She punches in the code and lets herself in. “Dad?”

“I’m in my office!”

We find him sitting behind his desk, bifocals halfway down his nose, a stack of papers in front of him, his computer screen glowing. Over the years his shoulders have started to round from all the time he spends sitting behind a desk. It’s nine o’clock and still he’s working, and it’s exactly what he’ll do until he’s too tired to keep his eyes open. Despite the late hour, and the fact that he’s in his own house, he’s still wearing a suit. His salt-and-pepper hair is cut short and styled neatly. He looks put together, but it’s a veneer. I can see myself in him, and what my future might look like if I ever choose to follow in his footsteps—a sad, lonely man.

He smiles when I appear behind Teagan. “Donovan! I didn’t know you were here. It’s great to have you home. Are you staying for a while?” He stands and walks around his desk, pulling me into a hug.

“Uh, probably not. Is Bradley home?”

“I think so. Is everything okay?” His brow furrows, and he looks from me to Teagan and back again. “Did something happen?”

“Yeah, and I don’t think you’re going to be particularly happy about it.”

Teagan and I sit him down and show him what we’ve found. The offshore accounts set up in my name, half the money from the foundation already gone, frittered away in a matter of months. The forged signatures, the fraudulent accounts.

“How do you want to handle this, Dad?” Teagan asks softly.

He leans back in his chair and scrubs a palm over his face. This conversation seems to have aged him five years in the span of half an hour. It can’t be easy to be in his shoes, finding out one of his children tried and succeeded to frame his other son.

“I’ve bailed Bradley out more times than I can count. And maybe that was where I went wrong.” He sighs. “I can’t help him out of this one. He’s going to have to face the consequences of his actions.”

Dad reaches for his phone and calls Bradley up to the house.

He strolls into Dad’s office five minutes later, dressed like he’s about to hit the club. His eyes flare when he sees Teagan and me. “What’s going on?”

“You should have a seat.” Dad motions to the empty chair.

“I’m on my way out.” Bradley thumbs over his shoulder, eyes darting back to me as he takes a cautious step toward the door he just walked through.

“Your plans for the evening have changed, I’m afraid.”

Dad turns the laptop around to show Bradley what we all know: that he’s a thief and a liar. Bradley’s expression shutters, and he crosses his arms. “What is this?”

“Based on the number of forged checks and fake accounts, I would call it fraud.” Dad laces his fingers together and folds them on his desk. “Why would you do this to your own family, Bradley?”

“Where should I start? How about when you lied and said Bee’s cottage was worth jack shit and let her hand over what could be worth millions to your golden child? Or maybe we should talk about the way you’ve been pissing away our money ever since Mom died on frivolous purchases you don’t need. The house is mortgaged to the rafters. There’ll be nothing left in a decade.” He flails a hand around. “Or all that money sitting in a damn foundation, and for what? A tax shelter for money we don’t even have. I realized a long time ago that you’re going to leave me with nothing but debt, so I took matters into my own hands. I wanted my inheritance before there wasn’t anything left to inherit. Work smarter, not harder, Dad.”

“You’re a selfish bastard,” Teagan snaps.

“And you’re his damn lapdog!” Bradley says, motioning to our dad. “It’s pathetic the way you’re always pandering to whatever Dad wants. Taking care of him like he’s already an invalid. Staying in this stupid house, and for what?” His angry gaze shifts to Dad. “It’s not like any of us are going to get anything when you finally kick the bucket. You’re a walking corpse. You stopped living as soon as Mom died; you just don’t have the decency to do yourself in. Instead you bury yourself in work! Money is the only thing left you can give us, and you don’t even have any to give.”

“Bradley, you need to watch your mouth,” I snap. “You’ve already done regrettable things; don’t burn what’s left of your bridges because you’ve got an ill-placed vendetta.”

“I’m not wrong!”

I can’t believe how unaffected he is by what he has done. It’s like he doesn’t even know that it was wrong. It reminds me of what Dillion said—that sometimes we don’t want to see the truth, so we make up one that suits us better.

“But you’re not right either,” Dad says quietly. “Framing your brother and stealing from the foundation isn’t the answer. I realize I haven’t been the best role model, or even a very good father, but there’s more to life than money, Bradley.”

“What about Grammy’s cottage? Why go after that, especially after stealing the three million?” I need an answer, even though I’m probably not going to like it, or understand his motivation.

“Everything comes so easily for you. You’ve always been the golden boy who can do no wrong. It doesn’t matter what I do; I’ll never be as good as you. Hell, I’ve worked with Dad since I could hold a job, and still it’s you and all your successes and how much you’ve accomplished. Everyone fawns over you. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? So I figured I’d take the thing that mattered most to you so you’d know what it’s like to lose out.”

“What you’ve done to your own family is shameful, Bradley,” Dad says. “If your mother were still here, she would be devastated.”

“Well, she’s dead, and I never really knew her because of you. She’s been gone for almost two decades, so how she would’ve felt is hardly relevant. Stop living in the damn past!”

My dad pushes out of his chair. “This isn’t a good reason for tearing what’s left of your family apart, Bradley. This isn’t something I can fix for you. You’re going to have to deal with this mess on your own.” I haven’t seen this version of my father in a long time.

Bradley’s demeanor shifts, and he looks suddenly panicked. “So what are you going to do? Make me pay it all back?”

“No.”

Bradley’s shoulders sag with relief, but only for a moment.

“You’re going to report yourself to the board and the police, and then you’re going to deal with the consequences of your actions. And if you don’t make the call, I will.”

His gaze darts around the room, and his half smirk slowly fades as he takes in Teagan and me, a somber, united front against him. I see the moment he realizes Dad is serious.

“But I could go to jail!”

“You should have considered that before you framed your own brother.”

There’s no satisfaction in watching my brother being taken away from our family home in handcuffs. Clearing my own name lacks the kind of closure I wanted, because it shines yet another negative spotlight on my family. And all the issues my dad has been burying for years are finally out in the open. I can handle it, because I don’t have to stay here and watch the fallout, but my dad and my sister don’t have the escape I do, and I worry that this will only serve to tear us further apart.