Page 55 of Inevitable
All four of the men had extremely nice homes with a lake view that were in fairly close proximity to each other.
Nice vehicles.
And very nice toys that most normal guys couldn’t afford.
Brock chuckled. “Are you kidding? We’re close to Wyatt Durand. He made damn sure our financial future was secure from day one in Delta. None of us spent much of our paychecks in the military because we were always gone. He started aportfolio for all of us and invested those funds for all of the years we were in Delta. He taught us how to secure our futures. Up until a few years ago, he gifted us stocks for our birthdays and the holidays. We finally had to put our feet down a few years ago and make him stop. We were all skilled investors ourselves by that time, and we had good careers. We were perfectly capable of continuing to invest on our own. He wasn’t happy, but he was content with the knowledge that we could all retire tomorrow and never hurt for money for the rest of our lives. We all make a good living. We aren’t billionaires like Wyatt, but money really isn’t a concern for any of us.”
Hell, I probably should have known that Wyatt would make sure his guys never hurt for money. He’d been a billionaire with savvy financial skills before he’d gone into Delta, so he’d had those investment and financial skills to share with his men.
I was glad that Wyatt had made it his business to make sure our Michigan team was financially secure. None of them got paid for their involvement in Last Hope, but they dedicated a significant amount of their time and energy to the organization.
Last Hope’s success probably meant as much to these guys as it did to the headquarters team.
I’d picked Wyatt’s brain many times myself on investments, and his advice had allowed my net worth to grow even larger over time.
“Something tells me that Wyatt shared his financial advice with you, too,” Brock said like he’d just read my mind.
I nodded. “I started investing as soon as I got into the military just like you did. I didn’t need most of my paycheck, either. But Wyatt’s advice has been invaluable over the years. I don’t have financial worries. I’m more than capable of taking care of anything Emma and Wren need in the future.”
Yeah, I was getting more open with my Michigan team, but I had to draw the line at telling them that I had a very lucrative job as a contractor with the government.
That was something nobody knew except Emma, and I preferred to keep it that way.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the people who were the most involved in Last Hope, but the less people who knew about my work the better it was for those top-secret projects.
In my mind, I’d already tasked the men who were most involved with Last Hope to keep enough secrets. They didn’t need any more of that shit on their plates.
“I don’t think that Emma and Wren really need a lot of financial support anymore,” Brock said thoughtfully.
“They’re going to get it anyway,” I said hoarsely. “I fucking hate the fact that I have money and I wasn’t there to help support Emma and my daughter when they really could have used that support.”
“Emma’s stubborn,” Brock warned. “We wanted to help her with a few things years ago before her career really took off, and she flatly refused. She said she was perfectly capable of providing for her own daughter.”
“I know that,” I said unhappily. “She said I need to stop paying for things around the house and stop giving her things. But that’s not going to happen. She’s going to have to get used to me taking care of her and Wren.”
“Maybe she’s afraid you’re doing it out of a sense of guilt,” Brock suggested.
“I’m not,” I said in a clipped voice. “Guilt isn’t something I spend much time dwelling on. That shit will eat people alive. I’m doing it because Iwantto do it. I’m going to want to do the same for my daughter. That’s not something I’m going to compromise on.”
Hell, for the most part, I wasn’t a guy who compromised…period.
I was a man who gave orders and expected them to be carried out.
“You’re going to have to be open to negotiation in the future,” Brock informed me. “Emma isn’t one of the men under your command. She’ll be reasonable about letting you spend time with Wren, but you can’t just tell her what to do.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “I realize that. She’s probably the most stubborn and the most infuriating woman on the planet sometimes.”
Brock laughed. “That’s probably why she intrigues you so much. She’s incredibly kind, but she doesn’t take orders well.”
“I’ve noticed,” I rumbled. “I suppose I’m going to have to learn to compromise…a little.”
Brock smirked. “It’s really not that painful if you care about someone. Maybe you should use a little of your own persistence and stubbornness to go after what you really want. I might be wrong, but I suspect that you’ve missed being with Emma since the day you parted. You just managed to put it out of your mind because being with her again was never a possibility.”
I shook my head. “Even if that was what I wanted, I still don’t have much to offer Emma. Last Hope has been my priority for a long time. I’m not going to change much at my age.”
“I don’t know,” Brock mused. “You’ve seemed pretty damn content not thinking about Last Hope every minute of every day. It can still be a priority for you. It just doesn’t have to consume your life all the time, Marshall. People can change at any age. We’re actually sitting here having a personal discussion. That’s never happened before.”
“I’ve never had a personal life to talk about,” I said gruffly.
