IN BED WITH THE BOSS

Groaning, Jennifer turned from the mirror. It would’ve been so easy to stay in bed today and burrow under the covers. Just pretend that this wasn’t happening. After all, that was her forte lately. Pretend to be in a relationship. Pretend to be in love with Scott McCall. Pretend she hadn’t just thrown all common sense and family loyalty out the window.

She thought about what Emily had told her. Was she really telling the truth? Did Bruce really have some kind of history with Scott’s sister?

With a sigh, she glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Well, no time for breakfast, and she could grab coffee at the office. If traffic cooperated, she would just make her nine o’clock meeting with the event planners for Bennet Inc’s huge annual holiday party.

She took a quick shower and got dresses. Grabbing her coat and purse, she descended the steps, her mind already locked on the multiplying items on her to-do list today.

“Jennifer.” a voice called.

She halted at the front door, shooting Bruce a hurried smile as she set her purse on the foyer table to slip into her coat.

“Morning, Bruce. I’m sorry I don’t have time for breakfast. I have a-”

“You’ll need to make the time. I need to talk with you immediately. And it’s too important to put off. I’ll meet you in the study.”

He didn’t wait for her agreement, but pivoted on his heel and strode toward the rear of the house. Bemused, she stared after him. Removing her arm from her coat sleeve, she tossed the garment over her purse and followed her brother.

“Shut the door, please,” he said, when she entered the room he considered his domain. As their father had done before him. Bruce hadn’t changed much in the room. Except for the dark chocolate office chair that sat behind the massive oak-and-glass desk, everything else was the same. The tall bookshelves that lined two of the walls, the heavy floor-to-ceiling drapes, the two armchairs flanking the big fireplace. She’d hated being called into this room when her father had been alive; it’d meant she’d somehow screwed up. And she didn’t like it any better now with her brother.

“What’s going on, Bruce?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Another thing she hated. Feeling defensive.

“Why did I have to find out about you and Scott McCall from Emily and her father?” he snapped, stalking around his desk. “Do you know how humiliating that was for me, receiving that phone call?”

Of course. Emily and her father just couldn’t wait, Jennifer thought.

“I’m sorry, Bruce,” she said, truly remorseful. She’d fully intended to tell him about her and Scott’s “relationship” when she arrived home last night, but she just couldn’t bring herself to, especially after her little talk with Emily. “I wanted you to hear about us from me first.”

“Us?” he sneered, his hands closing on the back of the chair several feet from her. “There shouldn’t even be an us in the first place. I can’t believe this. Do I have to tell you to stay away from him,” he told her with a narrowed glare. “I can’t fucking believe this. You know we are business rivals. ”

“Like I told Emily last night, the fundraiser wasn’t the place to discuss my personal life. Especially when you don’t even try to hide your hostility toward him. I’ve been seeing Scott McCall for a while now, but because of who we are, we decided not to make our relationship public until we knew we were serious about it.” Great. Now she was lying about her lie, but she didn’t stop. “But like I also told the senator, I don’t need to run my relationships by you for permission. I did intend to give you the courtesy of telling you about Scott last night but I was very tired. So again, I apologize if you were embarrassed to discover it from someone else.”

“Where’s your loyalty, Jennifer?” Bruce hissed. “Your duty to family first?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Pain struck her like a fiery dart to the breast. It spread through her until she vibrated with it. Reason whispered that he didn’t know all she sacrificed-was still sacrificing-for him. But it didn’t halt the hurt from his condemnation, his disgust.

“My loyalty is always to this family,” she whispered. “Who I’m seeing socially should have nothing to do with you or my love for you.”

“It does if you’re screwing a man I hate. Have always hated,” he snarled.

“Why?” she asked, lowering her arms and risking a step forward, closer to him. “Tell me why. Scott told me you went to school together.”

That hadn’t been all he’d said, but even as shameful and horrible as her brother bullying him was, surely there had to be more to the story. Especially on Bruce’s end. Yes, he was a snob, but she’d never seen him actively hate someone just because they came from humble beginnings.

“Yes, we went to school together, and he didn’t know his place back then, either.” Bruce replied.

“Didn’t know his place,” she repeated slowly, not believing that he’d uttered those ugly, bigoted words. Yes, they were fortunate enough to be in that elevated percentage of wealthy people. But that didn’t give them the right to give other people the “you’re not our kind, dear” looks. How dare he…

“Why? Because he was not on your level?” she rasped.

“No.” He slashed a hand through the air. “I don’t give a damn about that.”

The vise squeezing her chest eased a little, and relief coursed through her.

“After Mom died, all I had left was Dad.” he began.

Oh God. “Bruce,” she said, moving forward, holding a hand out toward him.

“No,” he repeated, coupling it with another hand slash. “I know you were there, but she was something different to me than to you. She was the shield, the… insulation between him and me. When she died, she left me exposed to him. To his expectations, his impossibly high standards, his disapproval. I didn’t get time to grieve for her because I had Dad riding my ass, wanting to make a real Bennet man out of me without my mother’s babying. His words,” he added, his tone as caustic as acid.

“I know,” Jennifer murmured. “I saw how hard he was on you. But, Bruce?” She lifted her hands, palms up. “What did that have to do with Scott? Dad didn’t know Scott.”

“But he did,” Bruce snarled. “Who do you think funded the scholarship that enabled Scott to attend the prep school? One of Bennet Inc’s charities. And Dad never let me forget it. Sports, academics, even the damn debate team-Scott and I were always head-to-head in everything, and when he beat me, Dad was always right there to remind me that a poor scholarship kid was better than me. That maybe he should hire him to run the family company because he was smarter, stronger, quicker, more clever. He constantly compared us, and it didn’t end with high school, but continued in college and beyond, even following Scott’s career after he graduated. The one thing I’m grateful for is that he’s not alive today to see you with him. He probably would claim him as his son, give him Bennet Inc.”

Shock pummeled Jennifer. She’d had no clue. But now his animosity toward Scott McCall made sense, because she knew her father. Knew how denigrating and belittling and cruel he could be. Especially toward Bruce. Lincoln Bennet probably didn’t even like Scott, but using him as an emotional weapon against his son sounded like something he would do.

And Bruce… God, if her brother didn’t let go of his bitterness, he would live trying to prove to their dead father that he was better than a man he might have counted as a friend once upon a time.

“Do you understand why you can’t be with him, Jennifer? That man has been the source of my pain and unhappiness for over a decade. I won’t allow him in my home or to eat at my table, much less date my sister.” He shook his head. “End it.”

I can’t.

The words bounced off her skull, pounded in her chest. To call off her relationship with Scott would be to destroy her brother. Bruce’s antagonism for Scott wasn’t his fault-it was their father’s. But with Lincoln Bennet gone, Bruce had transferred all his resentment and pain to the one who was still alive.

“No, I won’t end it with Scott,” she said. Sighing, she moved across the small distance separating them and covered his hand. “Bruce, I-”

He jerked away from her, taking several steps back and glaring at her. A muscle ticked along his clenched jaw. “You won’t break this thing off with him?”

“No, Bruce, I won’t.” I’m doing this for you, she silently screamed. But the words remained trapped in her throat.

“I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve left me with no other choice. Margie Investments, Jennifer.”