you were thinking that just because I was resigning that I had abandoned the Donovans? Not a chance in hell; I might have to quit because of Clarise, but I’m not going to let this family go down this easily because of a giant fucker like Earl.
With that said, it’s time for me to man up and face the music.
"Jonathan," I start, "I can’t advise you on this."
"Why not?" he asks me, slightly surprised. "The numbers look good and --"
"It has nothing to do with that," I cut him short, my heart suddenly starting to race at a thousand miles per hour. "I have something I must confess."
"Shouldn’t it be the other way around?" Jonathan laughs, leaning back against his chair and folding his arms over his chest. "I always thought that holy men were the ones listening to confessions from the common folk, not the other way around."
"I’ve fallen in love with Clarise," I force myself to say, not wanting to beat around the bush endlessly. Certain things are like pulling out teeth when you’re younger; you just have to do it, and the less you wait, the better it goes. "Because of that, I’m leaving my position as the family adviser," I continue, taking my resignation letter out of my front pocket and placing it in front of Jonathan.
I look him in the eyes, standing straight as I wait for the man to blow up like a thermonuclear bomb.
"What the…? Are you out of your mind, Connor?" he asks me, and I feel a knot growing in my throat. "Why the hell are you resigning! This is great news!" he cries out, clapping his hands together as he jumps up to his feet.