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“So she’s coming back.” Even as I said the words, I knew they weren’t true.
“I’m thinking not. She said he belonged with Mama.”
Not so long ago, I might’ve thought Sonya had done that out of the goodness of her heart. Now, I was pretty sure she didn’t have one.
“I don’t trust her.”
“Neither do I.”
“What do you want me to do to help you get her back?”
“I’d rather you help me fix the company I bought. It’s fucked.”
He slowed his steps, and I matched his gait.
“We can turn it around, but I don’t know if Iwantto help you.”
I appreciated the honesty. If I were him, I wouldn’t. It was one thing to try to repair our friendship, but another to fix our business relationship. I’d destroyed our trust.
“Before I forget, you’re welcome,” I said.
“For what?”
“You’re up-to-date with Salter Steel on the money you owed them for the work on the pipeline. I paid them last week.”
“MoneyIowed them?”
I frowned at Easton. “It’syourpipeline.”
“Why did you do that? Pin it on Mulaney and me?” If he was surprised I knew they’d taken ownership of the pipeline, he didn’t show it. Of course, if it weren’t for Sonya, I wouldn’t have known.
“In case anything went wrong, the blame would fall on you. I couldn’t have everything point straight to me.”
“I don’t suppose you could.”
We nodded to the doorman as we entered our building, both of us leaning against the back of the elevator on the way up. “I didn’t want SPE, and I didn’t want Carter Energy. It was more about taking it away from Dad than actually running it. I can do it; I just don’t want to.”
Easton studied me for a moment. What he was looking for, I didn’t know. “You’re telling the truth.” He sounded surprised.
“I like writing software. I’ve made good money doing it too. I was smart enough to license it. I own it. I get paid every month or year depending on how we set it up. That’s what I’d like to keep doing. It hurt that none of you took my ideas seriously.” What the hell? I’d been practicing this truth thing with Sonya. Turned out it made being honest with Easton a little easier.
“I’ll think about how I can help you,” Easton finally said.
“Are we good?” I asked when we got to the front door. It was a futile question because we’d never be totally good. We’d never get back what we had. I had stolen that myself. But as I’d always done in life, I wanted my big brother to be on my side, to see me. So, here I was . . .asking.
He looked at me and sighed. “Better than we’ve been in a long time.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Drew
I stumbledat the sight that greeted me when we returned to the apartment.
Mama had moved to the couch. She looked exhausted, but she had Gabriel tucked into her side, arm around him, looking at something he was showing her on a tablet. Sam was in his dutiful place on the opposite side. Normally, she would have been back in bed, but that stubborn streak had her trying to make up for lost time with her grandson. When her eyes met mine across the room, they were chilly.
Carlos watched me like a hawk. The juvenile part of me that liked to push everyone’s buttons was tempted to give him a little five-finger wave, just to be an ass. Old habits died hard, but that wasn’t the way this needed to go. Getting into a fight with him wouldn’t do anything but make a bad situation worse.
I followed Mulaney into the kitchen. Easton was right behind me, not trusting me with his wife, given she was one of my least favorite people.
