Now, Aiden, to be fair, they didn’t stick their tongue down Diana’s throat!
It wasn’t down her throat, for God’s sake. I just…kissed her back a little, for a second. But I wanted to kiss her for months before that, and that’s the betrayal I have to be forgiven for, by Mia and myself, if possible.
“What’s going to happen to me?” Tristan asks in a small voice, all the bravado gone.
He thought he’d rile me up and we’d stage a coup of sorts, and things would go back to the way they used to be. He won’t do his job. He’ll still get paid. I’ll carry everything on my shoulders. With Diana, he knows she won’t put up with his bullshit.
“That’s up to you, bud.”
Since this whole thing began, I feel like I have changed—not just intellectually, but deep in my bones. The version of me that used to crave my father’s approval is gone. The version that stayed late at the office to avoid going home is gone. The man who let people disrespect his wife and called it diplomacy is dead.
“I don’t know what’s happening, Aiden.” He looks lost, and I feel for him. He’s my little brother, but I have nothing to give him. He’s a grown man, and he needs to take care of himself.
“What’s happening is that we’re shining a light on the rot that exists in our family. Now, if you don’t mind, I really need to get to my meeting and make sure I can live the way I like, even after I don’t have my job.”
He gapes at me like I told him I’ll be dancing naked at the Fourth of July parade.
After my brother leaves, Jolene gives me a knowing look. “So, you’re gonna leave?”
“I think so.”
“Even if they don’t fire you.” It’s not a question. She’s known me for a long while, and she can see what the others can’t. I’ve lost the fire.
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t think you had it in you,” she says after a long silence, a smile of admiration playing on her lips.
I chuckle. “Neither did I.”
“Well…damn.”
As I head for the door, she adds, making me pause, “For what it’s worth, I never thought you’d be the one to walk away from Winter Financial. From all this.”
“That’s the thing, Jolene.” I stand in my office doorway, the clarity I feel making everything inside me cleaner. “I’m not walking away from anything. I’m finally walkingtowardsomething that matters.”
“And what’s that?” She looks pleased with herself.
“After my last date with Mia, she let me kiss heronce,” I tell her, my heart full as I remember the brush of her lips against mine. “I’m hoping to gettwokisses after the next date.”
CHAPTER 25
Mia
The drive out to St. Albans to see Anya, Katya’s mother, is long and quiet.
Katya doesn’t talk much, which isn’t like her. But then, grief rewires you—turns even the loudest people into shadows of themselves.
I glance over. Her knuckles are white around the steering wheel, her mouth pulled tight. There’s a weariness to her I’ve never seen before.
“Want me to drive?” I offer gently.
She shakes her head. “No. I need something to do.”
The last half hour is spent in silence, save for the soft hum of the tires on the highway and the occasional sniffle from Katya.
Yesterday, the doctor told us that the disease has progressed to its final stage—Anya’s brain is beginning to forget how to regulate essential functions like swallowing and breathing.
It’s only a matter of weeks now.
