Axel frowned. “Not yet.” He turned to his brother. “Maybe I should wait until after the game. Let you think about it.”
“Maybe you should tell me now. You wouldn’t want to mess up my game.”
Axel grinned. “Okay. You asked for it.” He leaned in. “You and I now own controlling shares in the Covington Hotel. Andtomorrow, at 10 AM,” he patted him on the chest, “you get to fire your stepmother.”
Mason’s eyes widened. “We what?”
Axel grinned. “I’ll explain later. Go win this game. It’s going to be a weekend you will never forget.”
They were interrupted when three Storm players jogged up. Axel hugged all of them. When they were finished, number twelve turned to me. He was the quarterback. “Who do we have here?”
“Luca, these are Mason’s idiot friends. This is Lennox Sanders, Colin Kearney-St. James, and his better half, Carson St. James.”
“It’s nice to meet you, mate,” Colin said. I shook hands with his husband as well. They were the talk of the NFL, being the only openly gay married couple to play in the league.
“We have to go, Mase. Good to see you, Axel, and nice to meet you, Luca,” Lennox said, tugging Mason along. “Come see us in Cali. The weather is so much better.”
“I’ll see you after the game,” Mason said to Axel, then leaned over to kiss his husband before the four of them jogged off toward the rest of the team.
“Let’s go, love. We need to get upstairs and get this over with.”
He wasn’t talking about the game.
Chapter 36
Axel
I would burn the world down for my brother, and he knew it. So I had expected our father to be sitting in our box for the game, and I was going to be forced to talk to him. There was only one reason I would do it. Luca. I’d watched the video he’d made more times than I wanted to admit.
When Thomas opened the door, my father stood from his chair. Luca put his hand on my back. “I’m going to get us a drink while you talk to him.”
“Okay, love,” I said, watching him walk toward Thomas. Turning, I stepped toward my father. He ran a hand over his head, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. He looked even older than the last time I saw him. Maybe his hair was grayer. “Axel, it’s good to see you, son.”
What did you say to someone you were trying not to loathe? I settled on, “Yeah.”
He shifted from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable. The last time we’d seen each other hadn’t gone well. “You’re having a great season.”
“We are.”
“And you’re the captain. I’m so proud of you.” I never thought I’d see him fidget. “I think I told you that, but yourperformance and the way you set the tone are remarkable, son. Just remarkable.”
God, he was trying. I suppose I could try to meet him halfway.“Thank you. It’s a team effort.” Standard answer. “Karlsson is great with the rookies.”
He looked around, his eyes landing on Luca. He’d already met Thomas at our sister’s wedding, and I wondered how long it would take for him to ask. And what would he say tomorrow when I blew part of his world up?
“Is he your partner?”
“Yes. And he’s the only reason I’m talking to you.”
His face lit up. “I should thank him.”
“Probably.”This was fucking painful.“Look, I know Mason has put most of what happened behind him. But he wasn’t privy to our mother’s mental breakdown. So I’m not quite there yet.”
He held up his hands. “I know. Despite what you think, I love you, son. Always have.” I didn’t reply, and he kept going. “I made a terrible mistake, but if you could find it in your heart to forgive me, I’d like to be a part of your life.”
My stomach churned. Did I want that? It was exhausting to keep up the anger. It wouldn’t change the past. But what it came down to was trust.
“Axel, I’d like the chance to earn that place in your life. I regret the past, but my children are all I really have.”
