Page 52 of The Merger

“Put some goddamn clothes on Wave. We need to talk,” he ordered.

She ran into her room, leaving her robe on the floor.

“Were you ever my friend, or has it always been fake?” Sabrina asked Malcolm.

I could practically see the wheels turning in his head trying to figure out how to talk his way out of this. He took a step toward her, and I pulled her behind me.

“Not another step. Brother or not, I’ll lay your ass out,” I warned him.

Sabrina moved around me and pushed me back. “Please,” was all she said. I knew she needed answers. As much as I knew it would hurt her, she deserved to know.

“Answer me, Malcolm,” she demanded.

“Of course it was real.” He smiled at her, but it looked smarmy. “I didn’t mean what I said. My brother just sets me off.”

“So you decided to insult me to get to him?” she pushed.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” he mumbled.

“Was I also not supposed to hear all the whispers going around the office? That was you, right? You’re the one who told them I slept my way to the top? Because how was that supposed to hurt Stryker?”

Malcolm threw his hands up. “I was pissed, okay? You were my best friend. I thought we were going to be together and you started working with the person I hate most? Why?”

She exhaled forcefully. “Of course, it’s all about you. Right? It doesn’t matter that I’ve worked my ass off. I’m good at my job, but you had to reduce my accomplishments to me sleeping my way to the top. You even implied that I screwed my brother?”

“What? Someone better explain that right now,” Colter demanded. His voice was low and menacing.

“It’s not like you’re actually related,” Malcolm sneered.

“It’s like you want to die,” I mumbled.

Sabrina wasn’t distracted. “Why did you pursue me? If you thought all of this about me, why did you go after me?”

“What difference does it make? Nothing I say is going to make you feel better. Maybe you were just a challenge. It doesn’t matter now.”

“Bullshit,” I said. “You’d never gone after her before, so why now?”

The mask fell off, and for the first time I was seeing the man he really was under the veneer of charm. “Because you came back! Do you think I haven’t kept tabs on you? That I don’t know everything there is to know about you?”

Sabrina gasped. “You knew? This whole time? You knew I was married and didn’t tell me?”

Malcolm smiled a cruel smile. “Yes, I knew you married my brother. I thought you’d tell me, but you didn’t seem to know, and I wasn’t going to let him have you.”

“So you wanted to date me only to keep me from him?”

He shrugged. “I watched him. It wasn’t long before I figured out you were what he wanted most.”

“Get out,” she said in a flat tone. “I don’t ever want to see you again.”

He laughed. “Tough shit,sister.”

“You heard her,” Colter interrupted. “Get the fuck out.”

Malcolm headed for the door, knocking me into Sabrina on his way. “I’m done here. For now.”

He had something up his sleeve. I wasn’t sure what, but I knew his words were a threat.

Colter turned on us. “Why didn’t you tell me there were rumors being spread around the office?”