Page 84 of The Professor's Possession (Crystal River Billionaire Brothers)

All of us remember him in our own different, private ways.

And, like my mother, I can’t bear to look at Arthur’s face for long. I miss my brother more than words can express. I turn my eyes away from the photograph.

“And how’s Crystal River going?” Father asks me.

“Fine.”

I know what he’sreallyasking.

“Have you had any reconsideration about going back to Boston and taking up a position at Harvard? CRU is a fine university, and I’ve donated a small fortune to it over the years, but Harvard is the place for powerhouse intellectuals like you, son.”

I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted.

“You know why I’m here in town, Father.”

“That business is still ongoing? I would’ve thought it had ended by now.”

He’s switched to Spanish now.

The way he lifts up his eyebrow, it evokes the spitting image of Damon. Each of my brothers seem to have carried characteristics of our alpha father in us.

“I’m working on it.”

I’ve switched to Spanish too.

“Your lawyers haven’t sorted it out?” he asks me with a sigh in his voice.

“The legal system in this country is broken beyond repair,” I reply. “It’s been an uphill battle all the way.”

“So, what can I do to help?” he asks.

His offer is genuine and without expectation. Penmaynes look after their own.

“Nothing. I can handle this on my own,” I say.

“Good. I raised you boys to be independent.”

“Yep.”

“And is there anything else I can help you with?” he asks.

“No, Father. I just wanted to see you and Mother.”

“Right.”

“How is work?” I ask him, nodding at his computer.

“I’m negotiating a merger deal with the biggest news network in continental Europe,” he says. “It’s proving to be...tricky.”

“I read about that in the trades.Tricky, you say?”

“I am too impatient a man,” my father continues. “Even after all these years, I still treat these deals like playground handshakes, but in reality, there are so many hoops to jump through. So much wasted time. Lawyers and law and money and financiers. Things need to be simple. Like they used to be when I first started out.”

I smirk. “If things were simple, then us Penmaynes would be bored stiff.”

“You’re right there,” Father says, now switching to Latin. “We’ve always thrived on the uncertain and the so-called impossible.”

His phone rings. Father glances down.

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