Me: Thanks for paying me back. I’m headed out.
AXEL
Twenty-three hours later, I’m back to having a fine layer of stubble on my face as I disembark my jet in Singapore with no idea where to go. I assumed another direction would be offered by now. But on my walk to the private car I ordered, my phone buzzes with one of my family’s stupid group threads in an encrypted chat.
Maddox: Let’s play Name That Word.
Ryker: Some of us are trying to work.
Maddox: Not me. First clue: A place with a lot of grapes.
Cash: Pantry
Jax: Grocery Store
Mercy: Vineyard
Tessa: Clearly, Mercy will be the only one who gets these Mensa-level questions right.
Ryker: Obviously. But that was low-hanging fruit. lol
Maddox: Working hard, Bulldozer. Next one: Penny …
Mercy: For your idea.
Ryker: Christ, baby. Thoughts.
Tessa: Lane
Maddox: Don’t underestimate my beautiful Nightmare.
Ryker: Shake it off, Merce. We got this.
Jax: Beatles. “Penny Lane.”
Cash: Quick, bro. Tessa got that two minutes ago.
Maddox: Tiebreaker clue: A game where you want two face cards and an ace.
Jax: Thirty-fucking-one, bro.
Maddox: Well, fuck. Looks like we need round two.
Cash: I say we level up and go for the best of five. I was preoccupied.
Jax: Right. Don’t even try to use the bound-and-gagged excuse again.
Mercy: ???
Jax: I’ll catch you up later.
Ryker: Why don’t we just blow off all our responsibilities and play fifty rounds of this asinine game?
Maddox: Will you stop pouting if we give out grades?
I climb in the back seat of the town car. “Thirty-one Vineyard Lane.”
“Right away, sir.”
