Page 34 of Kade

“Good thinking. And yes, I’m going in on a Sunday. No one should be there. His office was cleaned on Thursday.”

Logan didn’t say anything for a minute. “Mom’s not here.”

My gut tightened. We had called her and she did what she did. It became about her.

“Good riddance.”

Logan’s gaze sharpened on me. “You don’t care that she’s not here?”

“You do? She loathed Dad, and she barely remembers she has sons, much less grandchildren. Good fucking riddance toher. We have bigger things to deal with besides wondering where our fucking mother is.”

I’d stopped caring long ago. Helen had been decent enough when she was married to James, but she chose to hide in a wine bottle. There’d been a couple stints in rehab, but nothing stuck. The last time she left one of the treatment centers, she’d gone to an all-day brunch and woke up the next morning with some young stud boyfriend. She hadn’t looked back since. “She’s probably on some yacht with who the fuck knows.”

Logan snorted.

Maddy was the only one who remembered her with fondness. Nash and Nolan were too uncomfortable around her. They didn’t have good memories with her. It was ridiculous. Anyway, they had four sets of grandparents, or they once did. Helen was a lost cause. James and Analise had passed now. The last two worth anything were Malinda and David, who were fucking godsends.

Logan must’ve been on the same wavelength because he scowled. “Where the fuck is Garrett? That fucker’s not been around for ages.”

I had to grit my teeth. “He’s another lost cause.”

Sam’s biological father had tried coming around for a few years, but it wasn’t long after Maddy was born when that began to fade. He and his wife moved to Europe. The estrangement was on their end, not Sam’s. She reached out. It was never reciprocated. She didn’t talk about it much, but I knew it bothered her. There was no relationship with her two half-siblings.

I knew that killed her.

“When was the last time he was even around?”

I frowned. “Fucking forever.”

He grunted.

The door opened, and Logan burst out, “Took you goddamn long enough.”

Nate entered with a grin. I half expected him to have brought a slew of guys with him, but he nudged the door shut before heading our way. He handed Logan the bourbon and sank down in a nearby chair with a beer in hand. “What are you dipshits doing in here? You’re hiding from everyone.”

Logan glowered as he opened the bottle. “We are not. We’re commiserating.”

He didn’t respond to Logan, though, instead giving me a slight nod. “What were you talking about?”

“About how Sam’s bio dad is a fucking piece of shit,” Logan said.

Nate’s eyebrows shot up. “Say it like you mean it. Say it from the chest.”

Logan frowned, but he didn’t seem to care enough to decipher that Nate was messing with him. “How was cuddling with Harold last night? Do tortoises get wood?”

I stifled a laugh.

Nate scowled. “Thanks for all the help with deterring my wife from luring that turtle into our bedroom. Heard all about the audience who thought it was hilarious. Quincey was laughing about it this morning.”

Logan shared a look with me before he smirked. “Not my wife, not my problem.”

Nate growled.

Logan snickered before gesturing to me. “We’re talking about our piece-of-shit parents who are also piece-of-shit grandparents. James and Analise are the exception—” He winced, paling. “Werethe exception. Helen’s pathetic, and Brickshire’s been a ghost. Does Maddy even remember him?”

I shook my head. “I honestly don’t know. I think he’s been in contact with Sam over the last five years, but it’s been sporadic and nothing substantial. He sent her a postcard once.”

“A postcard?” Nate shook his head. “I forgot those things exist.”

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