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“Oh, you’re doing that again tomorrow?”

I shrugged. “Probably. Both Rex and Tony really liked the coffee.”

Alex’s gaze bounced between us, a smug expression on his face as he listened to us banter like we’d been married fifty years already. Before I could call him out on it, Alicia checked the time and pushed away from the counter.

“Crap, I have to go.”

“I’ll drive you,” I said immediately, glancing at Alex. “He can either come with us and talk in the car, or wait here and enjoy the best coffee in the city until I can get back.”

“No. That’s okay,” she said, sliding her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll just take the train.”

“I hate it when you take the train.”

“And yet, I take it almost every day,” she argued lightly. “It’s my routine and I happen to like it.”

Ignoring my continued protests, she strode over, pushed up on her toes, and kissed my cheek. “I’ll see you later, Holden.”

As she spun away from me, she waved at Alex and made a beeline for the door. “Bye! It was good to see you. Send my love to Jane and the kids.”

“Will do,” he called after her. Then she walked out and disappeared, and he finally strode to the kitchen counter, accepting the coffee I pushed toward him. “Are you really letting her take the train?”

“She wants to.” I dropped into the stool across from him. “Trust me, I’ve tried stopping her, but she doesn’t want me driving her every day.”

“So buy her a car,” he suggested with amusement suddenly dancing in his eyes. “You can do that now, or have you forgotten?”

“I, uh, I might’ve forgotten, but I’ll talk to her about it.”

Alex nodded, settling in before the amusement faded and his expression changed into that hard, business-like mask that told me I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “I need to talk to you about Court.”

My jaw clenched. “We just talked about him last night. Has something changed?”

Alex held my gaze, a weirdly unreadable expression in his eyes. “Jane and I paid him a visit. We had to review the release plan with him and lawyers.”

“What? When? I just saw you, like, twelve hours ago.”

“Yeah, well, things are going to move fast from here,” he said, his voice flat. “The lawyers want to submit the plan this morning. Apparently, that means Jane and I need to be ready to jump at a moment’s notice.”

Ah, so that’s what’s going on with him. “I’m sorry, but you could’ve just said no. You didn’t have to drag your asses out of bed at some godforsaken hour just because Dad is in a rush to get out.”

Alex’s jaw ground, but he didn’t explain or defend their actions. “You need to be prepared, Holden.”

“For what? The cameras?” I let out a humorless snort. “I’ve been prepared for those for years.”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about. We’re all prepared for the media storm we’re bound to face. What you need to be prepared for is him.

My eyes narrowed. “Why? Just last night, you assured me that he’s not just going to be walking back into the family like nothing ever happened.”

“He still won’t, but he wants to see you.”

“No.”

Alex sighed. “He asked about you specifically, Holden. All he wants is a conversation.”

“Still no,” I said firmly. “I thought we covered this. You told me I don’t have to forgive him and that you won’t try to force me to talk to him either.”

“That’s not what this is,” Alex insisted. “I’m not trying to force you to do anything and I stand by what I said last night, but he’s still your father and I think you should bury the hatchet before he gets out.”

I stared at him, blinking hard. “Nope. Why are you even asking?”