“Okay, text him,” I said, and Papa patted my arm as if he thought that was a great idea.
Dad let out a cheerful “good morning,” and we all turned to watch him through the open door as he paced to the sign on the grass and stared down at it.
Papa hummed. “I believe Roger is letting the realtor know they might have a shady deal on their hands.”
Flynn growled and stormed away from us, and with the expression on his face, I thought maybe he might actually scream if we weren’t here. “I want this over with!”
Papa went over and rested his hand on Flynn’s shoulder, gripping it, and my chest warmed as my heart hammered faster. Papa always looked so earnest when he was handing out advice to the family—me, Jury, Dad. Now he was directing that empathetic energy at Flynn. “You could let it go. It’s a few belongings. Consider it a natural disaster, like a fire or a tornado. We’ll help you get back on track.” Papa glanced over his shoulder at me, and I nodded. I would be the one to help Flynn, not him. I wanted to do anything I could for Flynn, but I loved that Papa cared enough to say these things.
Flynn took a deep, juddering breath, and I went over to hug him again, cradling him as close as possible. He was big, but I wasn’t small and did my best to drag as much of his body into contact with mine as humanly possible. “I should’ve done more earlier on when I saw everything swirling down the drain. I was just...stunned by what happened.”
Papa nodded. “Grief can do that and more to a person. The fact that you’re standing here in one piece and not doing anything horrible and unhealthy means you’re stronger than you think. I would’ve crawled into a bottle of the strongest alcohol I could find.”
“Papa,” I murmured, but he shrugged.
“What? It’s true. I wouldn’t survive anything happening to Roger.”
Flynn nodded and leaned against me. “I’ll see this through. The furniture is probably off to a good cause, along with the clothes I didn’t take to your house. I’ll replace things I need as they come up, and fight—if he’s selling this house, he can hand the money directly to me. He owes me. It might take a while, but it’ll happen. There is a paper trail for all this crap. Maybe it’ll take a couple of years, but I don’t have to talk to him outside a courtroom.”
“Or at all,” I said firmly. “Let River yell at him.”
He gave me a small smile. “Is that your final comment on the issue, Charming?”
Heat coiled in my gut, and I knew he wanted comfort from me, not a fucking boner, but I loved that he would say that right now...trust me to help after everything he’d been through. “Yes.”
Maybe Papa understood we were having an intimate moment because he moved away and stuck his hands in his pockets, staring at the bare walls with a huff. “If River’s fees get to be too much, well, I know you’re not working. We’re happy to—”
“No.” Flynn shook his head. “We’re friends. I haven’t seen a bill yet and I doubt I will. At this point he’s probably going to sharpen a pencil into a spear and go out and hunt Chris down himself.”
Papa smiled as if maybe he didn’t think that was a bad thing, and I knew how serious everything had gotten if he was feeling ruthless enough to condone bloodshed.
“There isn’t anything here, let’s go back to the island,” I said, and Papa nodded. He walked out in front of us, and I held Flynn’s hand as we left. I didn’t even let him go as he was trying to lock the door, and he scowled but ended up laughing as he fumbled and did it one-handed.
“You should leave it open and put a big sign on the front that saysparty here,” I grumbled.
“No. If it gets trashed Chris can’t pay me,” he murmured.
“True.” I sighed. “Can’t you have one good revenge fantasy?” I asked with a grin.
“Oh, I have it, and it involves him waking up with an itchy dick and needing a huge penicillin shot directly into an asscheek.” He smirked at me, and I couldn’t stop laughing as we walked back to the car.
An Audi pulled in beside my Lexus before we managed to open the doors, and by this point I knew what Chris looked like. I narrowed my eyes on him and his stupid little gape-mouthed belligerent expression. Flynn came around to my side, and I threw my arm over his shoulders so there couldn’t be any confusion; he belonged to me.
Chris turned to glare at me and kept right on giving me the stink eye until he was standing near the bumper of his car. The asshole must be too afraid to get closer.
“What the fuck,” Flynn said, gesturing at the house, and Chris flinched, so he knew exactly why Flynn was pissed off.
“It all has to go, the faster the better.” He shrugged in awhat can you do about itsort of way. “I’m moving and taking a job in New York City.”
“Why?” Flynn asked, his eyes narrowing.
Chris crossed his arms. “None of your business!”
Flynn pointed at Chris, and I dragged Flynn back when he started forward. “You stole from me and you’re going to pay me back when this house sells.”
Chris snorted, and I considered unleashing Flynn on him. “All the money in the house and then some will be going to clearing up my credit cards.”
Flynn’s mouth fell open. “Allthe money? What was so fantastic about your little side boy that you did this?”
