Page 6

“If it’s half as good as it smells, I’d eat it all on my own,” Da muttered. “I love American barbeque. Your mum promised we’d get it more with you moving, and it’s the only way I could let you go.”

It was sweet of him to say.

Weird, but sweet.

We ate and my other siblings showed up to eat as well. Mum glanced between us all, clearly knowing something was going on from the way we were all fired up.

Once dinner was over, we all pulled out our own laptops and brought up our financials. I gave my brothers disgusted looks when they were all immediately knocked out.

I actually had choice words for them and let them have it a bit in Korean that they needed to do better and not act like such entitled men who knew they’d inherit money. Da was a self-made man before he was ever considered Granddad’s successor and they should aspire to that.

They did not appreciate the teardown, but when it was clear that my three sisters were disgusted too, they changed gears and demanded to see what I had that was so great.

Ha-yun couldn’t hide her shock as she looked it over.

And I had about the same shock as I looked over hers.

“You little shit,” she hissed. “How? I’m way older than you and— how? ”

“You have overhead and staff,” I muttered as I studied the numbers. “I don’t.”

“This is impressive,” she admitted.

“Who won?” Da asked, already having filled in Mum but not about the bet and the stakes.

“She does,” I said the same time she said that I did. She shot me a shit look and I sighed. “It would come down to stock prices in this moment, but you took out that building and I was thinking—I took more stock options in my contracts because I didn’t need to worry about funds and had my trust.”

“I did the same,” she conceded. “I’ll accept a tie and we will still name you winner.” She scrolled down a bit. “This is impressive, Brother. I didn’t think you had a finance education or—”

“Just the basics and I can’t take the credit,” I admitted as I sat back in my chair and met her gaze.

“My mate from uni is an attorney. He’s always negotiated my contracts.

His parents are pains who don’t like doctors but love me.

I talk them into physicals and their appointments and he handles my legal everything. I have a financial advisor mate too.”

“Your last sons group,” she muttered, nodding when I did. “They did right by you.”

“Your range and diversity are impressive. It always makes me too nervous.” I looked some more and sighed. “I want to see one of your buildings.”

Instantly, her mood changed and she bared her teeth at me. “That wasn’t part of—”

“It’s not the intro Father wanted, but I heard something that you could use,” I told her. “In Miami, which is a tough market for most to get into.” I saw the interest in her eyes. “But I don’t know you, Ha-yun, or your practices. All of these places could be slums you overcharge for.”

“We would never allow that,” Mum defended.

“Agreed, but I’ve never seen it, and I have enough that haunts me from losing patients to—is it really so wrong to see one of my sister’s buildings?”

“No and I have nothing to hide,” Ha-yun said firmly. “I can give you a quick tour of any building you pick tomorrow before you leave.”

I extended my hand to her. “If it lives up to what I assume it will, I’ll even invest since clearly you’re a good investment.”

“And you’ve got the money to do it,” one of my brothers said bitterly.

“Deal, baby brother,” Ha-yun accepted. “And I want to talk to your money guy mate. The market has changed and I would like to talk numbers.”

I nodded. “You’re more than welcome to join us tonight for a drink and intro, but I do need my mates and don’t get them often.”

“Just a drink,” she accepted.

Maybe hell really could freeze over.

My mates couldn’t hide their shock when I walked in with my sister. One even spit out his beer all over the table.

“Smooth, tosser,” I chuckled as I walked over and introduced her. I growled when I scented something I shouldn’t have. “Oi, my sister, gits. Don’t even think it.”

“You’re all too young for me,” Ha-yun chuckled smoothly. “I’d hate to chew up one of my baby brother’s friends.”

My sister kept to her word, even buying the round of drinks when she learned they were out in celebration. She got her intro and ducked out.

“It’s really hard to think she’s the same Ha-yun we’ve been hearing about for decades,” my best mate, Matt, muttered after she was gone about five minutes so no chance she could overhear him.

I bobbed my head and flagged our server.

“I hear my siblings are really nice people. They have a lot of friends and are genuinely liked—especially in the pack.” I swallowed loudly before finishing off my whiskey.

“That’s just not what I know of them. Tonight was the first time she said anything nice to me or wanted…

” I shook my head and ordered shots from the server.

I already had enough to sulk about. I didn’t need more or to go looking for more.

“I barely get to see you tossers and you should celebrate,” I said when they told me to unload what was going on.

“You’ve done the same for us,” my other friend, Russ, told me. “And we’re here to celebrate my success and that I’ve made it big enough your sister wants to talk to me professionally. So let me crash at your nice flat when I need a break from London and we’ll call it even.”

“Always,” I agreed, patting his back.

So I told them. All about the new job and how Mandy showed up—how she behaved and how that all blew up.

“I knew there was a bird,” one of my mates said with a cackle when I started to tell them about Ellie. “How is she? It good between you, yeah?”

I blew out air between my lips and took another shot. “Mate, it’s like—it doesn’t even fit the normal scale. And when she feeds from me it’s like my mind and soul—my wolf are at a new level.”

“Really? I’ve always been—I’m not food,” one of my other friends muttered.

“It’s not like that,” I said, a few of my mates echoing me. He seemed to accept that and I moved on, telling them the rest.

“So what’s the problem? She’s awesome and finally got that twat out of your life forever,” Matt asked. “I love her already.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “I feel like I might be going down the same path—history repeating itself. She didn’t tell me she was a doctor? What else is keeping and—”

“No, no, no, no,” Russ interrupted. “Nothing but love for ya, mate, but ya way off base on this one.”

“I know but I don’t, and it’s all just anxiety,” I mumbled, rubbing my chest.

“Mandy lied , as in told you bullshit to your face when you were too young to sense it or just too in love,” he told me firmly.

“Sky was purple, night was day. This bird—lady didn’t tell you yet .

You’re not official, and clearly she’s had shite with her being a doctor in the past in her current role.

If you asked her if she was a doctor and she said no—that’s a lie.

“This isn’t even hiding she’s talking to her git ex-lover keeping things from you.

This is too new knowing each other and the information didn’t come up.

If she was doing shite in the operating room or trauma bays during the disaster and hid it—that’s lying.

She’s clearly a bird who’s been damaged.

You know how that feels and the care needed. She’s not Mandy.”

“I agree,” Matt and the others said, basically repeating what Russ said but in different ways with good examples as well.

“I hear you,” I accepted and rubbed my chest. “I just…”

“You’re falling hard,” Matt chuckled, nodding when I blinked at him.

I saw the others nodding as well. “Oh, come off it, mate. You’re so into this lady that you’ve got hearts around ya.

That’s the anxiety and worry. The only other woman you ever got lost in like that was Mandy. But you were—we were stupid nippers.

“I didn’t see her shite either and I thought she was a bitch.

” He shrugged when I did a double take. “I never liked her and not for you. But I never saw the lies. We were duffers.” He reached over and patted my shoulder.

“Now we’re not. You know this is different.

Fine, that wasn’t how you should have heard it, but she was in deep shite.

“You take a breath—like a smart bloke and you have—and then go apologize for taking the time. That you wanted to make sure your head was on straight with all the stress you’re both under and she’s too important to make mistakes with.

Even take the week and settle better into your life and your routine.

See what you need and then go back to her and explain. ”

It was maybe the best advice he’d ever given me and that was saying a lot since he was my attorney.

“Though I’m still gonna kick your arse for signing a contract without letting me have at it first,” he added with a bit of a hiccup.

It made me realize we were all pretty hammered. I texted my father asking for the driver to take them all home because they’d been good mates and helped me sort out my head through too many shots.

Then I remembered what he’d said. “The starting contract is the starting contract at ASH.” I held up my hand to hold him off. “But yes, I should have let you check it. The situation was crazy and I jumped at the chance since I always wanted it.”

“Fine, let me see it now. There could be some wording we could change or—just let me see it and stop making me worry, git.”

“I promise. I’ll email it to you the moment I sober up.” I pulled him close and kissed his hair, laughing when he smacked me away. I should have still given it over to him when he handled so much for me.

Thirty minutes later, Da walked in and looked amused.

“Oh fuck, who called the Alpha?” one of my mates hissed.

“I asked for our driver to get you gits home,” I admitted as they all tried to stand and be respectful.

“You’re fine, lads,” Da forgave, greeting each of them with smiles.

“Thanks for taking Ha-joon out in his rare free time. He’s needed a taste of home and his mates.

” He smiled at me. “Make sure they have your mum’s number if they need to use the warlock we’ve hired.

” He nodded when my mouth dropped open. “We’ll make it happen.

“I know your dream has always been ASH, Ha-joon. We just worry, and your mates visiting will help you settle there.” He looked over at my mates again.

“So anytime you want to visit my boy, we’ll get you there and home.

” He nodded as they all thanked him and asked about the tab.

He chuckled when they argued who was going to pay for Russ’s night. “I got it.”

“Da, I didn’t call you here for this,” I argued.

“Ya didn’t call me here at all, just asked for the driver,” he reminded me.

Oh, ouch.

“Well, now we gotta have one with the Alpha since he’ll drink with us,” Russ said with a big happy grin. “Never had a drink with ya, Alpha. This is a celebration now.”

I shot him a grateful look and we pulled up a chair for my father. It was a good moment, and I managed to grab the tab before he could, thanking him for coming and hanging out with us duffers. He nodded, but I decided to not leave it alone and brought it up later when we were alone.

There had been too many in our party for just the driver, so he took most of them and Da dropped off a few so it was just him and me at the end.

“Da, I don’t—”

“It’s fine, Ha-joon,” he interrupted, clearly knowing where my head was. “I shouldn’t have been petty that I had to invite myself to go out with your mates. Your brothers make a point to invite me—”

“They do?” I couldn’t hide my shock which made him frown. I swore under my breath. “Those fucking gits. They always tell me to leave you alone and you don’t have time for all our petty wants when you have the lives of so many on you. And they go out drinking with ya?”

He let out a slow breath. “I’m sorry they bullied ya that way too, but I’m glad to hear that’s the disconnect.”

I sighed. “It’s not just that, Da. My mates—we’re all the youngest with issues like I have with my siblings. We’re the misfits. That’s not the crew the Alpha hangs out with.”

He blinked at me for a moment before focusing back on the road…

And then burst out laughing. The full laugh my father very rarely let out.

It took him a few minutes to calm down. “Misfits? You lot are some of the most successful pups in the pack. Who the fuck has been telling you that…” He instantly lost his amusement.

Yeah, our families had been the ones to tell us that we were misfits.

“But it’s also that we’re rowdy, and you get enough of that, Da. That’s not who I would want you to spend time with to know more about my life.”

“I’m missing you,” he admitted.

That was fair. I was drunk after all. “Ya Alpha of London, Da. Come have dinner and cigars with Dr. Carpenter and Dr. James. Dr. Bass too. She knows a lot about wine and—that’s your speed. That’s your own mates.”

He shot me a look of love which surprised me. “Oh, lad, your heart is pure and I feel loved. But that’s who I have to be as the Alpha of London. I miss the days of getting rowdy at the pub and getting into a bit of trouble.”

I reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Then we’ll get pissed with some of the attendings where they won’t care that you’re the Alpha, Da. I’ll set up a poker night at the condo and we can just have some fun.” I felt relieved when I saw the interest in his eyes.

Maybe there was a way to balance a better relationship with my family and what I needed now that I was living far away?

That would be nice.

Really nice.