“You were never invited,” I reply, keeping the door halfway shut. I haven’t decided if I’m letting him in yet.
“My bones like Miami’s humidity,” he says, flexing his left leg. If I remember right, that knee always gave him trouble.
“Good for you.”
No joy in my voice. Just cool indifference.
He exhales, the sound of someone bracing for something heavy. “Look, Luca... these past two years without you have been hell. Your mom nearly killed me. But they were also years of reflection. I’m getting old. I see things differently now. And honestly, I feel ashamed of what I did.”
“As you should, Thomas.” I don’t call him Dad. He lost that title the day he tried to ruin my life. “Consequentialist ethics,” I add coldly.
He nods with a tired smile. “You sound like a philosophy professor.”
My stomach tightens. Thenerveof him, bringing that up now. “Anything else? My wife needs me right now.”
“Emma’s here? I’d like to apologize to her, too.”
“Oh? That was an apology?” I raise an eyebrow. “Funny. I didn’t hear the wordsI’m sorry.”
“You’re right,” he says, and this time he looks me in the eye. “You’ve always been too damn smart for me. I’m sorry, son. I’m sorry I manipulated your life like that.”
I let go of the door and turn around. He follows me inside. “You didn’t just mess with me, Thomas. You messed with all of us. My brothers, too. It’s time to stop.”
“I know…”
“Do you?” I raise my voice. “Because Silas told me he ended up in the hospital with heart issues from the stress you caused. I lostyearswith my wife. Oliver can’t even live like a normal adult, and Killian acts like he has to earn your approval every damn second. Do you haveanyidea what your actions did to this family?”
I’ve never seen this expression on him before—panic, confusion, and something that might even be regret. For the first time, he’s realizing what he’s done. “No... no, I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t. You don’t know your sons. We’re just now starting to knoweach other, and we’re grown men.” I fold my arms, trying to ground myself again.
Funny how being close to the Green sisters brought my brothers and me closer, too. Silas and I take vacations now, we celebrate holidays together—stuff we never did before. When he told me about his heart, I almost lost it.
Ourown fatherput him there.
This has to stop. Now.
“What can I do to make it right?” he asks. “There has to be something.”
My brain goes into overdrive. The words come out before I even filter them. “Step down from Property Group.”
“What? You guys aren’t?—”
“We are. We’re ready. We want full freedom. We don’t want to feel like we’re under your thumb every time something doesn’t go your way.”
He opens his mouth, then closes it, thinking it over. “…Alright.”
Wait. Did he just agree? “We want it in writing. You’ll still keep your shares, but no control.” I know I’m pushing, but I need to see how far he’s really willing to go.
“Send me the papers when they’re ready, son.”
I nod once. Arms crossed. Heart pounding.
Then he looks past me and smiles softly. “There she is.”
I can feel Emma walking toward me. Her hand slides around my waist, anchoring me.
I’m here,it says.
