“What have you ever done for us,” Aaron demanded, “except fuck us over?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t want to throw this back in their faces, because I didn’t want to make it seem like I was using money to control them, to force them to have a relationship with me, to twist their arms and make them forgive me, because that seemed like something my father would do.
But since I was on a bridge-burning streak, what the hell?
“You mean besides investing in Finn, Spencer, and Graham’s start-ups, and giving Van de Berg insurance a number of extremely lucrative contracts, and bailing Connor out of jail when he got arrested in Monaco and making sure all charges were dropped?”
“You were arrested?” Aaron turned to the youngest brother.
“Er …” Connor sunk in his chair. “It wasn’t my fault.”
“But sure, I never do anything for you all,” I said, turning to look at each of them. “I love you all dearly. I’ll always be here for you, whether you want me to or not. Anyway enjoy your lunch.” I headed for the door.
“Did you get it?” Aaron called after me.
“Get what?” I paused, hand on the door handle.
“Closure,” he asked quietly. “When you saw Dad, did you get closure?”
A laugh escaped me.
Then another.
My brothers looked at me apprehensively.
Graham half stood up in his seat while I collapsed in laughter against the door.
“It’s funny,” I gasped out. “It’s funny because—” I wiped at my eyes. “It’s funny because I didn’t have to do any of this. I didn’t have to push myself; I didn’t have to spend sleepless nights building my company. I could have just been a bartender and busked with a guitar in Times Square, maybe had a girlfriend, or a cat, or at least some friends. None of this mattered. None of it. I’m so fucking miserable, and none of this mattered.” I straightened my clothes and picked up my briefcase.
“No, Aaron, to answer your question, I didn’t get any closure. But you’re free to go visit Stuart if you want. You’ll draw no judgment from me. Word of warning, he’ll spend the entire time complaining about the piss-poor conditions of the prison and begging you to score him a better cell, one with natural daylight. It’s a real sore point for him.”
A laugh escaped Aaron’s lips.
“First time,” he quipped.
I bit back a grin.
“That’s what I said, though Stuart didn’t get the joke.”
Aaron smiled at me.
“What a piece of shit.”
“Such an understatement.” I shook my head.
For a minute, I could see the boy my little brother used to be in Aaron as he smiled. Even though it was probably going to get me punched in the face, I impulsively hugged him. Instead of throwing me through a wall, my younger brother hugged me back.
“I’ll miss you,” I whispered and ruffled his hair.
“Sit,” Aaron said when I stepped back to leave.
“I have to go to work.”
“Then count this as a working meeting,” Aaron told me. “Connor’s trying to break into real estate development, and we’re trying to talk him out of it.”
“I made money in real estate development,” I said, taking a seat.
“You spearheaded one of the biggest developments of the last thirty years,” Graham countered. “Connor’s trying to be a slumlord.”
