Page 27 of Fierce-Matt

“Away from what?”

How much more foul-smelling substances could be dumped on him over his past actions?

“Anya’s brother and father never got along. Between us, I think his son?—”

“EJ,” he said.

“Yes. Elliot Jr., but they called him EJ. I think there was something wrong with EJ. Anger issues or something. If not that, just selfishness. Phoebe said there were always fights with EJ stating everything should go to him or he should be given what he wanted. When he didn’t get his way, he’d trash his room or break and throw things in the house. He’d been kicked out when he graduated from college.”

“Yikes.”

“He came back after a month,” his mother said. “Amber smoothed things over. She did that a lot. I always liked Amber. I didn’t have a problem with Elliot. I’d never seen his temper, but he didn’t seem as if he was around much either.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess he was working a lot.”

“Like most people do when they own a business.”

“A business that was failing long before his employee stole from them. They are getting their ducks in a row. Anya mentioned they owned the building the business was in. There was a second mortgage on it for repairs and a line of credit, but the location of the building alone should give them a nice nest egg.”

He’d done a quick search of commercial property values in the area, and it could be over two million depending on the state of the building.

“I hope they find a buyer. It’s only worth what someone will pay,” his mother said. “It was nice to see Anya at Ben’s wedding. She was a surprise guest.”

“Did you know she worked at Fierce?”

“I found out after the fact,” his mother said. “She sells real estate also, so I’m betting she lists her parents’ property.”

“She is going to,” he said. “They are waiting to get a value of the business alone or if they should liquidate and then sell the building.”

“It’d be faster to sell the building without the business,” his mother said. “Did you advise that?”

“I didn’t feel as if it was my place. She’s the expert, not me.”

He’d held his tongue. The last thing he wanted to worry about was Anya getting annoyed that he was telling her how to do her job.

“There was once a time in your life you thought you knew it all,” his mother said, smirking.

“And I believe my mother set me right.”

His mother laughed. “Not just me but plenty of others.”

“I was a teenager,” he argued.

He’d acted that way in college too.

Throughout law school he thought he had a leg up because he grew up around attorneys.

He found he wasn’t alone. And he wasn’t as special as he’d hoped.

He was cocky and never disputed it.

But he didn’t think he was a dick about it.

Guess he was wrong there too.

“You were,” his mother said. “There is a tiny touch of your grandfather in you.”

“Ouch,” he said, his hand going to his heart. “That hurt.”