Daniel

Turns out firing someone for attempted sabotage requires more paperwork than setting up a damn company.

By the time Thursday rolls around, I’m ready to forget this week altogether, pretend it didn’t exist. Solving everything this week is imperative because I have a tour on Monday, and I’m flying out to Sydney next Tuesday, where I’ll be closing a business deal. I have a hearing tomorrow morning for Justin’s case, but as I pull my car in my parents’ driveway, I’m determined to let loose, enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.

A flurry of voices echo in the house when I step inside. Everyone is sitting on the various armchairs and couches in the enormous living room, a drink in hand. After greeting my parents and Martin, I head straight to Caroline, who is sitting on a sofa, talking to Landon Connor, a cousin from my mom’s side of the family.

“Landon, good to see you, man.” I shake his hand, kissing Caroline on the forehead, then sitting on the armrest. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

“Wanted to head out to LA, but didn’t work out time wise.”

The Connor clan resides in LA, but Landon moved to San Jose years ago with his wife, Rachel. Unfortunately, since she passed away, my cousin seems to be spending every waking moment working.   

“Ouch, I bet Valentina has put a ransom on your head,” I say, referring to his twin sister who likes to organize family events as much as Mom.

“I’m waiting for ‘Wanted’ signs to pop up any second now,” Landon replies. Caroline grins, wrapping an arm around mine.

“Val needs to come to San Francisco more often. I need someone to teach me how to properly perform Irish dances. I can’t believe she’s so much better at it than I am. You lot are only half-Irish!” she says.

“Ah, my dad took his dancing seriously,” Landon says. His father emigrated from Ireland to America around the same time Caroline’s parents did. “And Val’s the only one who can dance out of the lot of us.”

Caroline sighs wistfully. “I’ll be happy if I can evolve to the point where I’m not stepping on my own toes anymore.”

“Or mine,” I supply.

She jabs me playfully with her elbow. “I did not step on yours.”

Landon winks. “I can confidently say you step on your dancing partner’s toes too. Had a black toe or two myself after Blake’s wedding.”

Caroline folds her arms, glancing from Landon to me. “You’re banding against me. That’s unfair.”

Landon holds up his hands in defense. “Just presenting evidence.”   

“Sorry to interrupt,” Summer calls, approaching us. “I need to steal my favorite cousin for a bit.”

As Landon rises from the couch, I warn him. “Don’t believe her. She plays the favorites game with all of us.”

Landon laughs, lacing an arm around Summer’s shoulders. “I’m the only cousin here tonight. I’m the favorite by default.”

“He still looks so sad even though it’s been a while since Rachel passed away,” Caroline says in a low, wistful voice. To me, Landon looks just fine, but I’ll admit I don’t pick up on these things like my sisters or Caroline do.

“She was his wife,” I say simply. If something happened to Caroline, I don’t think I’d ever recover.

“I know, but I was hoping he’d catch the Bennettitis virus too. He is related to you, after all.”

“Blake’s been giving you ideas, huh?” I ask with a grin. Ever since our eldest siblings fell in love one after the other, Blake declared the Bennettitis virus is ravaging our family.  

“He has. And by the way, Blake was saying something about a guy’s night out tomorrow evening.”

Just then, Mom announces the turkey’s ready, and we can all head to the dining table. Taking Caroline’s hand, I lead the way.

“Speaking of brothers, I talked to Niall today,” I say, pulling out the chair for her.

Caroline groans. “He gave you the talk, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, but he was more laid-back about it than I expected.”

She cocks a brow as I sit next to her. “Define laid-back.”

“He didn’t tell me anything I wouldn’t tell someone dating Summer,” I say truthfully.

“Wow, you’ve had quite a day, between dealing with the stuff with Justin and my brother semi-threatening you.” Leaning in, she adds in a conspiratorial whisper. “I’ll take care of you tonight, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Predictably, Thanksgiving dinner stretches for hours, right until Will falls asleep with his head on the table, and we decide to call it a night.

***

The next evening, I’m the last to arrive at Blake’s bar, where I decided with my brothers plus Pippa’s husband to have our men’s night out.

Everyone’s sitting around two high bar tables pushed together: Sebastian, Logan next to him, then Eric. Blake, Christopher, and Max are on the other side.

“How did it go?” Logan inquires. “Blake told us.”

I groan, staring at Blake. He was supposed to keep his mouth shut. I haven’t told any of my other siblings about the issue with Justin because I saw no point worrying them, but when I called Blake at lunch to tell him I’d be late this evening, he insisted I tell him why.

Blake grins. “Blame the beer.”

“You’ve just had half a glass.”

“Blame my big mouth. Thought they should know. They usually have good ideas.”

“If you need lawyers, we have a whole lot of them on payroll already,” Sebastian offers.

“Nah, I’m good. A competent team is handling it. Just want to get it over with. Forget it happened.”

Logan drums his fingers on the table. “Might happen again, so look out. Corporate sabotage isn’t that uncommon.”

“It isn’t?” I raise a skeptical brow.

“Nah. You get frustrated employees everywhere. Pay attention to vengeful ex-employees. We had one once who tried to stop a transport to Europe. Was a bit of a nightmare.”

Max chimes in. “Competitors sometimes get nasty too. Stir up legal trouble, or send the feds over.” 

“Low chances, I’d say. Not a big fish like Bennett Enterprises. No big fish in my industry at all. Doubt any of the others would waste their time with something like this. I wouldn’t.”

Sebastian scratches his chin, downs a mouthful of beer. “Because you’re decent. Not everyone plays fair. If your lawyers don’t come through, we can help. Ours have handled just about everything.” 

Surprisingly, the news that my brothers have gone through something similar calms me somewhat. It’s good to know this is at least in the realms of normalcy.

Blake looks at me smugly. His first reaction when I told him was “Why the hell aren’t you telling the others? I bet they’ve seen it all at Bennett Enterprises. They’ll have some advice.”

Unlike me, Blake’s never had any issues asking my brothers for help or advice.

“Say it,” he demands.

“You were right.”

Blake pumps his fist in the air, opens his mouth. I hold up a hand to placate him. “No more gloating. I need a beer.”

Several beers in, the conversation focuses on Bennett Enterprises. Since everyone except Eric, Blake, and me works in the company, this happens often. My brothers are smart as a whip, and I like to listen to them mastermind. More than once during casual nights out, I picked up valuable management or operational ideas that I implemented in my own business.

“Enough with the Bennett Enterprises babble,” Blake says eventually. “It’s all good and interesting, but this is not the boardroom. If I’d known you’re using this night out to draw out strategies, I would’ve taken Clara out instead.”

Logan grins. “Feel free to dump us for your wife anytime. She might not be too keen on you tonight. As far as I heard, the girls are having a blast. First time Clara’s out with them since the baby came, right?”

“Yeah,” Blake confirms. “She was nervous about it, but she needs some time for herself.” 

“Pretty crazy that Mom and Dad take the kids in overnight,” Logan says. “Suppose raising the bunch of us was practice enough.”

“No idea how they did it,” Sebastian says.

Logan claps his shoulder. “You’re on your way to find out, with two more coming in a few months.”

He and Ava shared the news yesterday. Is it my imagination, or does Sebastian look tense?

He takes a long swig of his beer, nods. “My worst fear—not being able to provide for or protect my wife and kids. Either because I die, or worse, become incapacitated and they have me as a burden.”

Everyone at the table falls into a stunned silence. I can’t even count the instances in which Sebastian voiced fears on one hand. This must be weighing very hard on him.

“Your wife is a strong woman,” I say eventually. Everyone else seems still too stunned to react. “She’d manage no matter what life throws her. And you have us. No matter what happens, we’d take care of Ava and the kids. You can count on me, on all of us.”

Sebastian nods, but still looks out of his depths. Logan seems to snap out of his stupor, backing me up immediately. The others chime in too, reassuring my oldest brother.

“Never seen him like this,” I comment to Christopher ten minutes later when we line up at the bar to bring more beers.

“I did,” he says quietly. “When he found out Ava was pregnant the first time. Alice and I were with him. He was wondering if he’d be a good dad, things like that. Gave us a bit of a shock, to be honest. But I understand where he’s coming from. When Victoria got pregnant, I had some of those thoughts myself. She read up about it, said they happen. Never thought they’d happen to Sebastian because he’s always in control, always sure of himself. And why the hell is it taking so long to get some beers?”

It takes us five more minutes to finally return to the table. I turn to my twin.

“Blake, honest feedback: your bartenders are slow as fuck. Took them forever to take our order.”

“Oh, shit,” Blake says. “That’s not on the bartenders. It’s on me. Told them to go slower after our third round. We still have to get the girls. Better be able to walk in a straight line while we’re at it.”

Logan gapes at him. “Never thought I’d live to see the day when Blake’s the most responsible of the bunch. Fatherhood’s done wonders for you, baby bro. Now, make sure this one follows in your footsteps. Settles down and everything.” He hooks one thumb in my direction.

“Oy, I’m right here. I can hear you,” I say in mock offense. It’s been too long since Logan rode my ass. Used to do it far more often in my early twenties. In all honesty, I did need that then. Nothing like a big brother breathing down your neck to motivate you to get your shit together.

“You were meant to hear it,” Logan informs me. “You pull a stunt on Caroline like you did last time, it’s not going to be pretty.”

One thing I can always count on: my brothers won’t hold back punches. Literally or figuratively.

Blake jerks his head back. “Logan, if you want my help cornering Daniel, I’m gonna need more heads-up than this.”

Perfect. Blake will have my back. Twin bond and all that.

Pointing a finger at me, he says, “I’m with Logan. Any funny business and I’m decking you.”

Twin bond’s worth shit tonight, apparently.

“Whose side are you on?”

He doesn’t hesitate. “Caroline’s.”

“So am I.” I raise my glass to them. “And guys? Leave the cornering to our sisters. They’re so much better at it.”