Page 84 of Mr. Monroe

“And since this is boiling down to Shane not getting his full inheritance, I assume he didn’t follow instructions of your mother’s school requirements?”

“No, that isn’t the issue,” she answered. “Shane did exactly what he was supposed to do on that front. He didn’t get honors, but he did well. And when he went to her estate attorney,” her face grew distant, “the attorney said there was nothing else for him, which made no sense. There should have been a lot more in that trust, which is partially the fucked-up reason why my brother still has a key to Dad’s house. Dad still gives him money, partly so he can pay for the apartment.”

I frowned and studied her troubled expression, “Aside from the fact it seems that money was stolen from your brother’s inheritance, your father still seems to be controlling his adult son. I mean, there’s no easier way to control people than through their need for money and desperation that way.”

“You’re correct in that assumption.”

“And would I be correct to assume your dad is likely the thief who stole from your brother’s inheritance, most likely to create this toxic atmosphere of control?” I said, looking down at her. She nodded, her face solemn as she looked away. “Do you think he stole from you too?”

“If he did, he was a lot sneakier and more subtle, and it was much less than he took from Shane because I haven’t noticed,” she said.

“How long have you known about all of this?”

“I knew a little bit about it. But I’m honestly just learning about it in its entirety. This whole time, I had suspicions about why he was broke and needed our dad for money, but Shane asked me not to go too deeply into it. He knew I had my issues with Dad, and he didn’t want to have a hand in making things more complicated, I guess.”

I studied her when our eyes locked. Nat practically stared me down as if she could read my mind and the next question I wanted to ask. If Nat loved her little brother so much, why did she wait so long to get involved? That just didn’t add up to me.

I refrained from asking because the question was adversarial in nature, and there was no way to sound sympathetic and accusatory in the same breath. On the other hand, I had to hope she knew I could intimately relate to a messed-up family with parents stealing and manipulating their adult children over greed and wealth.

I let the conversation die there and pressed a kiss to the top of her foot before lifting them off my lap. “I’m going to get back to work,” I said, giving her a grin. “I have a couple more items to handle before we land.”

“What about my other foot?” she asked indignantly, wiggling her left toes at me.

“Later,” I said. “Ever heard of delayed gratification?”

“Asshole,” she muttered, and I chuckled as I walked back to my desk and turned over my phone.

My smile faded suddenly as I looked at the screen and saw the seven missed calls, all from the same name. H. Monroe. My stomach dropped as I thought about why Heidi would call me when we’d exchanged such harsh words at the wedding.

My phone lit up again, and the name Stephen flashed across the screen this time. I stared at my phone, confused, wondering why my family was blowing my ass up suddenly.

I picked up the phone and swiped my thumb across the bottom to unlock it. Then, I decided to act as if I didn’t just notice seven missed calls from our mother.

“Hey,” I said. “How is Seychelles, and why the hell are you interrupting your married bliss to call me?”

“To tell you to answer your mother’s call so she stops fucking bothering my wife and me.”

Goddammit.

Steve’s tone was so cold and abrupt that I stood up and walked to the conference room at the back of the plane.

Nat looked up, worried. “Everything okay?” she quietly asked.

“Fine,” I mouthed back to her and turned toward the conference room.

Natalia was more focused on her own family bullshit, and I was pretty confident the drama was just igniting on my end. I held the phone to my ear once I walked into the private jet’s conference room.

“Sorry about that,” I said. “I needed to get some privacy.”

“Oh, forgive me, I didn’t realize I was intruding. Perhaps, that’s why Mum is blowing my phone up. You’re just too—”

“Steve,” I said, interrupting him and shutting the door behind me, “I get it, fuck. Now, I’d rather you get straight to the point instead of bitching about the point before you make it. Why the hell is Heidi calling you?”

“To tell me that it’s up to me as the oldest son to cut my honeymoon short and come home so that we can, and I quote, ‘save my idiot brother from that little whore.’ Her words, but I’ve been hearing them for two days, Spence.”

“They’re obviously her words. That woman is the devil herself, and I’m sick to fucking death of her baseless opinions about my life.”

“Yeah, well, her baseless opinions have been blowing me up for the past two days because you’re not answering your phone.”

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