Chapter Twenty-One: Buns
Lincoln
Sienna is doing better than I ever thought she would. Throughout dinner, she told my mother of all the countries she's been to, and my mother clung to every word, both of them sharing their stories of travel while Jett sat across from me, jaw clenched and arms crossed over his chest.
Take that. I smirk at him with my eyes, but this time he smirks back and clears his throat, sitting up straighter in his chair. "So, Lincoln, tell us again of the business plan you have for Nash enterprises. If you want me to back off so badly, let me know what you have planned to fix this."
"What do you mean?" I reply tersely.
"Your business plan," he repeats slower, like I'm incapable of understanding. "Or do you not have one? I always forget that you didn't go to business school. Face it, Linc, Dad's company is in the hands of some woman we now barely know, and sometimes your secretary that you met in high school, but never you, the CEO of the company, because you don't understand it."
I watch as he sits back and spins the expensive Rolex he's wearing around his wrist, the anger inside of me threatening to boil out. I can't lose my cool and make this dinner go south. My mother will yell at us for fighting and then she'll never reach a conclusion.
I'm trying to think of how to respond, my body rigid when Sienna suddenly reaches under the table to squeeze my hand. She must know I'm upset. Either that, or she's having sympathy for me. I'm not sure which theory I hate worse.
"No need to worry," Sienna explains more to my mother than Jett. "I've been running my business for almost ten years now, and my company's net worth is twice the size of Nash enterprises. I already told Lincoln that we will be having weekly tutoring sessions to try and get him up to speed. He'll be a business mogul before we know it."
I'm sitting in my chair completely dumbfounded, and even though Jett wants to hate Sienna's guts, even he seems impressed. It doesn't stop the narrowing of his eyes though, and I can sense the witty remark bubbling up from him until my mother sets her napkin down on top of her plate and shoots him another evil glare of hers. "That is enough, Jett. I will not tolerate any more disrespect tonight from you." Then she looks at Sienna, her eyes softening before she adds, "Come with me, I have something I think you'd like to see."
Sienna nods and smiles, following my mother out of the dining room to leave Jett and me alone. It takes everything I have not to stare at her ass, to not watch those long legs that I'll soon have my head buried between. I'm desperately counting down the seconds.
Jett raises a brow. "How long?"
"How long since what?"
"Since you've been fucking her."
My whole body stills, and a new level of anger courses through me. I don't know why the sentence makes me pissed because that's exactly what we're doing, but I don't want Jett to find out. He's a snake. Somehow, he'll use this against me.
"We aren't fucking," I reply.
He lets out a snort. "I've known you my entire life, Lincoln, and I could tell that you've fucked her after being around you for five minutes. In fact..." He takes another sip of wine and tilts his chair back so that he's resting on two legs of it. "If I didn't think I was completely losing it, I'd say it's more than fucking."
"It's not," I tell him honestly because it isn't.
"So it's fucking, then." He smiles, knowing he's caught me. God damn him and his way to smuggle the truth out of people. A true businessman at heart, one I'll never be. "Tell me, how good is she in bed? Does she do as she's told, or is she wild?"
Lincoln, calm down, I tell myself. Don't let him get to you.
I refuse to answer, my knuckles white from holding onto my chair as he leans forward and rests his elbows on the table, something my mother would kill him for. "How much of a slut is she, Lincoln? Can I have a turn?"
I slam my hands on the table then, losing any ounce of self-control I once had. On my feet now, I lean over the table to peer above him, and despite his arrogant, cocky attitude, he knows I have the potential to destroy him. I'm jacked, and he hasn't hit the gym once in his life. "Shut your fucking mouth," I sneer. "Whatever beef you and I have, leave her out of it. She's done nothing to you, and she doesn't deserve to be talked about with so much disrespect."
I'm panting heavily as I continue to stare at him, growing even more upset when that look of fear he had seconds ago vanishes and is replaced with that same smugness. "Looks like I've found your new weakness," he says and stands to his feet as well, adjusting his suit to keep it free of creases. "This should be very fun. You may have won tonight, brother, but know that I will use your weakness until this company burns to the ground and you with it. I won't stop until the right person is finally in charge, which is me. Tell mother and your conquest that I had to leave."
With that, he stalks out of the dining room, slamming the door loudly behind him. I know my mother heard it. I know she's probably upset. She's putting on a front for Sienna, acting cool, calm, and collected like always, but underneath that is a mother who is worried about her sons. A mother that would give anything to see the rift between us come to an end. It makes my heart ache.
Pushing away the thoughts, I start a search for Sienna, poking my head through the different rooms of the house I grew up in. I remember my Dad chasing Jett and me around, playing hide and seek with us until he finally gave up and begged us to come out. Jett and I always knew where to hide—in the maid's closet behind all of the coats. Dad would always open up the closet, but because of how much stuff was in there he'd just give up and continue on his search. Jett's eyes would be locked on mine, the both of us on the brink of laughter when we knew we had won again.
I sigh in frustration when I finally find them, and when I see what they're doing, heat prickles on my skin all over. Sienna is thumbing through my baby book, and my mother is explaining when each photo was taken.
"Oh, and look at this one!" She exclaims and points to a photo I can't see. "Lincoln loved bath time. Look at his little buns!"
Sienna erupts into giggles as my eyes grow wide, racing for the book to grab it out of their hands. "What the hell are you two doing?"
"Just looking through some photos of you," my mother replies. Her eyes are glistening with a feeling I can't describe. It's something I haven't seen in her in a long time, and Sienna seems to have brought it out.
"But why? Nobody wants to see those, Mom."
Sienna laughs and lifts her eyes to mine from the couch they're both sitting on. "Speak for yourself. You had the cutest little buns, Lincoln." And then she realizes she probably shouldn't have said that, but my mother just laughs along with her.
"Have the cutest buns," I correct. "They haven't gone anywhere."
Sienna wants to say something sexual, I know she does, but rather than say it, she mutters, "Well, I wouldn't know, and don't want to find out."
Sure, I mock in my head, laughing at the thought that she'll probably see my ass on the way home in the car. I want those heels to dig into it while my head is buried in her pussy. I want her screaming my name for Robert to hear. I want her to use the fuck out of me. She was right about the pent-up anger being used for her benefit because right now, I want to fuck the living shit out of her in any way that she wants. I'm at her mercy.
And that means it's time to go.
"As fun as this has been, I think it's best we get going. Jett had to leave early. He sends his apologies."
Sienna's eyes don't leave mine as she stands to her feet, shifting her weight from knowing what's about to happen on the drive back to the city.
"Alright." My mother sighs from disappointment, wrapping me in a warm embrace before turning to look at Sienna. "I loved all of your ideas for Nash Enterprises, and I'm thrilled to see them come to life. Please keep me updated on the progress, Lincoln, and Sienna, don't be a stranger. Maybe we could go shopping in the city together sometime."
She did it.
Sienna won her over, and now Jett can head on back to New Jersey to leave me and this company alone. I can handle this. With the help of Sienna, together we're going to save this company.
"I'd love that," Sienna gushes, and surprisingly, I think she means it. "I gave you my business card earlier. My number is on it."
We turn to leave, but when we're almost to the door, and when Sienna is out of hearing distance, my mother tugs me back and says, "She might be the one for you, honey, and you better not screw it up."