attention Emmy didn't know he was capable of.
"I went to Afghanistan and Iraq with First Recon, and did a couple tours. And then I got recruited for some more sensitive work."
"More sensitive than Recon Marines?" Emmy asked — because she'd heard plenty about the elite of the Marine special forces from Jake's borderline hagiographic storytelling, and Owen shrugged.
“Let's say more discreet. And I'm sorry, I really can't tell you much more about that, except that I spent a few years doing dangerous things in various places. That's also when I changed my name and Owen Glenison was officially discharged and ceased to exist. Whereas Captain Branson is only just about to retire from the Marine Corps.”
"An ex-Marine, huh?" Emmy said.
"Ah, no," Reynaldo interjected. "Never ex. Retired Marine maybe — but once a Marine, you know, always a Marine."
Eric was looking thoughtful.
“I remember Mum trying to find you after you supposedly left. We figured you changed your name then."
Owen frowned.
"She never told you about the postcards?"
"Postcards? She told me you got in touch once. Maybe four years ago. I wasn't sure if she was being delusional — to tell you the truth at that point I thought you were probably dead."
"No, she wasn't being delusional. I used to send her postcards — in plain envelopes — from various parts of the country around her birthday, and Christmas usually. I asked her not to tell anyone though.”
Eric’s shoulders sagged and Emmy's heart ached for him.
"She kept your secret. Even with me. I guess she feared I might fling it at Dad in one of our arguments. To be fair, I might have."
"You still have arguments?" Owen asked, eyes crinkling.
"With Dad? Only every time we meet — which isn't that often. He was pretty angry when I formally dropped the Glenison, even though he started the whole thing. And it's been downhill ever since."
The smile that dawned on Owen's face was still hesitant, but it was clear this counted as good news.
"I was hoping you'd say that. The name was a clue, and I knew you'd chosen to make your career on your own, without him breathing down your neck — congratulations by the way, I've been following your progress in the pages of Forbes and Fortune, all those 30 under 30 lists, the growth of your empire. Your achievements are impressive."
"Yeah, well, Oedipal hatred as motivation for success isn't exactly original," Eric said quickly, his pride at his brother's words shining in his eyes, even as he tried to play it down. "There's whole armies of shrinks who make their bread and butter from it. But I have to admit it felt good the day I became worth more than him."
"I bet, little bro," Owen said with a smirk and Eric's grin lit up his whole face. "I just wasn't sure whether you were still close at all."
"We're not. If it wasn't for Mum, I'd never see him," Eric said quickly.
"How is she?"
Eric sighed.
“Okay, but tired. Dad’s putting pressure on her with the reelection campaign, I guess — the bastard is obsessed. He keeps trying to reel me back in. Ask Emmy — she was there last time we met, and the motherfucker tried to persuade me — again — to put on a fundraiser for him. And then told me off in public when I refused."
The memory of that encounter was branded in Emmy's mind — from the first formal introduction to the shock of the father and son clash, and the angry sex that followed. The vitriol was palpable in Eric's tone, and Owen noticed.
"Did he also..."
Owen paused, flicking an uncertain look at Emmy.
"Did he hit me like he hit you?” Eric supplied. “Is that what you were going to ask? You can go ahead — Emmy knows about our less-than-perfect home life."
Owen cleared his throat.
"After I left, did it get worse?"
The question hung in the air for a few seconds, ripe with angst. It was Owen's worst fear, she could tell, and he was about to have it confirmed.
"Yeah, he whaled on me," Eric said. "And yes, it was worse than anything he'd done to me before, and I fucking hated you for it. But I also understood that you had to leave. I just didn't see why you had to leave me behind."
"I'm sorry, Eric, I couldn’t… You were so young…"
"It's okay, man, I forgave you a long time ago. And it didn't last — Dad, I mean. I got packed off to England after being expelled from