Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
It had seemed like this town was big enough for both of us, the market was booming, advertising revenue was up and the technology was getting more and more accessible.
But now it looked like they’d won the war.
Chapter 2
KEEGAN
AS USUAL, my mind wouldn’t settle on my work. I tried to focus on the spreadsheet on the monitor in front of me, but my attention kept wandering, my eyes turning to the overcast sky outside. I also kept thinking about the pretty woman I had held open the door on the way in here. Her copper hair was what made me notice her, but her smile was striking and genuine. She seemed in a rush or I might have tried my luck with an offer of coffee. Anyway, I would likely never see her again.
A waitress made her way to the table and pointedly removed my empty coffee cup. I had clearly outstayed my welcome at Antoinette’s. I allowed myself to flick to the open browser and was greeted by images of rolling green fields. I was counting down the days to when I could make my escape from work. As if by magic, my phone began to ring. Without looking, I knew who it was. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to keep my voice as patient as I could manage.
“Where the fuck are you?” Sean’s voice instantly set me on edge.
“I’m working. What’s up?” I tried to sound cheerful, knowing that it would annoy him.
“You need to be in the damn office working. We are on the crest of something here. We need everyone here and doing their jobs properly,” he said, and I closed my eyes to stop from telling him to fuck off.
One of the things that really bothered me about my dearest and only sibling was how quickly Sean had developed a faux American accent. Basically, as soon as he had stepped off the plane he had acquired an entirely new voice with all the Americanisms to boot. It probably bothered him that I never bothered to hide my Dublin accent.
I’d lost count of how many times he had asked me to disguise the fact that despite sharing a set of parents, schools, sports, and a fancy house in Southside, I’d misspent my youth on the Northside and had earned myself what my parents called a ‘rough’ accent. It was just one of the many things that made it hard for people to believe that we were brothers, and I didn’t mind that. He was fair, skinny, and very tall. I was dark, muscular, and just plain tall at six-three. People who didn’t know us would never guess that there was just thirteen months, twenty-one days, and eighteen hours between us.
“I’m on my way. I’m going to be twenty minutes at most,” I was distracted, continuing to browse while he spoke to someone else who must have just entered his office. I couldn’t make out his murmuring and let the phone drop a little.
“Ten minutes! Do you hear me?” he shouted.
I snapped the laptop shut and hung up without responding, dialing for the office receptionist, and drumming my fingers as I waited for an answer. Sean and I had never gotten along very well as adults. As kids it was totally different, we were inseparable. But as we each found ourselves working in the family business and he made his way up the ladder while I searched for the nearest exit, we just hadn’t that much in common anymore. His endless attempts to make me feel as worthless as possible would have been easier to ignore if my parents hadn’t set him up as chief watcher and jailkeeper. I could barely move in the office without him asking me what I was doing, checking my work, and undermining my authority over my team. And if I dared to go against him, the threat of it getting back to my parents was real. Nobody who saw it would have believed that I was actually the older brother or the more educated one.
“Send a car to 30 Mercantile immediately,” I barked down the phone at the receptionist, and then winced as I realized how much like Sean I sounded. “Sorry, Sophie,” I added as I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“So, Sean found you,” Sophie said with what I guess was a smile. “Roger’s already on his way.”
In the past few weeks, Sean had been constantly on my back about work, feeding me endless paperwork to keep me from doing any of the things I wanted to do with the company. I left a handful of dollars on the table and nodded at the waitress, then swung my bag over my shoulder and stood up to leave. The sky that I had watched threaten rain all afternoon decided at just that moment to unleash a downpour. I turned up my collar and wrapped my arms around myself as I stood just outside the doorway to wait for the car. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and when I checked it I swore out loud and got myself a filthy look from an old lady passing by. It was a text reminding me that not only was I about to get wet, get yelled at, and get overloaded with work, but I also had to be at a restaurant by seven o’clock for a blind date tomorrow that I had agreed to go on after I’d lost a bet with my friend. I allowed myself to fantasize about running away. It passed the time.