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“Good.” I checked my calendar and was pleased to see my secretary had already added that she was tentatively coming on my calendar. “Did she give you anything?”
“No, she kept the call vague.”
“Excellent.” Less was more when it came to our kind of business. If Deborah was quiet, it meant she knew something.
“Are you lookin’ forward to coming home?”
I nodded. “I am.” I wanted to spend more time with my family.
“Happy to hear it.”
“How do you really feel about taking over the Mexico account for the next six months?”
He looked away and pressed his lips together. “I won’t lie, stepping into your shoes isn’t something I take lightly, but I need to prove to you and the family I can do it.”
“You don’t need to prove anything to me.” My phone buzzed, but I ignored it. “You got this, Leo. Just keep your head up, watch your back, and remember what I taught you.”
“And when in doubt, shoot first then call you.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. I looked at him and wondered what I was missing.
“Remember, you only need to go to Mexico twice, and the rest can be handled from Vegas.”
That seemed to settle his nerves, at least for the time being. I wished I hadn’t had to come back early and have Leo finish things up for me, but it was necessary, and he’d been adamant that I go home and let him finish up. I figured he wanted the experience.
Leo, at twenty-seven, was three years younger than I was, and by all accounts my favorite in the family. I considered him my understudy, as he was just as eager to learn the business as I had been. Leo just needed to embrace his darker side more often when he had to get things done. I knew he would find that out on his own soon enough.
Our brother Knox, on the other hand, couldn’t be more different than Leo or me. At twenty-five, he was a lover, not a fighter. Where I craved breaking bones and bloody knuckles, he just wanted to sit poolside in his designer sunglasses with a fancy drink while he studied the ladies. Knox wanted to live life on the high side. He wanted to party first and worry about the business later. I couldn’t understand it, and Leo and I often talked about it, but it didn’t mean we loved him any less. I’d always been close with my siblings, and my being gone so much over the past ten years had put a strain on all of us. We knew it couldn’t be helped; it was just the way we had to live our lives. Everyone had to sacrifice something. I thought again how happy I was to have a chance to reconnect.
“Good,” he answered, sounding relieved. As I sipped my drink, a feeling came over me as he started to tap his ring on the table. It was an old nervous habit he had. Something else was on his mind.
“Out with it.” I waved, and his gaze shot to mine. A sudden heaviness filled my chest at his expression, and I knew something wasn’t right. “What?”
“Dad’s sick again,” he blurted, and I stilled. “Sorry I lied.” He let out a shaky breath. “I know I said I wanted to learn how to close some accounts down and finish things up for you, but I couldn’t risk anyone hearing the truth. I didn’t know how to get you back sooner.”
“I see.” My stomach took a nosedive as I digested Leo’s words and what they meant. “And Dad told you this?”
“Well, no.” I looked across at him. “I saw an email from his doctor. It came in when he needed me to fix his Excel spreadsheet.” We both rolled our eyes at that; dad was always messing up his spreadsheet formulas. I could see the pain of what he told me weighed heavily on his chest. “I, ah, need you to come back, Grim.” I reached over and grabbed his arm, and we both took a moment. I knew there was a lot to consider, what this could mean to all of us. When I tried to pull my arm back, he grabbed it, and I felt a chill pass between us.
“What is it, Leo?”
“There’s something else. I think I’m seeing something, but I’m not sure.”
“Okay.” I caught Jesse’s eyes on me. He seemed to sense something, but he didn’t dare interrupt. “What do you mean?”
“Just,” he lowered his voice as the attendant walked by, “keep your eyes open, will you? Things seem one way, but call it a gut feeling, I’m not so sure they aren’t going the other.” He looked into my eyes.
“As in something bad is coming?”
“Or is already there.”
Leo had never been one for dramatics. He never embellished things. In fact, he underplayed most situations, so for him to behave this way was totally out of character.
“Can you elaborate?”
“No. I want to see if you get the same vibe I do. If you do, it should stay between us until we figure out a plan, okay? I need you to promise that Dad’s news, what I’m feeling, all of it stays here. Everything has to stay the same, like normal. Promise?”
“I promise.” He had my word. “And what if I don’t see or feel what you did?”
“Then I’m wrong.”
