Page 30 of My Three Mountain Men

Unable to resist her gentle prodding, he finally gave in. “If a local is known to be putting his hands on his wife or kids, we make sure that shit stops. Stuff like that…”

“Knox!” I interjected warningly.

“Who am I going to tell?” Simone asked. “And I told you about me, Brooks.”

She sounded hurt that I was stopping my cousin.

“What about you?” Knox asked, turning fully toward me. “What did you do?”

“You first,” Simone insisted. “What happens to these hypothetical wife beaters?”

“Whatever needs to happen,” I said quickly.

Simone pursed her lips pensively. “And this pays?”

Knox scoffed loudly. “Pays?” he echoed. “Money?”

“Yes. You know, that stuff that pays for this.” She waved her hands around to gesture at the furnishings. “I mean, I’m no expert, but I know expensive stuff when I see it.”

Knox gawked at me. “You told her about that, but you didn’t tell her about the other stuff?”

Simone’s confusion was palpable, and I shifted my weight uncomfortably on the sofa. “It kind of… one came up, and the other one didn’t.”

“Okay, I’m lost,” Simone said. “What am I missing?”

“What we do for the community is a public service,” I offered quickly, before Knox could bluntly offer his own interpretation. “We don’t really venture into Loganville, but we try to give back where we can.”

“So the locals keep their mouths shut about us,” Knox concluded.

I scowled. “That’s not the only reason. At least, that’s not why I fund the little league team.”

Knox appeared appropriately shamed by my rebuttal. “No… but it does help.”

“I still don’t understand,” Simone murmured slowly. “Why do you want the locals to keep quiet about you?”

“Because we don’t want to be bothered,” I reminded her.

“Why not?” Her questions were growing more pointed, as if she sensed there was more to the story than she was getting, her curiosity fully piqued. “And where do you get all your money?”

A glimmer of fear colored Simone’s face, and I quickly realized that her imagination was running rampant.

“Millan Media Corp,” I said simply. I waited for Simone to react to the name, but when she didn’t, Knox clarified.

“MMC,” he clarified. “Have you heard of them?”

Comprehension lit Simone’s face. “That’s your company?” she gasped, recoiling deeper into the sofa, blinking wildly.

“Our fathers founded it,” Knox said, sadness weighing his words. “Second largest media empire in the western hemisphere.”

“But yes, it still belongs to us—not for some others’ lack of trying.”

Knox looked at me warningly, but Simone caught it.

“Someone tried to take the company from you?”

“There is always some nefarious asshole in the shadows when billions of dollars are at stake.”

“Jesus!” Simone breathed. “Okay, I see how you can live out here, then. Your parents fund this.”

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