“Are you working?” His brother put so much venom in that comment.
“I have some jobs here and there.”
Cole scoffed. “Yeah, maybe you’re content to have a sugar momma, but if you want an actual job, I have something.”
“What, you want me to wash your cars?”
“You’re so funny. Seriously, man, this is legit. Do you want to hear it?”
Gabe sighed. He’d hear his brother out and blow him off later. “Go ahead.”
“How very gracious of you,” Cole said. “A couple of months ago, this charity, Ribbon of Aid, asked me to meet with them.”
“You get approached by a lot of charities.”
“Yes, but this one was interesting.” Cole raised an eyebrow. “They fund excursions to drop off medical aid into places damaged by the environment or war. They want former military.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. And I thought of my bro, the army medic. They have a job coming up in a couple of weeks. Do you want in?”
Gabe tried to read his brother’s expression, but Cole’s poker face was pretty solid.
Cole didn’t do anything out of the goodness of his heart. But Gabe wanted in on this. He loved working for Axis Management, but this job he had just come off had been the first in almost two months. The first one since his buddy Jordan died.
Gabe eyed his brother, trying to figure out his angle. The server brought their orders.
“The pay is pretty good,” Cole said.
Cole didn’t have to bring this to him. Ever since his retirement from the pro league, his brother had called him more often. Maybe he was trying to be a better big brother.
“C’mon, Gabe. Unless you’re too scared?”
Gabe scoffed. He needed to work; he craved the rush. But since June, things at Axis Management had been slow. Gabe wasn’t sure if they’d ever be the same. They were all recovering from Jordan’s death. He’d battled nightmares for weeks after, but they stopped once he had a job to keep him focused.
“Yes, I want in. Send me the details.”
“If you sign on, you need to do a good job, you know what I mean? It’s my reputation on the line.” Cole bit into his wrap and stared him down.
“I won’t do anything to tarnish your rep,” Gabe said.
“Are you and Ivy coming to Dad’s on Saturday?”
He’d rather skip the weekly dinners. Ivy always asked him why he went when they were so terrible. Gabe didn’t know. His dad had always told him that family was everything, and Gabe clung to that after his mom left. Damn, he was lucky to have Ivy by his side.
His dad would spend most of the evening asking Gabe how much money he had or when Gabe would start his own business or get a job. Gabe shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. His dad would point out how successful Cole was. How Cole is stronger and smarter than he was as if Gabe’s time as an army medic didn’t count, and to his dad, it didn’t. He didn’t understand why Gabe joined the military.
To get away from you,Gabe had stopped himself from saying many times. Ivy told Gabe to ignore his brother and father, but it was like an earworm he couldn’t shake; their voices were rooted in his brain.
Working for Axis Management helped. One reason Gabe signed on for their Team Stealth as a private operative was the money. The other part was Logan, Quinn and Jordan, Erik and his best buddy Nick. Guys he knew and trusted.
The pay that came with Axis Management would be enough, even for his father, and for the first time in their history together, he was making more than Ivy. She had stayed with him throughout his army years, money never bothering her.
She worked hard to become a senior PR Strategist, and Gabe knew she was good at her job, even though he felt she lied for a living.
Even if Ivy reassured him over and over that money didn’t matter to her, it bothered him that she earned more in the early years of their relationship. And even when she surrendered to him as his submissive, the inequity still bothered him.
“Yes, we’ll be at Dad’s. I got to get going.”
