“What brings you around?” I asked.
My cousin and best friend lifted the ball cap off his head and ran a hand through his unruly hair before settling the cap in place. I eyed him but said nothing as my questioning gaze should have been enough.
“I think I’m going to New York,” he blurted.
I whistled because it was long expected.
“Why now?” I asked.
At just twenty-two and recently honorably discharged from the Air Force, I’d thought he’d settled down.
“They say the old man is dying.”
According to Liam’s mother, Dad’s brother, the King of New York himself, was Liam’s father. I personally thought there was another possibility.
“What are you going to do? Ring his bell and declare you’re his long-lost son?” I asked.
“I’ve got to do something,” Liam spat. “They say in his will, he limits the time for heirs to produce themselves.”
“How did you find out about that?”
“Reporters. You know there are new stories about him all the time. Everything that’s happened with the scandal with his son, he’s more in the news than ever,” Liam said.
“So this is about money?” I asked.
“It’s about making things right for Mom.”
As the story went, when she’d confronted my uncle about paternity, he’d threatened to take her son if she was right. With no money to fight him legally, she gave up.
“And what about what he did to your dad?” Liam tossed out.
I’d only seen the man in person once in my life. Natalie, Liam’s mom, was my mom’s closest friend in town. When Dad’s brother showed up to get him to sign away his rights in the family business, he’d met Natalie.
“Dad made a choice. He didn’t have to sign.”
“How do you know?” Liam asked. “He could have blackmailed him the same way he did my mom.”
It was true, I hadn’t been there. Well, I had, but I hadn’t heard the conversations between my dad and uncle.
“That’s Dad’s battle to fight, but not mine,” I said.
“He owes me.” Liam held the lip of the truck with white knuckles as he clenched his jaw. “I need to know the truth.”
I worried he wouldn’t find the answers he wanted.
“What if you get stuck there? I heard they might close the state.”
The mystery virus was spreading like flaming embers in the city.
“That’s a risk I have to take.”
“What’s your plan?” I asked again.
He shrugged as he let go of the truck, taking two frustrating steps back. “I don’t know. Connor has a club in the city. If I can’t get to the old man, I’ll reach out to him.”
Connor was a cousin I’d never met. I doubted the man knew that I existed. My uncle had written Dad and me out of the family history.
The door to my cabin opened and Jolene framed the doorway in the thermals I’d given her to wear. I glanced from her to Liam and gritted my teeth when I spotted his slack jaw as he stared at her.
Shifting my attention back to Jolene, I was annoyed to find my clothes weren’t as shapeless on her as I’d like in this moment. They were big, but so were her tits, and it was undeniably clear she caught a chill from the brisk morning air.
“Jo, honey. Why don’t you put on a coat?”
I pointedly let my eyes drop to her chest and hers followed suit. Immediately, her arms crossed over her chest as she backed up and closed the door.
Liam chuckled, but when he saw my face, he stopped and spread his arms. “Sorry, cuz. Uncle Ted told me you weren’t alone, but he didn’t say you were hiding a smokestack.” He whistled. “I can see why you’d quarantine with her.”
“It isn’t like that,” I said, though it would be if I had my choice in the matter. He didn’t need to know that. “Mind your manners.”
With more than six years separating us, I’d always taken the role of older brother, even though he was my closest friend. Despite my zap of jealousy, ultimately I could trust Liam with Jolene now that he understood she was off-limits.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. I’m just saying—”
I gave him a look that cut off what he might have said. He raised his hands in surrender in time for Jolene to come out in jeans with her coat zipped up tight and boots covering her feet. She stopped far enough away we formed a social distancing triangle.
“Jolene, this is my cousin, Liam. Liam, this is Jolene.”
He held out a hand before remembering himself. “This is going to take some getting used to,” he said, dropping his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Jolene. Take care of my cousin here.”
“I’ll do my best, and nice to meet you too.”
“Well, I best be getting on,” Liam said.
“Where are you heading?” Jolene asked.
“New York,” Liam said wistfully.
“Best of luck,” I said. “Make sure you keep me updated with what’s going on. You know your mother is going to be on my ass about where you are.”