“Um, no.” His uneasy laugh made my heart pound. “We, uh, we moved to Florida.”
The shock left me speechless for a moment, and with knees trembling, I sank to the couch. “What the hell are you talking about? You moved a thousand miles away and didn’t think to tell me? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Not to mention that as a parolee, I couldn’t leave the state, but I was sure I could find a way to see my sister and the kids.…
“Ro, come on. What difference would it make whether you knew five years ago or now that you’re home? It wasn’t easy for us either, and Cassie wanted a fresh start, especially with the kids in school.”
It wasn’t easy for them? Was I hearing things?
“A fresh start, meaning leaving me behind and forgetting about me?”
He huffed out a sigh. “No one’s forgotten about you. But we have the kids to consider and the repercussions of what happened.”
“Which I am intimately familiar with, Marty, having spent the past six years in fucking jail.” I knew I was yelling, but the betrayal was like a stab to the gut.
“Don’t you get it? The firm was shut down. They took my license away after you went to jail, and I can never be involved in the financial services again. What were we supposed to live on? Here in Florida I can work for my family’s real estate business, and Cassie can stay home with the kids. It’s much easier and cheaper to live here too.”
“I’m so thrilled it all worked out for you,” I replied sarcastically. “But what about me? You said I’d have a job waiting when I got out. What now?”
“Come on, who’re you kidding? You’ve still got millions in the bank from your settlement. You don’t need to work.”
Now I understood why Martin and Cassie were so perfect for each other. They were the two most selfish people I’d ever met.
“Yeah, right. Millions. A few million less after the restitution I had to pay everyone—five million less to be exact. What about that, huh? I was supposed to get paid back. That’s what you and Cassie told me.”
“I don’t remember that.”
Martin’s frosty tone infuriated me further.The motherfucking gall.“Are you fucking serious? You son of a bitch. The hell you don’t. What else don’t you remember, because I remember every fucking thing from the last six years.”
“We didn’t make a contract.”
“We’re family. We said we didn’t need one. We trusted each other. Was that a mistake?” I pushed my shaking hand through my hair. This moment I’d been looking forward to all these years had been shattered by the conversation with Martin, but I hoped my brother-in-law had gotten something wrong and that it was a matter of miscommunication between him and Cassie. “Where’s Cassie? Let me talk to her.” As much as my sister loved living the high life, I knew she loved me more.
“Sure. She’s right here.”
I heard the low murmur of voices as the exchange was made, and though I strained to hear, the words were indecipherable.
“Rowey, I can’t believe you’re home.”
“Me neither. I’ve missed you so much.” Happy now, I smiled to myself even as I chided her. “How come you didn’t tell me you moved?”
“I mean, it wouldn’t have mattered when you think about it. You were still in jail, so I figured why tell you about anything good happening in my life?”
“So you weren’t hiding it?”
“No, of course not. Obviously, you’d find out when you were released. You can visit us. Once you get settled.”
“I can’t leave the state. The conditions of my parole don’t allow it. But there’s another thing.”
“What?” I heard the sounds of kids screaming in the background. “I have to go in a sec. Molly and Sami need me.”
“Yeah, well, I need to know why Martin doesn’t remember that you were supposed to repay me the millions of dollars I had to pay in restitution. That’s not chump change, you know. Plus, I was supposed to have a job to come home to. Now you’re gone and so is the firm.”
“We don’t have that kind of money, Ronan. Marty’sstilltrying to get his feet under him after all the problems. You have no idea how hard it’s been for us.”
I stared at the phone in my hands. “You’re kidding, right? You didn’t actually just say that to me.”
“Rowey, please don’t be mad at me. I couldn’t bear it.” That sweet, wheedling tone had gotten her far in life. Men fell over themselves to help her. God knew she’d worked me over with it often enough. “I had such a terrible pregnancy with Molly. I could’ve lost her if I was under too much stress. You wouldn’t have wanted that to happen, would you?”
“Cut the bullshit, Cassie. You know that’s a stupid question.” This was how she always got to me. But not this time. “But I sat in prison forsix years. Six years of my life. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
