Page 118 of The Goat in the Bedroom
“Always.” I held out my mug. “Is it always like this?”
“Like what?”
“Your entire family mobilizing like an army when someone needs help?”
He grinned. “Pretty much. You should've seen when the press and paparazzi showed up for Trixie and Chris. I'm pretty sure Dad was ready to commit crimes.”
“Speaking of family...” I nodded toward the kitchen table where Xander sat with his father, both nursing coffee in companionable silence that felt new and fragile.
Mr. Rosemount was saying something quietly, and I caught the words “proud” and “brave.” Xander's eyes were suspiciously bright.
“I wish you'd trusted me,” Mr. Rosemount said, just loud enough for us to hear.
“I wish Mom had let me,” Xander replied, and his father's face darkened.
“We're going to have a conversation, your mother and I. A long overdue one.”
Willa appeared, dropping into the chair beside her brother. “I call first dibs on that conversation. I have some things to say about keeping siblings apart.”
“We were never apart,” Xander protested.
“We were,” Willa said firmly. “You were hiding a whole piece of yourself. That's a kind of distance just like me running off to Europe and Asia, Xan.”
Before he could respond, Liam and George joined them, George's hand landing on Xander's shoulder.
“Flight's at noon,” George said. “But we'll be reachable every second until this is handled.”
“You don't have to?—“
“Kiddo,” Liam interrupted. “We have years of guncle-ing to make up for. You're stuck with us now.”
Xander's composure finally cracked. He pulled both his uncles into a hug that looked like it might never end.
“I used to watch you both,” he admitted, voice muffled. “Like at your wedding. And I'd think 'they're so amazing' and wish I could be like you. But Mom said?—“
“Carin said a lot of things,” Mr. Rosemount interrupted, his voice hard. “Most of them wrong, all of them designed to control you both.”
Willa snorted. “That's the understatement of the century.”
“I should have protected you better,” Mr. Rosemount continued. “Both of you. When I found out what she'd been doing to Willa, I should have realized she was damaging you too, just differently.”
“Dad—“ Xander started.
“No. I let you convince me to let you take her with you to Miami. You shouldn't have to be managing her along with your career.”
“She's settled in her condo,” Xander said weakly. “She's fine.”
“You're paying for it with money you earned while being blackmailed,” Willa pointed out. “That's not fine.”
“She's still our mother.”
“Who told you that being like your uncles would ruin your life,” Liam said flatly. “That's not a mother. That's a warden.”
The morning became a blur of departures. The Mustangs brothers had to get back for practice. Kelsey's plane would take the Denver contingent home. Xander and his dad were flying back to Miami.
“Remember,” Kelsey said, pulling Gryff and Flynn into a hug. “Document everything. Every interaction with Sloane, every threat, every conversation. We're building a case.”
“I'm staying a couple more days,” Bridger announced. “I've got some calls to make. Coaches who might know these other players, get us contact information.”
