But he might not have enough on-hand cash to pay Charlotte the five hundred thousand he’d promised her.
“I hate that you’re going through this,” Gina hissed, crossing her arms over her chest. “While I’m pissed at Dad, I can’t say I’m surprised. Just look how he treated Mom when she dared to defy him.”
Ross stiffened, an old but very familiar anger kindling in his veins. “This situation is completely different from that.”
“Not by much,” his sister argued. “She asked Dad for a divorce, and he went after her with everything he had. Forget that she was the mother of his children. He kicked her out of her house, changed the locks, made it difficult for her to see her children. He took everything that was important from her.”
“She chose a big settlement over her children,” he snapped. “No one forced her to leave Royal, to leave us. She divorced Dad, not us. I’ve only had Ben in my life for a matter of weeks, but I would do anything for that little boy. Destroy anyone who tried to hurt him. You fight for those you love. Sarabeth,” he uttered her name on a mocking sneer, because she hadn’t been Mom to him a long time, “chose to walk away. To not be in our lives except for the occasional visit or phone call. If she truly wanted to be there for us, no power in this world, including the long arm of Rusty Edmond, could’ve kept her away. So no, it’s not similar at all.”
Asher edged closer to their sister, clasping her hand in his, and Ross pivoted away, suddenly feeling like an ogre. His issues with his mother were just that—his issues. He had no right to jump down Gina’s throat because she chose to see the woman who’d essentially abandoned them in a kinder light.
“When was the last time you saw her, Ross? Spoke to her?” Gina asked softly.
“Years. And I’m fine with maintaining the status quo.”
“You should call her. Talk to her. I think you would be surprised with the answers she could give you.”
Answers? Could her answers turn back time and give him her much-needed presence in his life? Could they make up for her absence? For her rejection of him? For making him question his own self-worth? How could he be worthy of anything when the two people who were supposed to love him unconditionally had rejected him at every turn? His mother had chosen freedom over him, and his father—fuck, Rusty was Rusty. Everything had come before Ross, Gina and Asher. Business, women, a goddamn prize bull. The man had missed Ross’s college graduation because of a cattle sale. And now, he put his pride before his son.
No. He didn’t need to ask Sarabeth anything. Her absence and Rusty’s emotional deprivation had been enough of a very thorough explanation.
“I’m through talking about her,” Ross said, a sudden bone-deep weariness creeping into his voice. “Do you two want to meet your nephew?”
He’d brought Ben with him to the clubhouse and left him in the day care while he met with Gina and Asher.
“Of course.” Gina crossed over to him and wrapped him in a hug. “I’m sorry for bringing up Mom and pressuring you,” she murmured.
“No worries.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Let’s go,” Asher said. “I want to officially meet my nephew. You said he’s beautiful. So that means he must take after his mother.”
Ross met his brother’s smirk and grinned. “Asshole.”
Asher laughed, pulling the meeting room door open. “Well, that’s a family trait, so let’s really hope he takes after his mother.”
Gina gasped in mock outrage. “I beg your pardon,” she objected as she swept past Asher into the hallway. “Speak for yourself. I merely know my own mind and am not afraid to let others know it, as well.”
Asher tilted his head. “Huh. When I do that, I’m always called an asshole.”
Ross chuckled, following his brother and sister—his family—toward the front of the building.
God, he loved them.
Eleven
“This is ridiculous,” Charlotte grumbled, staring at herself in the closet mirror.
Hah. As if the space that was bigger than her bedroom in her former home could be called something as simple as a closet. She didn’t even have enough clothes to fill all the drawers, racks and hangers. Not to mention the stacks of mini cases meant to store jewelry. Besides the pair of diamond studs that was a graduation gift from her parents and the necklace Ross had given her,