Page 25 of Go Deep

“Lived every day in fear of being chased down by an expiration date. I don’t want that black cloud hanging over my head.”

“But wouldn’t you want to find out? To make sure you live your life to the fullest? To make sure you fulfill every goal?”

“I’m doing a pretty good job of that right now, Mom. I’m the quarterback for the Cincinnati Crusaders. I think I’m good on my life goals.”

I hate the biting tone in my voice, but every time I hear her voice on the line, it dredges up all of the anger. I’m her son. She let me go. Why does she think she has the right to pop back into my life after she fulfilled her part in shattering it?

“But if there is something they can do to help you, to prolong your life and improve the prognosis, isn’t it worth finding out?”

“You know there isn’t anything that can be done. If I have the gene, I’m screwed. And I’d rather not wake up every morning panicked about my shaky future. Ignorance is bliss sometimes.”

“You’re being so stubborn. Austin has been tested.”

“And?”

She pauses for a second. “It was negative.”

“So I guess Austin will just continue pursuing his life goal of leeching off anyone he can sucker.” I grab a water bottle out of my bag and gulp down the cold liquid so I can occupy my mouth and keep any other insults on the back burner.

“That’s not fair. You know he’s had trouble holding on to a job because of his knee injury.”

“I wasn’t aware that sitting in a toll booth all day required so much lower body activity.”

That knee injury. Dammit. It was the main reason why Icould never cut him off completely, even after Dad kicked me out. It’s also the reason for our otherwise rocky relationship. We were both superstar quarterbacks in high school and in college. Then came the Sugar Bowl, and all my brother’s hopes and dreams for an NFL career came crashing on top of him, burying him under a pile of jealousy, resentment, and anger. My parents never had the heart to tell him to get on with his life and have been coddling him ever since, allowing him to drown in a sea of self-pity.

“Gabe, you know this hasn’t been easy for Austin. He’s doing the best he can.”

“Not easy? You’ve let him sit on his ass for the past five years, never once telling him to go out and make a new dream for himself. Life doesn’t always work out the way we want, and sometimes, we need a Plan B.”

My phone pings with a text from Neil. I pull it away from my ear and stare at the words on the screen.

Heritage Bank Center tomorrow at eight. Vince Castro is hosting an event. You should make an appearance.

Fuck,yes. My mind swirls with lust, temporarily blunting my resentment.

“You have to make the best of what life hands you, Mom. And sometimes, it’s better than what you had planned.”

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Chapter 12

Vince

The highball glass in my hand is barely empty before I ask the bartender for another. I stand against the wall and eye the packed crowd in the skybox at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati.

The timing for this networking event isn’t great. I’ve been trying to help my dad as much as possible since his heart attack a couple of weeks ago, making visits every other day, preparing healthy meals that he’d never make himself. I promised Eva I’d stay local for the time being. I know she’s trying to balance her own crazy patient schedule, and things have actually calmed down on the campaign front.

Thank God. At least that shit isn’t staring me in the face and taunting me anymore. Being around Dad is a little easier when he’s not behind a microphone spouting hate.

Eva thinks he feels the distance between us and that it hurts him. I sometimes wonder if he would feel worse knowing the real reason behind it.

And then I welcome the big ass elephant back into the room with us, quite content to hide behind him.

As always.

I pick up my scotch from the bar and shake the ice cubes around in the glass, my temples throbbing from the noise. I figured the alcohol would have taken effect by now and blunted the rock music, but no such luck.

One of my cohorts back in Los Angeles convinced me the Grammy-nominated rock band, Sin City, would be a scorching hot ticket, and he was right. This event is already a screaming success for Xcel Wealth Management — there are plenty of prospective clients and new business opportunities sandwiched into this sweat box.

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