Page 116 of The Goat in the Bedroom
The silence lasted about three seconds.
Then Liam and George were both on their feet, crossing to their nephew. George pulled him into a hug while Liam stood guard, looking ready to fight anyone who had a problem with it.
“We've got you,” George said fiercely. “We've always got you.”
“Why didn't you tell us?” Liam asked, but his voice was gentle, not accusatory.
“Mom said—“ Xander started, then broke off.
“Ah,” Mr. Rosemount said, understanding flooding his face. “Your mother.”
He shook his head and grabbed Xander into a huge hug that lasted just as long as it needed to. “I’m just sorry that, once again, you didn’t think you could come to me.”
“She said it would ruin my career. Said I couldn't be like Liam if I wanted to succeed.”
“That bitch,” Willa said flatly. “Our mother is a monster, and I'm done pretending otherwise.”
“Willa—“ Xander started.
“No. She kept you from us. From your uncles who would have helped you, from me, Dad, from everyone who would have supported you.” She looked around the room. “From all of this.”
“You're here now,” my dad said, his coach voice carrying across the room. “That's what matters. You're family, and we protect our own.”
“Sir, I'm not really?—“
“You're Willa's brother,” Dad said. “So let's skip the part where you try to argue about it and get to the part where we destroy whoever's trying to hurt you.”
Xander looked overwhelmed. “I don't... I don't know what to say.”
“Say you'll let us help,” Dad said. “And then tell us everything about this Sloane person.”
So he did. He told them about the video, the threats, the other players being targeted. “She wants an answer by Friday,” Xander finished.
“She'll get one,” Flynn said grimly. “Just not the one she's expecting.”
“I’ve got some, let’s say, hacker connection, and she’s digging into Sloane’s background.” Tempest said. “We’ll get the goods for you.”
Penelope, Kelsey, and Trixie exchanged looks. Trixie nodded and said, “We’ve all had enough experience with the press that we’ll know exactly what to do with anything you dig up.”
But our three eldest brothers exchanged similar looks between the three of them, then they glanced over at dad, whose scowl would probably make a grizzly bear run away squealing.
“And if we don’t find something that FlixNChill will fire her for, we know what to do.”
I wondered briefly what California’s state flower was.
“Emergency game night protocol,” Flynn announced. “With a twist. Xander, you know how to play Monopoly?”
“Everyone knows how to play Monopoly,” Xander said, confused.
“Wrong,” Isak said. “You know how to play regular Monopoly. You're about to learn Kingman Monopoly.”
“There are only two rules,” Chris said, grinning.
“Rule number one,” all the Kingman brothers said in unison: “Nobody messes with our family.”
“Rule number two,” they continued, “always cheat at Monopoly.”
Despite everything, Xander laughed. Real, genuine laughter.
