accountant in Fort Myers. With tax season coming, they need some extra help. Depends on how desperate they are. The résumé they made for me at Safesite sucks, and I obviously can’t talk about my real work experience.”
The only work experience either of us has is in the family business, though her role was more brains, whereas mine was more brawn.
Turns out Ulie doesn’t suck in the kitchen. Dinner is actually edible. Once everyone’s devoured Ulie’s masterpiece, our younger siblings settle in front of the TV while Lee and I clean up the kitchen, which is a sizable job.
“Do you think there’s any shot you’ll get the job?” I ask, rinsing a dish and loading it in the dishwasher.
She scowls at me. “When your whole life is a lie, it’s really hard to come off convincing in an interview.”
“I thought the Feds were trying to get something set up for you.”
Her expression goes all exasperated. “Data entry? That’s what I’m supposed to do with three quarters of an MBA from the most prestigious business school in the country?”
I brace my hands on the counter and look at her. “You were the one who pushed for this, ever since Pop went away. You’ve been wanting to run for months.” That night, I wanted to disappear to our vacation home on the lakeshore and rally the guys I know are loyal to me. She convinced me if I wanted to protect Sherm, that wasn’t enough.
“Because I could see it coming, Rob, even if you had your head so far up your ass you couldn’t,” she grinds out under her breath.
My jaw clenches tight as I fight for control. “You didn’t think I could handle the business?”
“The business was handling you. It was taking you over. You were becoming Pop.”
“I’m not seeing the problem.”
Her expression softens. “That’s what you want? To be like Pop?”
A tight knot forms in my chest. I remember Mom and Pop’s arguments. She didn’t want that for me, or any of us. But she’s not here anymore. My choices died with her.
Lee is watching my hand, and I realize I’m thumbing my birthstone ring. I push off the counter. “I think we should switch rooms.”
She goes back to wiping the counter. “You want me to share with Sherm?”
“He ends up in your bed every night anyway.” I hear the pain in my voice even though I’m trying not to give in to it.
She breathes deeply, holds it for a second before blowing it out. When she lifts her eyes to mine, they’re unfathomably sad. “Give it time, Rob. Everything’s still so fresh. You were his idol. It was a shock, what he saw. In time he’ll realize you didn’t have a choice—you did it to protect him. Just be patient with him, okay?”
The whole scene flashes in front of my eyes. Coming in from the kitchen. Finding the thug in the living room, the silencer at the end of his piece pointed squarely at Sherm’s chest. Grabbing him from behind as he turned. The round firing, hitting the wall inches above Sherm’s head. The sickening pop and crack of bone as I cranked on his neck with all my weight.
I try to imagine how it would look from Sherm’s perspective. “He’d be better off if I left.”
She grasps my arm, shaking me out of the memory. “No, Rob. We stick together.”
“I shouldn’t be around him,” I say, looking at Sherm.
“He needs you. We all do.”
When I shift my gaze to her, she’s got a panicked gleam in her eyes. I open my mouth to tell her that I’m going back, but what comes out instead is, “We need to switch rooms tonight. You should handle all his day to day . . . getting him back and forth to school and dealing with his teacher. I’ll pick up some of the slack around here.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not going to let you abandon him, Rob. I’ll switch rooms because he needs his sleep, but no matter how scared he is, he needs to know that you won’t leave him. You need to be there for him, even if you think he doesn’t want you to be.”
My insides are cement. She’s wrong. The only thing I can do for him now is make the fuck sure no one ever dares touch him again, no matter what it takes. I have to take care of the threat in Chicago and get our lives back.