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by Nana Malone
Chapter Twenty-Three
Alec braced himself as the car took him from the airport to the Menlo Park area in San Francisco. Like it or not little brother, I'm coming to take you home. The car pulled up to the townhouse with Alec having no clue what the hell he was going to say to his brother. Lucky for him, when he knocked, Max opened the door without even checking to see who it was.
“I've been expecting you. Adele is very determined.” He swung the door open and staggered back into the living room area.
Alec entered into the dim hallway of the townhouse and closed the door behind him. A quick whiff and glance of the place told him all he needed to know. Max had been on a serious binge. The whole townhouse reeked of alcohol. It emanated from brother’s body. Stepping over a discarded T-shirt, he swore. “Shit, Max, you smell like a bar.”
His brother plopped onto the couch. “Yep, and I look like shit, right?” He took a swig of some amber liquid. “I feel like it too.”
Alec braced himself in the doorframe of the living room. “Get your shit. We're going back.”
Max chuckled. “The fuck I am. You think you're the only one who can run away from your responsibilities?”
Ouch. Alec erected a mental wall to keep himself from seeing the image of Jaya standing there in her red dress as he told her he wouldn’t be her date. “Nope. But my responsibilities don’t include a wife-to-be and a kid. I didn’t sign on for all that. But you, you’re an ass.”
Max made an attempt to get out of his seat, but flopped back down, blond hair falling away from his face. “So what you’re saying is you were an ass when you left Sue five years ago?”
Alec breathed out a sigh. “Yeah. At least a little bit. But I wasn't engaged to her. She wasn’t carrying my kid.” He crossed his arms over his chest, hoping the action would keep him from wanting to pummel his brother. “To make matters worse, you’ve left her and the kid with a pile of shit to deal with. Drugs, Max. Seriously, did you think no one would find out?”
“It wasn’t supposed to go like that. It was supposed to be a one-time deal. But after a couple of transactions, they wouldn’t back off. I was just supposed to launder a fixed amount. Then they started to think I worked for them.”
“The Sandovals have been looking for you. It’s only a matter of time before they find you. You put Adele in danger, Sue, the hotels. Most importantly, your kid.”
Max blanched. With a shaky hand he took another swig, and when his hand didn’t stop shaking, he chugged again. “Yeah, well, my point exactly. That kid is better off without me. I can promise you that.”
His brother's lackadaisical attitude set Alec's blood to simmer. “Oh yeah, had a conversation with the little one already, have you? God, you're such a self-important fuck-up. You have no concern for their safety? What if Sandoval and his thugs get a hold of Sue or the baby? You think they’re going to play nice and wait for you to deliver what they think you took? They already paid Adele a visit. What that kid needs is his father to stand up and be a man.”
“What do you know about it?” Max took the last sip out of the bottle and let it clatter to the ground.
“You’re such a spoiled little shit. The spitting image and soul of the old man. You can't just run around doing what you want in life. You have to accept responsibility. You need to go back and deal with the Sandovals. Face Adele. She’s been covering for you, but time’s up. You really screwed up here.” He shoved a hand in his hair.
Max pushed himself up off the couch, weaved, and then staggered to confront Alec toe to toe. “Look, this isn’t your melodrama, okay? I just need some time to think. I couldn’t think with everyone in my face all the time. I’ll talk to Sandoval, tell him I don’t have the transaction list he thinks I took.”
“You really think it will be that simple? If Sandoval doesn’t get what he wants, he’ll take it out on Sue. Or at least, that’s what he threatened her with.”
Max swayed as he squeezed his eyes shut tight. “What do you mean threatened? Is-is she okay? Th-the baby?” His hands scrubbed his face. “I thought I had more time,” he slurred.
Alec shoved him back on the couch. “I can’t believe I gave up on Jaya to come and fetch you.” He shook his head. “You don’t have to worry. I'm not going to be Adele's errand boy anymore.”
“I need to fix this.”
“Finally, we’re on the same page. Problem is, you say you didn’t take what they’re looking for. Caleb thinks it’s one of his lieutenants making a play by taking that transaction file. But they’ve pinned it on you for sure and they don’t forgive that kind of fuck up.”
“I’ll take Sue and we’ll run.”
“Now is not the time to dick around. If you run, they’ll find you. Caleb pulled some strings at the FBI. You’ll talk to the feds and figure it out from there. You and the family might have to lay low for a bit, but Caleb is working on a solution.”
“I’m a moron for getting into bed with them. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. It was so easy at first. Money Adele didn’t control, didn’t have a hawk eye on. Then they started asking for bigger and bigger cuts. Next thing I knew, I owed them money rather than the other way around.”
Alec worked his jaw. “It could be worse. You just need to get home and fix it.”
Max screwed up his face then mumbled a curse under his breath. “The night I left, I took the money out of my trust. I put half in a numbered account that couldn’t be traced back to me. I paid part of the money I owed the Sandovals and planned to use the rest to take Sue away.”
He blew out a breath. “I detoured to the office to talk to Adele, but she was closed in with the board. I hadn’t planned to leave without saying anything to her. Even I’m not that callous. When I went back to my place, it was being searched. I figured something had come back to bite me in the ass so I’d better get lost for a minute. I didn’t call Sue or Mom because I figured it would blow back on them.” He shook his head.
“So you ran.”
“I did it for their own good. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”