Sweet Dreams (A Sugar Rush Novel) by Nina Lane Page B

I’d told you?” Evan asked.
    “Told the Crown CEO to stop trying to fucking poach from my company.”
    “Exactly. Your company. And you’d have yelled at me that I was betraying Sugar Rush by even thinking about leaving.”
    Luke stared at his brother. “You would be betraying Sugar Rush. How could you even consider working for a competitor?”
    “They’re not a candy competitor.”
    “They’re a snack foods company, which means they’re going after a similar consumer base,” Luke snapped. “What did you tell them?”
    “You really need to ask me that?”
    Luke dragged his hands over his face, hating that he’d even hinted he would ever mistrust his brother. Two years younger than Luke, Evan had been his partner-in-crime for most of their young lives—partly because they’d always gotten along well and partly because of Evan’s heart condition, which motivated Luke to take on the role of vigilant, overprotective older brother. Not that Evan had needed protecting, given that he’d always been better than Luke at everything except sports.
    Still, they’d become even closer when their parents had more children, with Luke not wanting Evan to be overshadowed by their younger siblings. Evan had never resented Luke’s protectiveness, but he’d been such a success—class valedictorian, scholarships, awards—that even without Luke he’d never have been overshadowed by anyone.
    “Look, I get it,” Evan said. “You know that. But you also need to loosen your grip on our company. Your insistence that all ideas go through you is creating a bottleneck, and you won’t let anyone else handle the Alpine acquisition much less the building plans. If you don’t get back to delegating and trusting people to follow through, then we’re going to have another exodus.”
    Luke was silent. He’d developed an iron-clad hold on Sugar Rush over the past year, but he’d been the reason the company’s profits, which had been climbing steadily for eleven years, suddenly nosedived.
    He’d been the reason three of their top executives had jumped ship. Worst of all, he’d been the reason his family had been slandered. When the CEO of a venerable family-owned candy company became the center of an ugly, dragged-out paternity scandal, that shit hit the fan like a bullet train.
    “I wouldn’t doubt that Crown approached me because they heard things are grim around here,” Evan continued. “It’s only a matter of time before other companies start sniffing around.”
    Luke grabbed a handful of Sweeties from the bowl on Evan’s desk. He tossed a couple into his mouth, the hard-shelled fruit candies making a satisfying crunch with every bite. Hailey’s favorite. Funny how he could remember all of his siblings’ favorite candy.
    “Luke, if you want to change things around here, give me the acquisition of Alpine Chocolate,” Evan said. “Prove to the c-suite you still know how to delegate strategically.”
    Luke hesitated a flash of a second too long. Evan nodded.
    “Yeah,” he muttered. “That’s what I thought.”
    “Come on, man.” Frustration flooded Luke’s chest. “They came to me two months ago. With the new facility in Bern getting off the ground, I have to handle Alpine.”
    “No. You insist on handling Alpine.” Evan frowned. “Meanwhile, I’m still spinning my wheels running marketing reports and focus groups and doing the grunt work that David doesn’t want to bother with. And you told the board Sam should spearhead the Fair Trade Foundation, so that leaves me out again.”
    “That’s what this is about? You’re still mad about the Fair Trade Foundation?”
    Evan’s frown deepened. “The foundation was my idea.”
    “And I told you before I went to the board that I can’t afford to lose you,” Luke said. “To get the foundation structure in place, you’d have to travel to all of our regional centers, probably nine months out of the year. I wanted Sam to do it because I need you