Page 29 of Contentious

“They’ll figure it out, I’m sure. I’ll try to stop by tonight after I play cards with Gramps.”

“That’d be cool. Hope to see you. Tell Gramps I’ll be by to see him soon. I want him to meet Isla and the kids.”

“I’ll tell him. I’ve got to get back to work. Let me know if you hear anything more about the other thing we’re not talking or thinking about.”

Smiling, Julian said, “Will do.”

“Did Romy get back to Stanford okay?”

“Yeah, he texted me that he was back in hell.”

Carson laughed. “He’s almost done.”

“Can’t wait to have him home to stay.”

“Same, bro. Later.”

As the youngest of the Remingtons, Roman was everyone’s favorite little brother. Carson was looking forward to his law school graduation and having him home to stay. After years of having his siblings away at school, they’d be at the end of the road with school with Roman’s graduation. Couldn’t happen soon enough for Carson.

* * *

Cresley had just finished her yoga practice and was enjoying lemon water on her back deck when her phone rang with a call from Julian.

“Hey,” she said, “how’s it going?”

“Hanging in there. Sorry about involving you in the family drama last night.”

“Please don’t apologize. I’m sorry you guys are dealing with that.”

“It’s par for the course, but it’s something we thought was in the past.”

“I can’t imagine how shocking it must be that they’re back together.”

“Sure is. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that we still haven’t heard anything from Marlon, so Carson’s going to try to track him down.”

“What happens when he finds him?”

“He’ll have a little talk with him about the concept of stalking and how we’ve gathered enough info about his activities to file a police report, unless, of course, he signs an agreement to go away and leave you two alone.”

“My stomach hurts any time his name is mentioned.”

“We’re trying to get this wrapped up soon for you and Ty.”

“He won’t go quietly, Julian. I talked to a mutual friend who told me everything has gone to shit for him lately. The girlfriend left him, he got dropped by his agent, and two jobs he was counting on didn’t materialize.”

“Would the mutual friend have any idea where we can find him?”

“He doesn’t know where he’s living these days. He hasn’t seen him in months and heard about him secondhand.”

“Got it. Okay, well, if anyone can find him, Carson can. We’re on it.”

“Thank you. I’m just nervous about him doing something crazy and screwing up the best deal of my life.”

“It sounds like he has bigger problems right now than trying to mess things up for you.”

“It scares me that he knows about Club Quantum. That’s a worst-case scenario.”

“I know. Hopefully, we can get this resolved soon. In the meantime, my band is playing at The Roxy Theater tonight if you need a diversion.” After hearing they’d played at the Whisky, she’d asked him to let her know the next time they were playing out. She loved live music, and classic rock was her jam.