Page 162 of My Heart Still Beats
I’m laying my fucking cards on the table, and I’m calling. My hand is shitty, but I have no other choice at this point.
If I don’t, Dirk Conrad will never go away.
I plunk my ass down in a chair across from Braden’s large desk.
Here goes nothing.
“Something has come back to bite me in the ass,” I say, “and it’s not pretty, brother.”
“We’ll make it go away, then.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Benji, we’ve got billions at our disposal. Whatever is going on, I promise we can fix it.”
It doesn’t escape my notice that Braden used my childhood nickname. Brady and Benji. He hasn’t used it in at least a decade. He must sense this is bad.
I shake my head. “God, if only…”
Braden takes a seat next to me. Next to me, not behind his desk. Guess he decided to sit after all.
“I’m your brother. Spill it, and I’ll take care of it.”
“Braden, if that were the case, I could have taken care of it myself.”
I could have, and I thought about it. I could have hired someone to off Dirk Conrad. But that makes me guiltier.
I didn’t kill anyone all those years ago, but if I have Dirk offed? Then I may as well have plunged a knife into a chest same as he did.
“Bray, do you remember back in the day, during my senior year of high school, when I didn’t show up to work one day after school?”
He wrinkles his brow. “No.”
“You read me the fucking riot act. How can you not remember?”
“I read you the fucking riot act a lot back then, Ben. How am I supposed to remember each specific time?”
He’s not wrong. “All right. Here’s what happened. Fuck.” I sink my head into my hands. “I can’t believe I have to tell you this after all these years.”
“Tell me, and we’ll fix it.”
“God, I wish you could.”
“I can. But not if you don’t tell me.”
I look down at my lap, clasp my hands together. Then I look up, meeting my brother’s blue gaze. There’s care in his eyes. He thinks he can fix this.
He’s wrong.
“I got in with some bad guys at school. Only one time, but I was sick and tired of working all the time. Never having a minute to myself or a penny to spend on myself. So I met these guys after school one day, and they wanted to rob the convenience store.”
“For God’s sake, Ben. You robbed a convenience store?”
I shake my head. “I wish.”
“Fuck. What happened?”
“They wanted to rob a store that’s open twenty-four-seven and only holds about a grand in cash. It was a stupid idea.”
