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As I followed the guard down the corridor, I realized I definitely did care. Although I didn’t give a shit if he was happy to see me. What I cared about was how I would feel because right now I sure as hell didn’t feel good.

More gates clanged, that mechanical buzz making me flinch every time it blared. Some of the lights flickered, that industrial scent so pungent in some areas that I almost couldn’t breathe, and then the officer stopped in front of a door, and suddenly, I realized this was it.

“Are you ready?” the man asked, eyes on his clipboard instead of on me. “Remember, physical contact is limited to the very beginning and very end of your visit. You are to remain on the opposite side of the table at all times and if you need us, just say so. We’ll be there. Court’s never given us any trouble, though.”

“Sure. Of course.”

He barely even glanced up before he reached for the door, pushing it open and striding in ahead of me. As soon as I followed, the officer behind us the shut the door, sealing me into a room with my father for the first time in my adult life.

Court was the only guy sitting alone at a table when I walked in, but he rose when he saw me, and for one incredibly fucking weird second, looking at him felt like looking into the mirror thirty years from now. In person, the resemblance between us was brutal, much more striking than I remembered or would’ve been able to imagine despite how often people told me how much I looked like him.

Our hair was the exact same shade of dark sandy blond, though his had gone gray at the temples and was shot through with silver in places. We had the same eyes. The same mouth. Even the slight crease that appeared between his eyebrows as I approached was so familiar that it felt like an electric shock.

“Holden,” he said quietly when I reached the metal table he was occupying, a small, relieved, but disbelieving smile ghosting across his lips. “You came.”

My heart was clawing at my ribs. I’d spent the last decade trying to forget the sound of that voice. I’d thought I’d succeeded, but nope. Definite fail.

“Hi, Dad.”

For a second, we just stood there, staring at each other and I shifted on my feet, hoping like hell he didn’t think we were going to hug. Thankfully, he finally nodded and gestured to the chair opposite him, lowering himself down once more.

Since I kind of had to sit, I sat but I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure what to say. What does one talk about with your estranged father when visiting him in prison if you were a teenager the last time you saw him?

Court didn’t speak up immediately either, but he did look oddly serene and weirdly smug as he stared at me from across the table. “So, how’s school?”

My eyebrows shot up. “How’s school?”

He shrugged, somehow managing to make even his prison jumpsuit look like it was couture as he leaned forward, sliding his elbows onto the table. To be fair, he was careful about how far he stretched, but he still had that same air about him, that confident authority I remembered from when I was a kid.

His posture was still impeccable, his shoulders wide and his head held high even though he was in orange. Another slight smile flickered across his lips. “I figured I’d start somewhere safe. You’re at the University of Chicago now, right? Jane said you’re getting an MBA.”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “I am.”

“How is it?”

“Expensive.”

He chuckled. “At least some things haven’t changed. Tuition bills are still the same as an average mortgage, then?”

I shrugged. “I guess that depends on what you’re studying and where, but yeah. Pretty much.”

His gaze moved from one of my eyes to the other as he sat up straighter, nodding slowly. “Well, education is always worth it. Regardless of what you plan on doing after you get the degree. Knowledge is power and all that.”

“I think that’s debatable in my case,” I said bluntly. “We’re spending a fortune on advanced education I don’t technically need. I don’t regret enrolling, but whether it will be worth it remains to be seen.”

“Well, any employer will look kindly upon an MBA on your resume,” he said without skipping a beat. “You got any leads on what you want to do with it?”

“I’m starting a work-study at Thayer on Monday, so I’ll take it from there.”

His eyebrows inched up. “Thayer, huh? That’s a surprise. I thought Alex would try to shove you into W&S or send you to Texas to work with the Shepherds.”

“He wouldn’t have had to shove me into it,” I said. “If he’d spoken to me before I’d made the arrangements with Colin, I’d have taken it in a heartbeat. Maybe not Texas, unless my wife was willing to move there for a while, but W&S itself could’ve been a great place to learn.”

Court blinked slowly, doing a double take he was trying not to be obvious about, but even after all that time, I could see he was rattled. “Your wife?”

“Yeah, my wife.” I felt my eyebrows drawing together. “What, Jane and Colin didn’t tell you?”

He dragged a hand through his silvery hair, glancing toward the sliver of window high up on the wall as he shook his head. “No. They didn’t.”