“Let him finish. What idea? If it affects your community service, I need to know.”
Maybe Holder actually saw me—Ronan Michaels—as someone worth listening to.
“I’m going to start a trust or foundation to give money to the hospital so they don’t have to depend on cast-offs and handouts from other places. They should be able to buy new games and books and have entertainers come and perform for the kids. I know what it’s like being stuck in the hospital without anything to do for hours. It’s the least I can do.”
“Well, damn.” Holder nodded, directing a smile at me. “That’s pretty great. I’m sure the hospital is thrilled.”
“Yeah, I think they were happy. It’s too late today to do anything about it, but I’ll be going to the bank as soon as I can to see about setting it up.”
As I spoke, Holder was typing, brow furrowed. “You had a court hearing today, right? I checked the file. The cases against you are all closed now?”
“Yeah, and now that my money is free, I can set up that trust and help the kids. Maybe even do other things with it.”
“No one said it would be easy, but you’re handling it well, Ronan.” Gabriel’s quiet reassurance was a solid force I was beginning to lean on. He didn’t sugarcoat things, but he also let me know I wasn’t a complete fuckup.
“Thanks. I’m just going day by day.”
“Best we all can do.” Holder swiveled to face me. “Okay. I think we can cut these meetings down to once a month. With the info you’ve given me about your community service, I’m fairly certain you’re headed in the right direction and not going to do anything to fuck it up. So we’ll do the first Friday of every month, ten o’clock.”
“Sounds good. Thank you.”
“All right. Gabriel, take care of yourself, and maybe I’ll see you next month if you’re still working.”
I watched Holder and Gabriel shake hands.
Gabriel would be there. He could count on it.
Chapter Fourteen
Gabriel
“Hi, honey. I saw you on television. On the news.”
“Hi. Yeah. Ronan had a hearing.” I settled in bed and muted the television show I wasn’t watching but kept on for background noise. In a strange mood, Ronan had disappeared into his room after we’d gotten home, giving me the rest of the night off.
“How’s it working out? Ira and I did a little research on him, and I have to confess I’m so confused about what we found.”
“Tell me. I want to know what you think.” The mistake of marrying my father aside, my mother had uncanny good judgment about people, so I was curious to talk to her. And if she was confused, then I didn’t feel so bad about my own tangled thoughts.
“Well…” I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. “Of course, the main thing is, why would he do this when he has so much money?”
I huffed out a frustrated breath. “That’s always been the main question. Initially I thought maybe he’d blown through his money, but aside from this apartment, he doesn’t have outrageous expenses.”
“Oh, no, he hasn’t. At his trial all the information was made public, and he not only wasn’t a wasteful person, but he’d set up a trust that allowed him to live off the interest while the bulk of his money remains invested.”
Even though I’d overheard the conversation—okay, snooped on, but whatever—and had an idea of what happened, I wasn’t one hundred percent certain. “I know. He’s a pretty smart guy.”
“Is he into anything out of the ordinary? There was no discussion about a possible gambling problem or drug use.”
“No, he’s not like that.”
“Oh?” She sounded amused. “You’ve worked for him, what? A few weeks? And you already know what he’s like?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I know you. There’s something you’re not telling me.”
“There is, but I’m not sure how to handle it.”
