The corner of his mouth lifted. “No, what’s creepy is the witless smile you had on your face the whole time. Well, just before you snapped out of it and grimaced like you had indigestion.”

Crap. I’d been smiling? God, no. I didn’t know what horrified me more—that I’d been making goofy faces or that Dean had caught me. When he kept on silently laughing at my expense, I rubbed my eye with my middle finger.

“Nice.” Dean looked me over like he was trying to read my mind. “What’s got you loopy-eyed? Could it be a certain preppy heiress?”

This line of conversation had to end. Fast.

I stood and stretched the kink out of my tense neck. “I was considering all the ways I could make your life a living hell while you’re here.”

Pocketing my phone with casual ease, because I did not want to check for texts, I rounded the desk and clasped Dean’s shoulder. “See that pile of papers on the conference table?”

The table in question ran along the far length of the room and could seat fifteen.

“Piles of paper, Rhys. I see piles.”

I grinned. “That’s the accounting work for Lights Out.”

His eyes widened in horror. “You don’t have it on the computer?”

I did. But he didn’t need to know that. Shrugging, I let his stiff shoulder go. “Guess Dad liked doing things the old-fashioned way, and I haven’t had the time to get around to it. I guess it’s up to you.”

A few ripe curses ripped through the air as Dean stalked over to the table and lifted a folder to thumb through it. “I’ll be here all fucking month!”

That was the idea. And he’d never get the chance to see the true mess Dad left behind.

“Then you better start now.” I made a show of glancing at my watch. “I’m going to get a coffee. You want one? You’ll probably need the caffeine.”

“Fuck you, Rhys,” he said it without much heat, already slumped down on a conference chair and reaching for more files. “Seriously. Fuck you. This is an embarrassment. And you call me irresponsible. No wonder the gym is on shaky ground.” His brows winged up as he looked over his shoulder at me. “How can you possibly run a business this way?”

“Hey, I never said I was a businessman.” In truth, I wasn’t bad at business. But it was damn near impossible to be in the black when you started off with a mountain of debt. And I damn near shuddered at how my relatively innocent brother would have received that bit of news.