“I guess it was.” Saving a life is worth it for sure. Even though I remember how much that situation cost us.
“She’ll let me know if she finds something. It might take her some time though since she’s a law-abiding citizen.”
“Why do you make it sound like an insult?”
“Do I?”he laughs, not exactly responding.
“Then why are we asking her to do that? We should hire a PI who will get it done faster.”
“Already done,”he replies.
“Fuck, Noah. I don’t have time for riddles. Why do we need her then?” I have no idea why we need this Leila and her law-obedient nature. I understand that my brother feels like he owes her something, but I don’t know that story fully, so I don’t get involved.
“Because she feels like she owes me, Brother.”He’s silent after that.“And it’s a very shitty feeling.”
One day, he’ll tell me the story. But for now, I’ll have to accept his decision.
“Okay,” I agree with a sigh. “I guess it won’t hurt to have two people looking into that.”
“It sure won’t,”he agrees with a much lighter mood.
It’s time to change the subject and move on to the issue of the day. “So, daddy dearest wants us to be present at some gala tonight where we can royally fuck up to prove him right.”
“Well, this is an interesting way of reuniting the family. Is he going to be there?”
“Yes,” I sigh. “You know what annoys me the most? That this fucker hasn’t done a thing to grow this company. Not a fucking thing. He just got it from his ancestors and rolled with it. But when we’re trying to take it back and actually do something good with it, he resurfaces like a bad rash.”
“Ezra,”he starts carefully.“It’s time to let it go.”
But I can’t. I am the eldest. I always had something to prove.
I still remember our parents’ wedding anniversary. I was fourteen. That day I was doing everything wrong. I dressed wrong. I spoke to him wrong. I got an A-minus at school. I performed poorly at football practice. And then I didn’t lookhappy enoughat the evening of fake happiness.
As soon as my father grabbed my shoulder and walked me behind the nearest corner, he smacked my face and ordered me to smile. I remember someone grabbing his arm when he wanted to deliver the second blow. I think it was a musician from a jazz band my mom used to love, but they were located somewhere in the south.
My father had ordered the band to appear in New York at the celebration as a good husband would. Of course, he talked about it with everyone who’d listen. But that man saw my shame, saw that I couldn’t do anything to my father. I was fourteen, old enough to stand up for myself.
Yet I was quiet. I still hate myself for that. And I hate my father for making me feel that way. And I hated that man for witnessing my moment of weakness and being the first one to ever say anything. With time, I came to realize that it was a brave move, considering how powerful my father was. I still wonder what happened to that man. I know my father didn’t let it go—he’s not that type of person to just let any disrespect slide.
“I can come today too,”Noah offers through the phone.
“Yeah. That’d help. Martin will send you the info.”
“See you there.”
Now, I have to go home and figure out how I can try not to strangle mywifewhen I’m alone with her.
Contemplating if I should call my own PI who does personal cases for me and ask him to follow Maeve, I decide against it. I have too much shit going on to focus on trying to figure out if she has someone on the side and if I’ve been played like a damn puppet. If I gave too much thought to that, it’d mean she matters. And she doesn’t. The more I think about that, the more I understand. She’s run out of her usefulness. I married a woman who didn’t bring me anything but ruin.
I take a sip of bourbon when the elevator opens. I watch it from the dark corner of the living room where she can’t see me. From the very same chair I listened to her speaking this morning.
She takes her sneakers off and puts them on the side with a groan. She looks tired. Did she just come from a run wearing leggings and that loose shirt? I know she prefers tight clothes for workouts since it doesn’t restrict her movements.
Her phone rings.
“Yes?”
I can see it’s something good because her face brightens, and all tiredness is being erased with every word the person on the other side speaks.
