This was an old argument, getting older by the second. Ever since Gabe had taken his place in the Hart family chocolate company, the brothers had been doing battle. Ethan regretted that, because he and his younger brother had always been close. But the bottom line was Ethan was in charge and it was Ethan who would make the final call about the direction their company would take. And Gabriel was just going to have to find a way to live with that.
Standing up, he faced his brother. “Reality is, Gabe, we sold thirty-one million pounds of chocolate last year. The company is doing fine. We don’t need to take risks.”
“Damn it, Ethan, taking risks is how our great-grandfather started this company in the first place.”
“True. Joshua Hart started the business,” Ethan said tightly. “And each generation has kept our reputation a sterling one. We’re one of the top five chocolate companies in the world. Why in the hell would I want to take risks now?”
“To be number one,” Gabriel snapped. Clearly frustrated, he shoved a hand through his black hair. “Times change, Ethan. Tastes change. We can keep making the same great chocolate and we can add to our lists. Bring in new tastes and textures. Attract different customers, younger customers who’ll stick with us for decades.”
Ethan looked at his brother and felt twin tugs of affection and irritation. It had always been like this between them. Ethan had been looking out for his younger brother most of their lives. Gabriel was the wild one. The one who wanted to try new things, see new places. He was a risk taker and Ethan had rescued him from more than one escapade over the years. And that was fine, Ethan supposed, until it came to business. There, Ethan wasn’t going to buck traditions that had built his family company into a worldwide giant.
“You want to start your own company,” Ethan said softly, “and sell oregano chocolate or whatever, help yourself. Heart Chocolates will remain at the top of its game by giving our customers exactly what they want and expect from us.”
“Very safe,” Gabriel muttered, shaking his head. “And boring.”
Ethan snorted. “Success is boring? We do what works, Gabe. We always have.”
Gabe slapped both hands down on Ethan’s desk and leaned in. “I’m a part of this company, Ethan. We’re brothers. This is our family business. Dad left it to both of us. And I want a say in how it runs.”
“You get a say,” Ethan said, as irritation simmered even hotter, becoming a ball of anger in the pit of his stomach.
“And you get the final vote.”
“Damn straight I do. The company was left to both of us, but I’m in charge.” Ethan met his brother’s gaze and tried to ease the hot knot of fury that settled inside him. He understood what was driving Gabriel. His younger brother wanted to make his mark on the family company. But that didn’t mean Ethan was going to gamble everything they’d built on his brother’s risky ideas.
Yes. They could introduce new flavors, new types of chocolates with strange fillings and flavors that bucked every traditional norm. But their current customers wouldn’t be interested—they knew what they wanted and counted on Heart Chocolates to provide it.
“Never let me forget that, do you?” Gabriel pushed off the desk, then stuffed his hands into his pockets.
“Look, Gabe, I get what you’re trying to do, but it’s my responsibility to protect the reputation we’ve spent generations building.”
“You think I’m trying to wreck it?” Gabe stared at him, astonished.
“No. You’re just not considering all the angles of this idea.” Ethan’s patience was so strained now he felt as if he were holding on to the last remaining threads of a rope from which he was dangling over the edge of a cliff. So he tried a different tactic. “Introducing a new line of chocolates, hoping to reel in new customers, would require a huge publicity campaign well beyond what we already have in place.”
“Pam says the campaign could be run within the plan that we’re already using.”
One of Ethan’s eyebrows lifted. “Pam, huh? Who’s she?”
Gabriel took a deep breath and looked as though he regretted letting that name slip. “Pam Cassini,” he said. “She’s smart as hell. She’s setting up her own PR firm and she’s got some great ideas.”
“And you’re sleeping with her,” Ethan added for him. Did this explain Gabriel’s latest attempt to change things up? Was his new girlfriend behind it all?
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Before he could answer, Ethan heard a brisk knock on the door, then it swung open and his assistant, Sadie Matthews, poked her head inside. Her big blue eyes shifted from him to Gabe and back again before she asked, “War over?”
“Not even close,” Gabriel said.
Ethan scowled at him. “What is it, Sadie?”
“The shouts are starting to drift out onto the floor,” she said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.
For just a second, Ethan took a long, hard look at her.
Sadie had been his executive assistant for five years. Tall, she had short, curly blond hair, dark blue eyes and it seemed to him that a smile was always tugging at her mouth. She was efficient, beautiful, smart, sexy, and completely off-limits. Over the years, he’d actually had to train himself to not react to her as he would if she didn’t work for him. It wasn’t easy. Hell, one look at her curves would bring any red-blooded man to his knees.
Her mouth was a temptation and that spark of barely restrained rebellion in her eyes had always intrigued him. Early on, he’d even considered firing her just so he could try for a taste. But she was too damn good at her job.
Walking toward his desk, she said, “I actually heard a couple people placing bets on which one of you would win this round.”
“Who?” Ethan demanded with another hard look at his brother.
She looked surprised at the question and shook her head. “I’m not going to tell you.”
“What the hell, Sadie...”
She ignored him and looked at Gabriel. “The new distributor is waiting in your office for that meeting you have scheduled. If you’d rather, I could tell him you’re in a heated battle with your brother...”
Gabriel gritted his teeth, but nodded. “Fine. I’ll go.” He looked at his brother. “But this isn’t over, Ethan.”
“Never thought it was,” he said with a sigh.
When Gabriel was gone, Ethan asked, “Did you bet on me?”
She grinned. “How do you know I placed a bet?”
“You’re too smart not to bet on me.”
“Wow, a compliment for me and a pat on your own back all at the same time. Impressive.”
“Is the distributor really in Gabe’s office or did you do that just to break up the war?”
“Oh, he’s really there,” she said, walking toward the bank of windows. “But I did want to break up the argument, so I would have made something up if I’d had to.”
“He’s driving me crazy.” Ethan turned and moved to stand beside her at the windows overlooking the Pacific Ocean. January could be cold and gray in Southern California, but winter seas had their own magic. The water was as dark as the sky, with waves rolling relentlessly toward shore. Surfers posed on their boards, waiting for the perfect wave, and a