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“And the kid, I heard.”

“Except Kota’s dad didn’t put up a fight for her,” he mock-whispers.

“But he did the house?”

“Wouldn’t you?” He gestures around us. “It’s got its own natatorium.”

So that’s what this is called.

“I don’t get sentimental over shit like that.” Mainly because I’ve never lived in a place worth getting sentimental over.

“That’s the poorest shit I’ve ever heard.”

“Poorest? Like bad?”

“No, poor like no money. You know, poor-person mentality.”

Makes sense considering I’m probably the poorest person he’s ever talked to.

“It’s the only mentality I know,” I admit, taking a long drink.

“Were you poor?”

Were? He makes it seem like moving here somehow changed that.

“All my life.”

“Well, shit. I’m sorry.”

I shrug off his apology. It’s not his fault. It’s not even mine.

“Is that why you tried ripping off that banker?”

Ripping him off? I guess to these people that would be the logical explanation.

“He had it coming,” is the vague-ass reply I give.

Dex nods. “It’s just… It’s different for people with money. It’s not about sentiment for them. Well, us.”

“What’s it about?”

“Value. ROI.”

“The house, yeah. But not Kota.”

Chuckling, he just bobs his head around.

“Right?”

“Well…I mean, one is worth millions, while the other costs millions, so… Like I said, ROI. It’s always taken into consideration.”

He’s talking about a person like she’s an asset.

“Kota costs millions?”

“She was raised in one of the biggest houses in Sea Haven, she’s a cheerleader, and she attends an Ivy League. Everything about Kota Rhodes is expensive.”

That’s everything about her. That’s not her. Is it?