Descent (Steel Brothers Saga #15) - Helen Hardt Page 0,60
either. Most parents couldn’t.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… That was rude of me. Incredibly rude. I grew up modestly. I should have known better than to make such an unfeeling statement.”
“It’s okay,” Vicki said.
“It’s not.” I sipped my tea, the nausea not easing a bit. “I feel terrible. Let’s come up with another option. Homeschooling?”
“I’d do it in a minute,” Vicki said, “but Chase won’t hear of it. He says kids need to be around other kids.”
I nodded. He was probably right. I’d spent my junior year of high school away from other students, and when I returned, I never fit in again like I had before.
“We’ll think of something,” Evie said.
“Your son Talon is in Luke’s class,” Vicki said.
“Would you like to have him come to the ranch sometime?” I asked.
“I’d say yes in a minute,” she said, “but Luke is so shy. I’m not sure he and your son are friends.”
“Talon’s different from most kids his age,” I told them. “He’s not shy, really, but he doesn’t have one best friend, either. Like Jonah and Bryce have each other.”
“He’s a Steel,” Vicki said. “That gives him a protection against the bullies.”
What an odd thing for Vicki to say. “It’s probably more the fact that he’s the biggest kid in his class,” I said.
“Probably a little of both,” Evie said. “Since when do we have a bully problem?”
“We’ve always had one.” I took another sip of tea. “Jonah and Bryce befriended poor Justin Valente for the same reason.”
Vicki shook her head. “You’re right, of course. It just hits a little closer to home when it’s your kid.”
I patted her forearm lightly. I felt for her. I couldn’t bear the thought of one of my own children in pain.
“We’ll figure this out,” I said. “I’ll talk to Talon this evening.”
Chapter Forty-One
Brad
I’d allowed myself to take a breath. To think that maybe my life could move forward with my wife and children. That we could be happy.
Dumbass.
“Start talking,” I said. “And don’t leave out a single dirty detail.”
“You sold a piece of land a while back.”
“I buy and sell land every day, Wendy.”
“This was a particularly interesting piece.”
“For God’s sake. Get on with it!”
“An island, Brad. An island in the Caribbean.”
An island in the Caribbean… Right. My father had told me about the offer before it came in, and he advised me to take the offer. “I remember. I made a killing.”
“I’m sure you did. The buyer had all kinds of cash.”
“What’s this got to do with anything?”
“Did you check out the buyer?”
“It was a corporation. The documents were all in order and on the up-and-up. Why the hell would I check out the buyer? Like I said, I made a killing.”
“Due diligence, Brad.”
“I don’t need to do due diligence when I’m selling a property to a corporation who’s filed all the correct paperwork and is represented by a top New York law firm. Christ, Wendy.”
Though maybe I should have. I was young, and I’d relied on my father’s advice.
My father who’d disappeared shortly after giving me that advice.
Shit…
“Ah, due diligence,” she said again. “The only problem is, you could have done all the due diligence in the world and Fleming Corporation would have come up clean.”
“How do you know the name of the buyer?”
“Easy enough to find. Title companies have those records.”
“But this was an international transaction.”
“Still easy enough to find. I’m an investigative journalist, Brad.”
“Why are you giving me shit about due diligence if the corporation is clean?”
“I said the corporation would have come up clean if you’d done your due diligence. I didn’t say the corporation was clean.”
A brick hit my gut. Who had I sold my property to?
She went on, “The Fleming Corporation is a dummy corporation.”
“Who’s behind it?”
“People you know, actually.”
“You?”
“Of course not. I keep my name away from anything dirty.”
“Not the others.”
“No. Not at first.”
“Drugs. Fucking drugs. A private island in the Caribbean is the perfect place.”
“Yes, it is. For drugs. And…other things.”
“What other things?”
“Things. Heinous things, Brad.”
Another brick to the gut. Nausea crept up my throat.
“The what doesn’t particularly matter, Brad. Just know that it’s heinous. Heinous and very illegal.”
“What does this all have to do with me? You think you have something on me because I sold some property to a dirty corporation that would have come up clean had I done my due diligence? That absolves me of any liability whatsoever.”