“I don’t know, but it’s a good bet.” It was good to know his wife caught on quickly. “I’ll check the schedule when I get back to town. But I’m sure he’s not going to admit that this was for him. He’s careful, and he’ll point out that you and I were the only ones here at the time.”

“He’ll have a thousand excuses.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe he’s doing this to you. He would wreck the company so he can take the CEO job?”

A weariness threatened to overtake Rene, and he sank down to the rocker where his grandfather used to sit and watch the water. This place had been his grandfather’s space to relax and recharge, as he’d called it.

Now it would always be the place where he had to face the fact that his cousin would do anything to take him down. “It’s more about me than anything else. He’s always hated me.”

“I know you didn’t get along as kids, but you weren’t mean to him.” Sylvie sat down in the rocker beside him.

“I didn’t have to be. His father was mean enough, and he held me up as the example,” Rene explained. “I was the golden boy who could do no wrong, and Charles would never live up to me. I got better grades and I was better at sports.”

“That’s not your fault.”

“It doesn’t matter to Charles. His father’s gone, and he still has to prove to everyone that he’s better than me. I’m the villain in his personal story, and no amount of trying to make it right can change that.”

“He’s never worked for the company?” Sylvie asked.

“He did the same summer internships almost everyone in the family has,” Rene explained. “I think he got his law degree with the idea he would take over legal eventually, but my father didn’t trust him. Of course, Charles blamed me for that, too.”

“Isn’t what he’s doing illegal?”

“He’s smart enough to know I can’t bring the police in. It would be terrible press, and he could use that against me, too. There are going to be people in the family who won’t believe it no matter what proof I give them. This is what I have to deal with. This is the line I have to walk.”

Sylvie seemed to think about that for a moment. “So he’s working with another firm? Is it always the same firm that underbids you?”

“It’s been the same so far. I have to wonder if he’s got a backup plan in case he doesn’t get the votes. Becoming our competitor’s legal counsel would make me look bad and cause a lot of talk.”