Jeffery squinted his eyes at him. "I know you." He said. "I'm a little high right now, but you're one of Alex's guard dogs."
"You need to leave," Williams said, his jaw clenched.
"Why?" Jeffery raised his hands as if innocent. "Because I came to visit my brother? Sue me then." His gaze returned to Tatiana. "Play hard to get all you want, but money will get you to me at the end of the day. I'd probably buy your "husband" too while at it."
"That's enough," Alexander said. "William, Tyler, take Tatiana out with you. Jeffery and I need to talk."
"Sure," Jeffery sat into the swivel chair. "Time for that family reunion. Haven't seen you in a while at the mansion."
William remained after Tyler escorted Tatiana out of the room. He looked every bit as pissed as Alexander, if not even more.
"Tell your guard dog to leave," Jeffery said, impatient. "I've got other places to get to."
"Maybe the only other place you'd get to is a vegetative state when…"
"Will," Alexander stopped his approaching friend. William said something nasty under his breath and abruptly moved back to the direction of the door. He slammed it so loud it shook the conference room. Jeffery chuckled in his seat and clapped his hands lazily.
"Oh God," he laughed some more. "All of you are dramatic. Over some employee? You need your priorities set straight."
Alexander closed the space between them. Jeffery raised sleepy eyes up at him, the smirk never erasing from his face.
"Let this be the last time you ever come in here and harass my staff again," Alexander said. It took a whole lot of willpower for him to keep his voice steady instead of yelling into his brother's face. "I'll say that again so it can get into your coke-induced brain, let it be the last time you…"
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you," Jeffery waved him off with a yawn. "I'll just go meet her in her house. Buy her off her man."
"I won't do anything when you're thrown into prison for harassment and stalking," Alexander warned.
"Stop with that word," Jeffery pushed himself off his seat and stretched out. "It's getting boring. Tatiana's just like every other lady I've met, nothing special. She's only acting this way out of some "moral integrity" she'll eventually break. And besides," he patted Alexander on the shoulder. "I'm the true Sterling, no one's going to get me in jail."
Alexander shoved his hand away. Another jab, Jeffery calling himself a true Sterling to his face, a jab that used to hurt like a knife when he was younger, but irritated him as to how childish his brother was being now.
"If you've got nothing more to do, please leave," Alexander requested, gesturing to the door.
"Oh, look at you," Jeffery leaned against the table and grinned. "Acting all bossy. Your tiny little "empire" making you feel you've got some power?" He folded his hands. "Anyways, while I'm here, I might as well discuss business with you."
"I'm not interested," Alexander said. "Sterling Corporation's yours to sort out, not mine."
"Cool it down a notch, jealous tiger," Jeffery laughed. "I know the facts, truth is, I've just got a little problem with one of the contacts you sent my way."
Alexander frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Mr. Cosimo," Jeffery revealed. Alexander knew him, it was the businessman his father had told him to recommend Jeffery to. "He and I had a chat, he was proving difficult to handle, and I lashed out."
A chill crawled down Alexander's spine. "What do you mean lashed out?"
"Relax, I didn't hit him or anything, I'm not some abusive prick," Jeffery said, having the effrontery to look offended. "I just tossed a glass of wine into his face."
"You what?" Alexander's anger returned. Mr. Cosimo was one of his most respected clients, and anything that happened between him and Jeffery was surely going to mess up the relationship they had.
"He was being an asshole," Jeffery defended himself. "Was talking down at me, what am I, a child? I put him in his place. Granted, I had one too many glasses of wine that night, but no one talks to a Sterling that way."
Alexander saw the indignant look on his brother's face and burst out laughing. He held onto the back of the chair for support, the laugh pouring from his seams. It had to be a bad dream, it was too ridiculous to see his brother sit there and talk like he had a brain the size of a pea.
"What's so funny?" Jeffery asked.
"There's no way," Alexander's laugh lowered a notch. "There's no way."
"What're you talking about? I just told you what happened."
"There's no way," Alexander looked him in the eyes. "There's no way I can be related to someone as stupid as you. No, no way at all."
Jeffery's mouth slacked open. Alexander was a bit surprised at his utterance, given that he hadn't directly insulted his brother to his face before. In a dash, Jeffery lunged for him, but Alexander was quick to move out of the way before Jeffery's fist struck his jaw.
"You think you're better than me?" Jeffery seethed, trying to regain his balance and he lunged again. "You bastard!"
Again, Alexander stepped away easily, and Jeffery was too late to slow down before his fist hit the wall. He yelled in pain, and Alexander's irritation grew. He couldn't believe they shared the same blood. And speaking of blood, fresh bruises sprouted red on Jeffery's knuckle.
"There's always a way people like you are dealt with," Alexander scoffed with a chuckle. "Tell Dad I'll clean up your mess with Mr. Cosimo, but I won't be recommending you to anyone anymore."
"Worthless bastard!" Jeffery yelled at his retreating form. Alexander stopped and looked over to him.
"Look at both of us in this situation, be truthful to yourself, who do you think is worthless?" He asked.
"You won't get away with this, I promise you." Jeffery seethed.
"I know. Good thing is, I know how to fight my battles."