Chapter 3
David asked to speak with me alone.
We went into my study after Emma fell asleep on Laura’s lap.
He stood instead of sitting.
Nervous.
“Sit.”
He did.
“What did Margaret want from you?”
He stared at his hands.
“She wanted me at meetings.”
“What meetings?”
“With older family members.”
My jaw tightened.
“How many?”
“Four.”
“Who?”
He listed names.
Three retired capos.
Two senior cousins.
One old family adviser.
All men who still talked about bloodlines as though surnames were military rank.
“What happened?”
“They asked what I thought about Mom leading someday.”
I studied him.
“And?”
“I said she already does most of the work when you’re away.”
Good answer.
“What did Margaret say?”
“That was different.”
Of course.
“Different how?”
David looked embarrassed.
“She said women can hold things together, but men inherit them.”
I almost smiled.
Not because it was funny.
Because Margaret had apparently time-traveled from fifty years ago and expected everyone else to join her.
“What did you say?”
“I told her Mom would destroy me.”
I actually laughed.
David relaxed slightly.
Then became serious.
“She asked whether I thought Emma was really my sister.”
There.
“What did you answer?”
“Yes.”
His voice was immediate.
Good.
“What happened after?”
“She took Dad’s watch away.”
I frowned.
David’s father, Michael, had died five years earlier.
Laura never remarried.
The watch was one of the few things David had left.
“She had his watch?”
He nodded.
“She said Grandma gave it to her for safekeeping.”
Laura would never do that.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because I defended Emma.”
My anger changed.
Margaret was not simply telling David he should become heir.
She was using his dead father’s things to discipline him into accepting her version of family.
“What did she say?”
David swallowed.
“That if I wanted to act like a child, I didn’t deserve a man’s inheritance.”
I stared.
Sixteen.
A grieving boy being told kindness toward his sister made him weak.
“Where is the watch?”
“Her room.”
I stood.
David looked up.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting it.”
His eyes widened.
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“No test?”
I stared.
“What test?”
He looked embarrassed.
“Nothing.”
No.
Not nothing.
Margaret had taught him that getting something he loved back required performance.
I put a hand on his shoulder.
“Your father’s watch is yours.”
His face changed.
May you like
“Even if I don’t want your chair?”
“Especially then.”
