The front door to my house opens as Iâm putting my car in park, and Ezra walks outside, wringing her hands together nervously. I get out of the car and walk to where sheâs standing, wide-eyed.
âSilas,â she says, her voice quivering. âI thought he knew. I wouldnât have mentioned Charlie was here, but you didnât seem to be hiding it, so I thought things had changed and she was allowed over hereâ¦â
I hold up my hand to stop her from more unnecessary apologies. âItâs fine, Ezra. Really.â
She sighs and runs her hand across the apron sheâs still wearing. I donât understand her nervousness, or why she anticipated I would be angry with her. I shove more reassurance into my smile than is probably necessary, but she looks as if she needs it.
She nods and follows me inside the house. I pause in the foyer, not quite familiar enough with the house to know where my father would be at the moment. Ezra passes me, muttering a âgoodnight,â and heads up the stairs. She must live here.
âSilas.â
It sounds like my voice, but more worn. I turn and am suddenly face to face with the man in all the family photos lining the walls. Heâs missing the brilliantly fake smile, though.
He eyes me up and down, as if the mere sight of his son disappoints him.
He turns and walks through a door leading out of the foyer. His silence and the assurance in his steps demand I follow him, so I do. We walk into his study, and he slowly edges around his desk and takes a seat. He leans forward and folds his arms over the mahogany wood. âCare to explain?â
Iâm tempted to explain. I really am. I want to tell him that I have no idea who he is, no idea why heâs angry, no idea who I am.
I should probably be nervous or intimidated by him. Iâm sure yesterdayâs Silas would have been, but itâs hard to feel intimidated by someone I donât know at all. As far as Iâm concerned, he has no power over me, and power is the primary ingredient of intimidation.
âCare to explain what?â I ask.
My eyes move to a shelf of books on the wall behind him. They look like classics. Collectibles. I wonder if heâs read any of the books or if theyâre just more ingredients for his intimidation.
âSilas!â His voice is so deep and sharp; it feels like the tip of a knife piercing my ears. I press my hand against the side of my neck and squeeze before looking at him again. He eyes the chair across from him, silently commanding me to sit down.
I get the feeling yesterdayâs Silas would be saying, âYes, sir,â right about now.
Todayâs Silas smiles and walks slowly to his seat.
âWhy was she inside this house today?â
Heâs referring to Charlie like sheâs poison. Heâs referring to her the same way her mother referred to me. I look down at the arm of the chair and pick at a piece of worn leather. âShe wasnât feeling well at school. She needed a ride home, and we took a quick detour.â
This manâ¦my fatherâ¦leans back in his chair. He brings a hand up to his jaw and rubs it.
Five seconds pass.
Ten seconds pass.
Fifteen.
He finally leans forward again. âYou seeing her again?â
Is this a trick question? Because it feels like one.
If I say yes, itâll obviously piss him off. If I say no, it feels like Iâll be letting him win. I donât know why, but I really donât want this man to win. He seems like heâs accustomed to winning.
âWhat if I am?â
His hand is no longer rubbing his jaw because itâs now moving across the desk, fisting into the collar of my shirt. He yanks me toward him just as my hands grip the edges of the desk for resistance. Weâre eye to eye now, and I expect heâs about to hit me. I wonder if this type of interaction with him is common?
Instead of hitting me like I know he wants to, he pushes his fist against my chest and releases me. I fall back into my seat, but only for a second. I push out of my chair and take a few steps back.
I probably should have hit the asshole, but I donât hate him enough to do that yet. I also donât like him enough to be affected by his reaction. It does confuse me, though.
He picks up a paperweight and hurls it across the room, luckily not in my direction. It smashes against a wooden shelf and knocks the contents to the floor. A few books. A picture frame. A rock.
I stand still and watch him pace back and forth, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. I donât understand why he could possibly be this upset over the fact that Charlie was here today. Especially since Ezra said we grew up together.
His palms are now flat against the desk. Heâs breathing heavily, nostrils flaring like a raging bull. I expect him to start kicking up dust with his foot any second now. âWe had an understanding, Silas. Me and you. I wasnât going to push you to testify if you swore to me you wouldnât see that manâs daughter again.â One of his hands flail toward a locked cabinet while his other hand runs through whatâs left of his thinning hair. âI know you donât think she took those files from this office, but I know she did! And the only reason I havenât pursued it further is because you swore to me we wouldnât have to deal with that family again. And here you areâ¦â He shudders. Literally shudders. âHere you are bringing her to this house like the last twelve months never even happened!â More frustrated hand flailing, twisted facial expressions. âThat girlâs father almost ruined this family, Silas! Does that not mean a damn thing to you?â
Not really, I want to say.
I make a mental note to never get this angry. Itâs not an attractive look on a Nash.
I search for some sort of emotion that conveys remorse, so that he can see it on my face. Itâs hard though, when the only thing Iâm experiencing is curiosity.
The door to the office opens and we both move our attention to whomever is entering.
âLandon, this doesnât concern you,â my father says, his voice soft. I briefly face my father again, just to make sure the words actually fell from his mouth and not someone elseâs. It almost sounds like the voice of a caring father, rather than the monster I just witnessed.
Landonânice to finally know my little brotherâs nameâlooks at me. âCoach is on the phone for you, Silas.â
I glance back at my father, who now has his back turned to me. I assume that means our conversation is over. I walk toward the door and gladly exit the room, followed closely by Landon.
âWhereâs the phone?â I ask him when I reach the stairs. Valid question, though. How am I supposed to know if he called on a cell phone or a landline?
Landon laughs and moves past me. âThereâs no phone call. I was just getting you out of there.â
He continues up the stairs and I watch as he reaches the top and then turns left, disappearing down the hall. Heâs a good brother, I think. I make my way to what I assume is his room, and I knock lightly on the door. Itâs slightly ajar, so I push it open. âLandon?â I open the door all the way and heâs seated at a desk. He looks over his shoulder briefly and then returns his attention to his computer. âThanks,â I say, stepping into the room. Do brothers thank each other? Probably not. I should have said something along the lines of, âTook you long enough, asshole.â
Landon turns in his chair and tilts his head. A combination of confusion and admiration plays out in his smile. âIâm not sure what your deal is. You arenât showing up for practice, and thatâs never happened. You act like you donât give a shit that Charlie has been screwing Brian Finley. And then you have the balls to bring her here? After all the shit Dad and Brett went through?â He shakes his head. âIâm surprised you escaped his office without a bloodbath.â
He spins back around and leaves me to process everything. I turn and rush toward my bedroom.
Brett Wynwood, Brett Wynwood, Brett Wynwood.
I repeat his name in my head so Iâll know exactly what to search when I get to my computer. Surely I have a computer.
When I reach my room, the first thing I do is walk to my dresser. I pick up the pen Charlie handed me earlier today and read the imprint again.
WYNWOOD-NASH FINANCIAL GROUP.
I search the room until I finally find a laptop stuffed in the drawer of my bedside table. I power it on and enter the password.
I remember the password? Add that to the list of shit that makes no sense.
I type Wynwood-Nash Financial Group into the search engine. I click on the first result and am taken to a page that reads, âNash Finance,â with the Wynwood noticeably absent. I scroll quickly through the page and discover nothing that helps. Just a bunch of useless company contact information.
I back out of the page and scroll through the rest of the results, reading each of the leading headlines and the articles that follow:
Finance gurus, Clark Nash and Brett Wynwood, co-founders of Wynwood-Nash Financial Group, have been charged with four counts of conspiracy, fraud and illegal trading.
Partners for over twenty years, the two business moguls are now placing the blame on each other, both claiming to have no knowledge of the illegal practices uncovered during a recent investigation.
I read another.
Clark Nash cleared of charges. Company co-chair, Brett Wynwood, sentenced to fifteen years for fraud and embezzlement.
I make it to the second page of search results when the battery light begins to flash on the laptop. I open the drawer, but thereâs no charger. I look everywhere. Under the bed, in the closet, in my dresser drawers.
The laptop dies during my search. I begin to use my phone to research, but itâs about to die, too, and the only phone charger I can find plugs into a laptop. I keep looking because I need to know exactly what happened to make these two families hate each other so much.
I lift the mattress, thinking maybe the charger could be stuck behind the bed somehow. I donât find the charger, but I do find what looks like a notebook. I slide it out from under the mattress and then take a seat on top of the bed. Right when I open it up to the first page, my phone vibrates with an incoming text.
Charlie: How are things with your father?
I want to learn more before deciding what I want to share with her. I ignore the text and open the notebook to find stacks of papers stuffed into a folder. Across the top, the papers all read âWynwood-Nash Financial Group,â but I donât understand any of them. I also donât understand why these were hidden beneath my mattress.
Clark Nashâs words from downstairs repeat in my headâI know you donât think she took those files from this office, Silas, but I know she did.
Looks like he was wrong, but why would I have taken them? What would I have needed with them?
Who was I trying to protect?
My phone buzzes again with another text.
Charlie: Thereâs this really neat feature on your phone called, âread receipts.â If youâre going to ignore texts, you should probably turn that off. ð
At least she put a winky face.
Me: Not ignoring you. Just tired. We have a lot to figure out tomorrow.
Charlie: Yeah
Thatâs all she says. Iâm not sure if I should respond to her effortless reply, but I donât want her to be irritated if I donât respond.
Me: Goodnight, Charlie baby. ð
As soon as I hit send, I want to retract it. I donât know what I was going for with that reply. Not sarcasm, but definitely not flirtation, either.
I decide to regret it tomorrow. Right now I just need sleep so I can make sure Iâm awake enough in the morning to deal with all of this.
I shove the notebook back under the mattress and see a wall charger, so I plug it into my phone. Iâm too exhausted to keep searching tonight, so I kick off my shoes. It isnât until I lie down that I notice Ezra changed my sheets.
As soon as I turn the lamp off and close my eyes, my phone vibrates.
Charlie: Goodnight, Silas.
Her lack of endearment doesnât go unnoticed, but for some inexplicable reason, the text still makes me smile. Typical Charlie.
I think.