“He’s right,” Myro says. “He came home having created a new life instead. I can’t say I’ve done that on any of my contracts.”
I roll my eyes. “Dude, shut up.”
He laughs. Once more, Azlan cracks a smile. Twice in a day. That’s a new record.
“We’ll have to find a different outlet for debriefing. Maybe the triplets,” I suggest. “Or Loren.”
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. It might tempt him to take a contract every now and then,” Myro muses.
“You think so?” I ask.
“Listening to Azlan’s gruesome details as he recounts his adventures? Yes, I do.”
“Hm. Noted. Otherwise, the triplets. Good suggestion.”
“Glad that’s taken care of. Good talk.”
Myro laughs as he gets to his feet. “Don’t loosen the chair,” he says, studying the one I pulled out for him. “I’d like not to have to think about sitting.”
“That’s how you’re going to get flabby, bro. You don’t engage your core muscles.”
He gives me a bemused look. “I don’t make my lover do all the work. Trust me, my core muscles are engaged plenty.”
I laugh. “Fair enough.”
Myro slaps my shoulder on the way by. As he gets to the door, I say, “Hey.” He turns to look at me. “I’m not abandoning you. Even when you’re the new dad, we’ll all be right here. You know that, right?”
He smiles. “Yeah. Thanks for the reminder, though. I appreciate it.”
“Not to be cliché, but you’ll never be alone in this business. Even Loren will step up if he thinks you need support, Myro. He’s psychotically loyal.”
His smile turns into a grin. “Actually, that does more than it should to set me more at ease.” He leans against the frame. Azlan leaves, and my brother watches him go for a minute. Then he looks at me again. “I won’t abandon my post,” he says. “That’s why I haven’t said anything to Dad. None of you wants to be in Dad’s position any more than I do, but unlike me, you haven’t been training with Dad since you were a kid.Ifthere were another option, I’d step back in a heartbeat. But there’s not. So I’ll carry the weight for as long as I can.”
“I’m going to be all sappy and shit, but we’ll help you carry it.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I also don’t think Dad’s blind or stupid. I’m sure he’s well aware that you don’t particularly want to be the king of Van Doren Technologies. But I think he’s also come to the same conclusions that the rest of us have. There isn’t another option right now.”
Myro nods. “I agree.”
“Maybe we talk to Uncle Noaz. Maybe we all need to have a conversation and kind of put it out there that we need to… uh… train all the kids and make it an option for them to grow up to be king,” I suggest.
“You know, if we keep referring to Dad’s position as king, I think all the kids will be interested.”
“Not necessarily. We’re still not interested.”
“We’re old enough to have literally witnessed in our lifetime how Dad single-handedly made this company explode onto everyfucking scene,” Myro says. “If I were following up someone with anormalor even slightly unusual amount of success, it’d be a different story.”
“That’s fair. Go home and work your core muscles out. I can see your stress the longer we talk about this.”
Myro laughs. “Fine. You need to sign off for the day, too. It’s almost eight. Why are you still here?”
“Someone texted me for a debrief, but those assholes weren’t coming in for a few hours.”
He watches me with a smile as I shut down my computer. We leave the office together and drive our separate ways.
While I should head to my room to change, all I really want to do is see Brek. I’m tired. I want to lie on his naked chest. Listen to his heartbeat and his steady breathing. I want to forget my worries about Myro taking over VDT when it’s not something he wants to do. He’s never shared that burden with us, and yet, I think we all feel it a little because we know he doesn’t want the job. It makes us feel guilty, like we should want the job so he doesn’t have to take it.
