"What are you going to do?" Aiden asked. "Are you going to tell him that you know?"
Why would Aaron do something like that? It would only encourage Gray in thinking they could have a brotherly relations.h.i.+p. That would never happen in a million years after what he did.
"No. I"m going to pretend I don"t know anything. I"ll leave him alone and hopefully he"ll leave me alone as well."
The hacker was skeptical. He leaned against the corner of Aaron"s desk before speaking again. "Do you really think that will work? This guy seems pretty obsessed with you. Like almost as much as Lacy Knighton is."
He sighed. Why did he have to attract all of the crazy people in the world? His half-brother was a dangerous man.
If he angered him, that could end poorly. But he couldn"t just go ahead and accept him either! That was asking for trouble.
Gray already knew all about Aaron"s plan and hadn"t whispered a word about it to anyone. Or about Keeley"s pregnancy and their marriage. If nothing else, he was good at keeping secrets. But how long would that hold up if Aaron made him mad?
It might have been better if he didn"t know the truth about the man. A decades old mystery had been solved but at what cost? Now Aaron had even more to worry about. If Keeley found out about this, her blood pressure might get even higher.
He couldn"t exactly keep it from her though. At least not permanently. Secret keeping had been the source of most of their problems in their first marriage. Maybe he could wait to tell her until after the babies were born?
It was one solution but he still didn"t know what to do now that he knew the truth about Gray or about how to get that last 2% he needed. Unless…he killed two birds with one stone?
It would be risky. He didn"t want Gray near his family but if he let him do something to help it might appease him for the time being. After what happened with Emilio, Aaron believed he could find a way to get those shares.
"…I may have to tell him that I know. I think he can solve a problem for me," he confessed.
Aiden raised an eyebrow. "You"re planning on using one of the most powerful men in New York? Isn"t that a little much even for you?"
"I don"t exactly have many options here, Aiden. I need this taken care of before my children are born and I think he can accomplish this for me."
"Your call, dude. You know I"ll always have your back. Just be sure you know what you"re getting into."
He nodded as his friend left the office. He had a phone call to make that he really didn"t want to. This might go poorly.
Aaron steeled himself before he dialed the number he never thought he would call. It went through almost immediately.
"Aaron! What a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?" Gray"s smooth voice asked.
He began reluctantly. "Do you have a way of getting 2% of the shares away from any of the shareholders that aren"t in my pocket within the next month?"
"Well yes, but it"s far more entertaining to watch you do this yourself. Otherwise I would have offered more help from the beginning."
Now he had to play the sympathetic brother card. It was the only way he would be able to get this nut to cooperate. Aaron really hoped he would be able to pull this off convincingly.
"I"m under a bit of a time crunch. You probably don"t know this but my wife is having twins and there is a good chance they"ll be born early. I need this done before that happens. You"re the only person who could help me…brother."
He tacked the last bit on the end hoping it would elicit a positive reaction from Gray. Which it did. He sounded absolutely delighted.
"So you figured it out! I admit, I hoped you would. I"ve known I had a little brother since I was five years old but I imagine it came as quite a shock to you."
"It did, knowing the kind of man our father is," Aaron admitted. He paused a moment before continuing. "I"m sorry about what happened to your mother. You have just as much reason to hate him as I do."
"I appreciate your concern. I never did quite figure out why you hate him so much though, just that you do. What did he do to you?" he asked curiously.
"He hurt the only person I care about a long time ago. He needs to be stopped before he can do it again." It was the simplest explanation he could give without explaining that his father arranged to murder his firstborn and helped ruin his wife.
"Ah, so it was about Keeley. I did wonder. She must be quite a woman."
"She is."
Gray had an obvious smile in his voice when he spoke again. "In that case, allow your big brother to do you a favor. But in exchange could you do something for me?"
"What?"
This couldn"t be good. He knew that this conversation was going too well; of course something had to go wrong.
"It"s nothing much…I simply want to spend some time with you and your family. We could go to dinner. My treat."
Well, it could be worse. He could have asked to come over to Aaron"s house. It would be a small price to pay in order to dethrone his father permanently.
This man wasn"t a threat to his wife anymore. He, like Aaron, just wanted a family. One dinner couldn"t hurt.
"Deal. But only if this gets done before my children are born."
"I take it at least one of them is a son? A little birdie told me about the contract that offers ten percent of Father"s shares once your wife gives birth to a boy," Gray said casually.
"We"re having one of each."
"Well, congratulations! I look forward to meeting my niece and nephew. I better go get started on getting you those shares. Have Keeley pick a restaurant, I"m interested to know what her taste is. Let"s plan on next week. Talk to you later, baby brother."
He hung up before Aaron could even get annoyed at being called a baby. He was a lot older than that man, okay? He rubbed his temples, sincerely hoping he hadn"t made the worst mistake of this life.