Page 65 of Maximum
“I’m proud of the work, but I’m nowhere done and now River is involved too. With Noah’s billions we can do a ton of good things.”
“Wait, what did you say? Noah doesn’t have much money. He was a police officer.”
I closed my eyes for a second, pressing my lips together. “I said too much. River told me in confidentiality and asked me not to tell anyone.”
“Noah has money?” Fleur said with surprise in her tone.
“Yes. He just doesn’t like to flash it.”
“I’d say.” Fleur blinked her eyes. “He’s staying in a small room at my farm and I never got the impression he was used to money.”
“He’s not. It’s an inheritance from his estranged father.”
“Wow, and here I thought their castle wedding was paid for by River or your parents.”
“Yes, well, my point is that there’s still a lot of work to be done, but I don’t want to just throw money around. I want to make sure it’s not swallowed up in administration somewhere.”
“Is that why you don’t have a normal job? Because this work takes up all your time?”
“Yes. I invest my money to make it grow and I support projects around the world that I believe in. It’s time-consuming.”
Fleur leaned her head against me. “That thing Anthony asked you… about what good things your father did.”
“Mhmm, what about it?”
“If he built schools, don’t you think that would qualify as a good thing?”
“I just told you that he only spent ten percent on the children.”
“Yes, but that’s still something. I get that it would have been better if all the money had gone to the children, but it doesn’t take away that he did help some children.”
“I guess.”
“Maximum, what do you know about your father? Where was he born and what was his childhood like?”
I groaned. “I don’t know and even if he grew up in an abusive home, it won’t excuse his behavior.”
“I’m not asking you to make excuses for him, but River once told me that all you children were advanced academically because you lived in the cult. How was that possible? How was your father a better teacher than others?”
“He was a genius just like Atlas. They’d swallow books like mints and spew out information like vomit coming straight from a demon’s throat.”
“Did you just call your brother a demon?”
“No, it’s just that his ability to digest and process information is like our father’s, and it’s not normal.”
“Do you have a bit of the same genius?”
“No. But Conor taught us all speed-reading and instilled discipline in us. Look, I get that you’re curious, but I don’t know much about my father. He didn’t speak about his past much, but maybe Atlas knows something. He’s done a lot of research while the rest of us just haven’t been interested.”
“I’d love to understand what led Conor to become the man he was.”
With a small snort, I leaned my chin on her shoulder. “You won’t find any redeeming qualities if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“Maybe not, but we walked among wild lions looking for answers. As I see it, this is just another mystery for us to solve.”
“Why do you care?”
Fleur’s skin was warm and soft when I kissed her cheek.
