'I didn’t mean to keep you out of the loop. It wasn’t intentional. It’s just…a lot, you know?’
‘I know,’ I say.
‘The will reading…’
Shade draws his fingers through his hair and stands abruptly, beginning to pace around the room.
‘My asshole of a father gave Andy everything,’ he suddenly snarls, and even Blake’s eyes widen a little at the vehemence in Shade’s tone.
‘I'm not even surprised, it's just— Fuck! We've got the club because it was in my name, and a small trust from my mom, but everything else is Andy's now. Even the shares of the company that were always supposed to be split betweenus. And then he fucked with the grants. We can’t even get into the lab anymore. I tried this afternoon. I was locked out.’
His eyes cut to Mav. ‘I’m sorry about the grant. About everything.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Mav says.
‘But he’s my brothe?—’
‘Who’s just a rotten apple that didn’t fall far from the tree,’ Mav finishes with a shrug. ‘Fuck him.’
Shade nods.
‘Fuck him,’ he echoes, then looks at me and winces. 'He fired Stevens. He said he can't work with his leg messed up.'
'Stevens?' I ask, immediately afraid for him. 'But where's he going to go? What's he going to do?'
'I spoke to him earlier. He has some money stashed away. He's okay for now, but he's…he's more than a little shocked. He told me he's been a butler for too long to be anything else, and he isn't sure what to do now. We'll make sure he's okay. For now, he has a small apartment in Richmond, so he's not out on the streets.'
'Jesus,’ Blake says, speaking for the first time. ‘Your brother is such a dick.’
‘Yeah, he is,’ Shade agrees, still pacing.
I look over at Blake. When he sees me eyeing him, his lips thin.
'There's something I need to tell you guys as well,’ he says, sounding like he’d rather be anywhere but here.
Is it that he’s a liar?
I look away from him. With how he’s been, I’m not sure I really want to know what he’s been keeping from the group.
'What is it?' Mav asks.
'Remember when my dad sent me that note and I had togo to the prison and I wasn't really sure what the point was?’ He stands and turns toward the window, looking out.
‘Well, turns out he wanted me to go so that I could be evaluated. I guess Kormak gave him some kind of kickback.'
'What are you talking about?' Mav asks. ‘For what?’
'Kormak sold my father’s debt.'
Shade finally stops pacing. 'To who?'
'Some drug cartel based out of Venezuela or Colombia.'
Blake sits down on the couch close by.
'What does that mean?' I ask.
'Pretty much the same shit, different day, different boss.'
