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“Does that mean you’ve come to agree with her?”
“No. I liked working. I liked my office, my projects, and my deadlines. I really liked my salary, but I still don’t regret going back. An MBA is something no one can take from me. That makes it worth it.”
Alex inhaled a deep breath, watching me without saying anything for a long moment as I grabbed another ball and started dribbling again. “So it’s about Court.”
My jaw clenched, but I didn’t confirm or deny it. “Whatever.”
“I know he’s a sore subject for you, man, but he is getting out, so you can’t avoid it, or him, forever.”
“Watch me.”
“Have you even gone to visit him once, Holden?”
“No.”
“Are you going to?”
“No.”
Alex sighed. “Have you at least called him? Have you talked to him at all?”
“No, because unlike most of the people I share a last name with, I don’t have a single fucking thing to say to that man. Leave it alone.”
Red dots scattered across my field of vision just thinking about it. My siblings could visit him. They could talk to him. Hell, they could invite him to live with them after he got out.
But I could go the rest of my life—happily—without ever having to lay eyes on the man again. After the arrest, they’d all made it so complicated, trying to pick through the wreckage to salvage what they could of their respective relationships with him.
As far as I was concerned, there was nothing complicated about it. In fact, it was pretty fucking simple. He’d destroyed our lives, crushed our hearts, paraded his mistress around like her vagina had a direct link to the fountain of youth, and committed several felonies while he was at it.
Why the hell did I need to go sit in a prison visiting room and give him an opportunity to explain why?
Because of him, not only had I lost my entire life as I’d known it, but my trust fund, and those of every last one of my brothers, had been frozen. Technically, the funds were supposed to have been released a few months ago, but then something had happened. I hadn’t even asked what the issue had been this time. Now, Colin and Jane were once again in a tizzy trying to get it back, but it was a mess.
It always was.
After watching those two meet with lawyers, have hope, get crushed all over again, and then restart the whole process for almost a fucking decade, I wasn’t ready to forgive and forget. There was always something, some new mess for them to clean up. All of it courtesy of what our dad had done so many years ago.
And for what? For nothing. To get his dick wet. That’s it. What a role model.
In the meantime, I was broke as shit. All the money I did have was tied up in stocks and investments, completely inaccessible. I could afford my rent, but since I wasn’t working right now, being back in college was sucking me dry.
Alex bounced the ball and sent it flying toward the hoop. Naturally, it dropped exactly where it was supposed to, neatly sliding through the net.
I rolled my eyes, my head shaking, and I took another shot of my own. “Why are you here, Alex?”
“There’s something I want to talk to you about. It’s important, and since you’ve been avoiding me, I thought I’d come to you.”
“If it’s important, that means it’s a conversation you’d rather have in a conference room, isn’t it?”
He shrugged. “I like conference rooms, but I’m adaptable enough to pivot when necessary.”
“Well, by all means, pivot away and just spit it out.”
He smiled and shrugged. “When Jane and I got news about the Thayer money being gone, probably for good this time, we decided to set up new trust funds for you, Wyatt, and Ryan.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You did what? And what about Isaac and Colin?”
He shook his head. “They weren’t interested. Thayer Steelworks’ partnership with GlobalStar has meant big things for each of them in their personal capacities, so they turned us down.”
