“I have no idea what’s going on,” Alec said.
“I’m going to breakfast without you, Alec,” she informed him, letting go of Connor’s hand. That immediately made the room seem much colder. “You two have something to talk about. See you at Cian’s.”
And then she left. It was up to Connor to do the rest.
Chapter Twenty
Speech is silver. Silence is gold.
Talking when you’d rather remain silent sucks, but sometimes it’s more valuable than silver or gold.
Tips and tricks for every situation from divorce lawyer Connor Stone
Would it be super weird if I told you I’m proud of you? - Rachel
Yes, but say it anyway. - Connor
The door closed behind Rachel and, without her, all that remained was residual adrenaline, a bit of regret, a large portion of unease, and his brother. Connor would name the cocktail of emotionsDefinitely Not Sex on the Beach. Yeah,it wasn’t a fancy title, but Rachel had been there, which was why he thought straight away of…
“What exactly does Rachel think we should talk about?”
God.
Alec frowned as Connor sat wearily on their yellow couch. “About what I was projecting.”
“Oh.” Alec pressed his lips together and slowly sank down next to him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it, Connor.”
“No, I think I do,” he said quietly, leaning back. “It’s about Dad.”
“Connor. It’s okay, really,” Alec assured him.
“No. I feel like I’ve owed you all an explanation for a decade. For leaving as soon as I had the chance.”
Alec shook his head. “You don’t owe us anything.”
“Alec, I could have moved anywhere, but I came to L.A., and I know you might not have understood, but…”
“We know why you moved here, Connor!” Alec interrupted loudly. “Okay?” His voice sounded irritated. “Really. We know. We get it. No need to talk about…Dad.”
Connor looked at him, his mouth open. “You know?”
Alec snorted. “You don’t believe me.”
“Well…no. I moved away because…”
“Because you wanted to finally stop taking responsibility for four people,” Alec added harshly, visibly uncomfortable. “You had to do it for Mom. For us. It was too much for you — we got that.”
Connor looked at him, shocked. They did?
“Come on, Connor. We were practically grown up when you left…”
“Not Allie,” he objected harshly. “She…”
“Allie idolized Dad and only realized too late that he was a jerk. But that’s not your fault either, okay? Can we please stop talking about it?”
Connor blinked. “Why don’tyouwant to talk about it?”
Alec gritted his teeth and stared at him. “Because I don’t enjoy thinking about what a jerk Dad was, Connor. And that Mom still doesn’t want to face it. I don’t want to dwell on what he did to you and Allie. What he did to Mom. It’s in the past. So, for God’s sake, leave it in the past. He only cared about his art. Not his children! And now he’s dead.”
