Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
His sister was even more antisocial than me. Her entire group could form a literal wall to protect the kids. They’d step in if Sam or Taylor needed anything.
Logan took another swig, and the liquid swished in the bottle. “Nate and Channing are out there.”
I went over to the chair beside him, taking the bourbon and drinking too. “Matteo?”
Logan grinned, darkly, snatching the bottle again. “I’m pretty sure he took someone to the pool house. Doubt we’ll see him until tomorrow.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Who?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. Just saw the back of her hair.” He changed the subject. “What’d Sam say about last night? Maddy’s avoiding everyone today.”
“Yeah.” I sighed, reaching for the bourbon. “We’ll deal with that tomorrow, but I told Sam about it this morning. She wasn’t happy, and she was pissed that Maddy didn’t listen to Max. I’m fairly certain she’s going to rope Heather in with a plan for how to destroy that kid’s life—the one who disrespected Maddy. If they don’t, we will.”
“I’ll drink to that.” He held his hand out for the bottle.
I handed it over. “You already are.”
“Yeah.”
“Your base is still in Boston. What are you going to do?”
He raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“I’m going into the office tomorrow, to start looking at the accounts.”
He shook his head, his mouth tipping up.
“What?”
“Just use the kid. He’ll get you into everything. He’s a computer-hacking genius.”
I scowled. “He’s not a kid anymore. And no.” He was talking about my stalker.
He laughed. “You were his idol growing up. He’s one of my clients. I’ve gotten to know him. He’s not that bad.” He winced, adding, “Anymore.”
Zeke Allen. From the little I knew about him, he’d started out as a douchebag and a bully. That had changed to being just a douchebag, and somehow he’d ended up as what? A good guy? I didn’t buy it. I’d been told he kept pictures of me in his locker in high school. I’d dealt with stalkers. Women and men. They were dangerous. It was bad enough that he had access to my family. I would not bring him into this business with my dad.
I wanted nothing to do with the guy.
“I’m just saying. He’s a resource we could use. He’d help you out in a heartbeat.”
“No.”
He sighed, finishing the bourbon. “Fine. Did Moreaux corner you yet?”
He was one of the board members, the pushiest one of them. “At the church and when we were leaving the cemetery. He tried again in the kitchen too.”
“Fuck that guy. We’re burying our dad today.”
I agreed with him, but I also knew narcissistic assholes tended to only think about themselves. I hadn’t been expecting hugs and cookies from the guy. “I’ll start going through everything.” It was worth repeating.
Logan frowned at me. “On a Sunday?”
I nodded, eyeing the empty bottle.
Logan laughed and pulled out his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Texting Nate to bring us another bottle.”
“Good thinking. And yes, I’m going in on a Sunday. No one should be there. His office was cleaned on Thursday.”
Logan didn’t say anything for a minute. “Mom’s not here.”
My gut tightened. We had called her and she did what she did. It became about her.
“Good riddance.”
Logan’s gaze sharpened on me. “You don’t care that she’s not here?”
“You do? She loathed Dad, and she barely remembers she has sons, much less grandchildren. Good fucking riddance to her. We have bigger things to deal with besides wondering where our fucking mother is.”
I’d stopped caring long ago. Helen had been decent enough when she was married to James, but she chose to hide in a wine bottle. There’d been a couple stints in rehab, but nothing stuck. The last time she left one of the treatment centers, she’d gone to an all-day brunch and woke up the next morning with some young stud boyfriend. She hadn’t looked back since. “She’s probably on some yacht with who the fuck knows.”
Logan snorted.
Maddy was the only one who remembered her with fondness. Nash and Nolan were too uncomfortable around her. They didn’t have good memories with her. It was ridiculous. Anyway, they had four sets of grandparents, or they once did. Helen was a lost cause. James and Analise had passed now. The last two worth anything were Malinda and David, who were fucking godsends.
Logan must’ve been on the same wavelength because he scowled. “Where the fuck is Garrett? That fucker’s not been around for ages.”
I had to grit my teeth. “He’s another lost cause.”
Sam’s biological father had tried coming around for a few years, but it wasn’t long after Maddy was born when that began to fade. He and his wife moved to Europe. The estrangement was on their end, not Sam’s. She reached out. It was never reciprocated. She didn’t talk about it much, but I knew it bothered her. There was no relationship with her two half-siblings.