“Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that your uncle has been siphoning money from patient accounts for the last fifteen years, to the tune of about two-and-a-half million dollars and his bestie, Barney, has been helping him hide it in an offshore account. That’s really just the tip of the iceberg. Your uncle apparently doesn’t know that Barney kept immaculate records of every misdeed just in case he needed to use it to save his skin.”
“What’s going to happen to all of those people’s money?” Kai asked.
Myles glanced over at him affectionately. “You know, Nolan was right about you. Don’t worry about it. As of about,” he checked his watch, “an hour ago, those funds were seized by people Drew knows. He’ll make sure it gets where it needs to go.”
They sat in silence, but something was bothering Kai that he needed an answer to.
“Why didn’t Nolan come?”
“Because Nolan wanted to make sure you understand that this is yours without any strings attached. Completely separate and apart from your relationship with him. You don’t owe him anything for this, and he doesn’t want you to feel beholden to him at all.”
“But none of this would have happened without him.”
“Yeah, butthisis because he’s a good person. That’s separate from him being a good partner.”
Kai understood, but he still wished he was here.
He wasn’t sure exactly what they were waiting for, but half an hour later, it became apparent when both his aunt and uncle came through the door, harried and panicked, each of them dragging a lone large garbage bag. Myles chuckled, but Kai felt kind of sick. It was karma coming full circle, but it still did horrible things to his insides knowing how they must feel right this moment, watching it, like his uncle had watched him all those years ago.
“Drew is so fucking literal. I’m surprised he’s letting them have the car.” Myles’ shoulders shook with laughter.
Kai watched as his uncle threw their belongings into the backseat. Noah and Drew stood in the doorway, watching them as they reversed out of the driveway. Kai’s heart slammed against his ribcage as he realized that they were going to drive right past him. They were going to see him there.
He locked eyes with his uncle first, and the shock and incredulity on his face would have been hilarious if Kai had been capable of finding anything funny. Their car slowed to a crawl as they peered in at him, his aunt’s expression bewildered and fearful. He saw Myles flip them off out of the corner of his eye before they sped away.
When he looked over at Myles, he was grinning. “That wasincredibly satisfying. I think you might have healed something in me.”
Kai scoffed weakly. “So, what happens now?”
Myles nodded towards his window, and when Kai turned, Noah was leaning down in front of it. He pressed the button to open it, and Noah lifted his hand to show a keyring pressed between his index and middle fingers. Kai turned his hand upward, and Noah dropped it onto his palm, where it sat hot and heavy.
Noah tilted his head towards Myles. “I’ll send the paperwork when I get back to the office.”
Myles saluted him with a smile.
Noah looked at Kai again, a smirk curving his lips, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “I want an exclusive of the wedding. If you need anything, Nolan has my number.”
Kai smiled reluctantly and watched him walk over to his car, where Drew was already seated on the passenger side.
“What do I do?” Kai asked, turning back to Myles.
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
36
Myles’ eyes on Kai’s back were the only thing propelling him forward right now. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. This was his. He’d woken up this morning homeless and now he owned a whole-ass house.
It felt surreal, walking up the pathway, retracing the steps that he’d taken the last time he’d been here. He fumbled the key when he put it in the lock, but this time, it gave, opening with a click. It feltsatisfying.It feltright,even if he couldn’t reconcile it with the scene that had just played out in front of him.
The door swung open, and when Kai stepped inside, it felt as though he’d stepped into a time machine but returning to a past that didn’t feel quite right. His uncle hadn’t changed much of anything. The paint was still the same light cream, though the colour had faded and greyed. The carpet was the same mint green that it had been all of Kai’s life. The heavy leather furniture was still there, though it looked much more worn. The only difference was the pictures that had adorned the tables, counters and wall space had been removed to make way for prints of abstract paintings and random knickknacks.
It was spotless but devoid of all of the warmth and comfort it had when his grandmother was alive. He kept waiting for her to come around the corner and ask where all of her stuff was. He could still picture her here, fussing about, making sure everything was in the spot that it belonged in even after she’d gotten too sick to do much.
It was the same in the kitchen: both familiar and unfamiliar. He could see his grandmother clear as day, cooking and chattering, an apron around her waist while she worked and cleaned and told him the only help she needed was his company. All of his favourite memories of her were here. His heart throbbed painfully as he watched her in his mind’s eye. Then she turned to the fridge, and it was all wrong. It had never been this stainless-steel monstrosity. It should be white and half this size, the freezer on top and the fridge on the bottom. Same as the stove; white with those removal burners on it. No, that wasn’t right. His uncle had made her switch to one with a glass top and buttons, and she’d hated it.
He moved deeper into the house, and her presence walked with him. He could hear her calling out to him.
“Kai-chan, did you get something to eat?”
