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“Don’t fuck with me, Michael—I was wheeling and dealing before you were born and I can take away the cushy lifestyle I’ve provided for you quicker than you can say gold digger.”
“No, you can’t.” Mick was tired of his father’s bullshit and decided to call him out on it. “I’m over twenty-five now, so Grandpa’s money is no longer in trust. All five million of it is mine, earning a nice bit of interest in my Swiss bank account. I have two college degrees and an impressive resume, so I’m employable, no matter who I’m sleeping with, and frankly, it’s not like anything I’ve done hurts you. You have enough money and success for a hundred men—why do you give a fuck who I’m involved with?”
“Because the men in our family follow a code and marrying bimbo foreigners isn’t in it.”
“So this is because she’s Greek?” He didn’t understand his family at all.
“She’s different than us, Michael. Uncouth. Uneducated—”
“She has a business degree from Brown!” he protested in frustration. “I don’t think you can see beyond your narrow-minded view of the world, which is pretty sad.”
“Don’t talk to me like you know anything,” his father hissed.
“I don’t really want to talk to you at all,” Mick said calmly. Then he disconnected.
“You all right, son?” Hank approached him with a curious look on his face.
“My dad is an asshole,” Mick muttered, as they fell into step together and headed towards the trailer that had just been dropped off. They’d ordered a replacement for one of the original three that had been destroyed and it arrived today though no one had been notified.
“He’s always been a bit full of himself,” Hank conceded, “but he’s a smart businessman and a talented architect. I never gave much thought to him as a human being.”
“Yeah, well, he’s definitely not a good one of those.”
“I can protect your place in this firm,” Hank said. “But I’m not sure it would be worth the aggravation.”
“I want to stay on this project,” Mick admitted. “After that, I’m gone.”
“Maybe we can work something out.”
“I thought you were going to retire?”
Hank shrugged. “I was going to, but I don’t know what else I’d do. Sheila and I travel as much as we want now, so other than that, what would I do all day? Watch TV? Golf? I’d rather work.”
“Maybe move into a consulting position?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of starting my own firm, only taking the biggest, most cutting-edge projects, things that will stretch my imagination and keep my brain engaged.”
“You want to be on site for months and years at a time? Sheila would kill you.”
Hank laughed. “Of course not. That’s why I’d need a much younger partner to do that stuff. That’s why I’d need you.”
Mick was momentarily speechless. “Hank, I’m nowhere near ready to be a partner.”
“Sure you are. You’ve been my protégé, my shining star, the son I never had. I’d be honored to have you as my partner in a new venture. And when I’m gone, it’ll be all yours.”
“Hank, I don’t even know what to say.”
“Say yes. Say you can’t wait to get started. Say your sweet fiancée will want to wander the world with you helping you create magic in architecture.”
“I…” Mick faltered at the mention of Lena. “I don’t know what she wants.”
“Then you should ask her. Soon.”
“I will. Tonight.”
Mick didn’t have a chance to talk to Lena about anything that night or the following day because they were swamped with packing and preparing to be in Athens for at least eight days. Mihalis kept them busy on the ferry the next day and when they arrived they went straight to Lena’s parents’ house.
“I don’t know what to say to them,” he admitted as the taxi dropped them off.
