bark at the delivery driver, nor did he beg for the food as we ate.
He really was the best boy.
Mason
“Look who finally decided to show up.”
My youngest brother Eli was standing between me and the stairs leading up to my bedroom. With his arms crossed in front of his chest and the glare on his face, he reminded me of our mom after she caught me sneaking in after curfew or something. Except, of course, Eli looked more like our dad - as did all of the Harveys. We were big men, solid and tall. I had a couple inches on Eli, but he was still over six feet of solid muscle.
“Sorry, didn’t know I had a curfew,” I scoffed.
“Not a curfew, asshole. A meeting.”
I closed my eyes and cursed. “Shit. Yeah, that’s right. With Jacob Flynn. The guy looking for his daughter. I’m so sorry, Eli. It slipped my mind.”
I’d been so caught up in taking care of Calvin, that I forgot the reason my visit to him was supposed to be quick. I saw a problem that needed solved and went straight to the dog rescue, got caught up with Danielle and totally missed the meeting.
“Well, you weren’t the only one. Graham at least had the decency to tell me yesterday that he couldn’t make it - an OB appointment or some shit.” My brother’s brow was scrunched so tightly, it gave me a headache just looking at him.
“How’d it go?”
“Ended up being no meeting. When no one else showed up, Flynn decided we were too flaky with such an important case and he left. Ran into Sam on the way out the door. At least he decided to show up, even if he was fifteen minutes late.”
“I’m sorry, Eli,” I said again.
“Well, sorry ain’t good enough, man. What’s up with you lately? All of y’all are acting like you no longer want to run this business together.”
I pushed past my brother.
“What the fuck, Mason?” Eli said, following me up the stairs. “You’re not even gonna tell me why you missed one of the biggest potential cases we’ve had in months?”
“I was busy helping someone, Eli. I said I’m sorry. What else do you want from me?”
“Was it more important than the business you run with your brothers?” Eli scoffed.
I reached my bedroom door and was ready to go inside and slam it shut. Sometimes sharing a house with your brothers was a blessing - there was always someone to shoot the shit with or drink with. But other times, it was just damned annoying. We were working on a property with separate homes. This was merely a rental, but I was ready to have my own space. It was past time for that, in fact. Graham and Sam had moved into temporary places with their fiancées. Maybe it was high time for me to consider that as well.
Eli was still running at the mouth. I could go in my room and shut him out, lock the door. But there was a chance he’d just bang on it until I talked to him. Or until he got the answers he wanted. He could be damned stubborn sometimes. Hell, we all could be.
“I’m sorry if I actually want to do something good instead of just helping rich assholes who get themselves into trouble.”
“Flynn is looking for his daughter,” Eli scoffed. “Not getting himself into trouble.”
“He’s still a rich asshole. Maybe if he’d not walked out on his baby mama when she was pregnant, he wouldn’t have to be trying to find her now,” I said with a shrug.
I’d also read the papers and knew that he likely abused the poor woman. After all, not many women wouldn’t want to go after a rich asshole like Flynn for child support unless they were afraid of him. It was all rumors, but I couldn’t deny that my loyalty was most definitely not with Flynn. His daughter very well might be better off without him in her life.
I turned the doorknob, and Eli grabbed my arm. I pulled it away violently.
“Mason, what the hell is wrong with you? This was our dream, man. Our way of not just living off our dad’s money but paving our own way in life.”
“Maybe it was your dream. Hell, maybe it was my dream at one time, but…” I trailed off before I could finish that sentence. I knew that if I said much more, if I told him how I really felt, like how I