Page 21 of Embrace
Spencer stretched his arm across the top of the sofa, making himself more comfortable. “As I said before, Gina showed up at my office in New York. I hadn’t seen her in years. She looked good, though. Teaching young girls how to be Olympic champions seems to be agreeing with her.”
He spoke of Gina as if they were old friends. I remembered them as two people who used to beat the shit out of each other and get off on it. I’d peeked in on them once. Gina egged Spencer on to hit her. At first, he shrank away from her, but she insulted him, calling him limp dick, no good, trash, shit like that, making Spencer angry enough to haul off and hit her. Their relationship was built on sickness, but he spoke as if they were neighbors on Mr. Rogers’s block.
“So how did it go between the two of you?” I asked to get at the truth.
Spencer shifted out of his comfortable position and fidgeted until he rounded his shoulders and sank deeper into the cushion. “One of my political opponents was attempting to blackmail her. I handled it. Sure, she said she loved me. But I’m in love with my wife and faithful to her.”
It was still difficult to picture Spencer having a typical relationship with anyone.
“How’s your relationship with your wife?” I asked, and I instantly wished I hadn’t. A man’s wife was his refuge. I was being critical of him, and Spencer knew me well enough to understand it.
He sniffed. “My relationship with my wife is good,” he said, nodding. “Healthy.” He tilted his head as he paused. “I would like for you to meet her—soon.”
I nodded, watching him study my reaction. Spencer was testing me to see if I was ready to return to the fold.
I rubbed the wrinkles out of my forehead. “Sure, one day, yeah.”
“How’s your relationship with Penina Ross?” he asked.
I smiled because the mention of her name made me feel good from the inside out. “It’s healthy, too, and fun.”
“Fun?” Spencer asked, nodding as if he liked the sound of that. “You’re too serious to have fun.”
I snorted a chuckle. “The scalpel changed me. Once I was able to transfer my need to control every fucking thing that could go awry into operating on my patients and saving their lives, I could be looser about everything else.”
Spencer stretched the sides of his mouth downward, continuing to nod thoughtfully. “I get it.”
I narrowed my eyes doubtfully. “Do you?” The brother I’d once known had no time or patience for complex principles of life.
“Yeah,” he said as if it was obvious that he had understood what I meant. “I had to transfer my anger into retribution for what Father and Valentine did to those girls, and fuck, even what Father did to us. If it weren’t for Jasper taking the lead, you, Bryn, and I would no doubt be fucked up beyond repair.”
I glared at the floor as Spencer scowled at the wall. We let silence sit for a moment. Captured in the space of time was true appreciation for our older brother constantly protecting us, watching out for us like a hawk.
Finally, Spencer smiled faintly. “But listen, Ash.” His tone indicated a change in subject. Then his smile grew as he reached out to take me by the shoulder nearest him and shook me as if we were celebrating a winning touchdown or something. “How the hell were you able to acquire this fucking hospital? We didn’t know it was for sale. No one did. And we’ve been trying to purchase a medical facility just like this one for our portfolio.”
I put my hands up, palms facing him. “Wait a fucking minute. This is my operation. It’s not going to be a cash cow for CFI.”
Spencer shook his head. “It’ll make money, but that won’t be its only purpose. We do it differently now that Father’s gone and all his cronies aren’t affiliated with our business anymore. Jasper cleaned house real good.”
Then he explained how he and his wife were about to go on a world tour, finding partners to expand their foundation. They wanted to build a wing onto the hospital to provide free top-notch medical services for people who had been victims of sex trafficking.
I was blown away by everything he told me. Not in a million years would I have thought Spencer would care about anyone more than he did himself.
Then he asked me to explain to “us” how I had come across the purchase.
“Us?” I asked.
He picked up his cell phone and shook it.
I grimaced at his device while saying, “Si’s on the board. They wanted to keep their money problems quiet. Si said he could probably bring them a discreet buyer. A few days later, he pitched their proposal to me.” I smirked, remembering the next part. “I asked myself, ‘What would Jasper do in this scenario?’ That was when I used the Pete Sykes credentials to make all inquiries about the purchase. I was shocked it was still active, and Jasper hadn’t been alerted. I had the cash. I offered them a price, and we negotiated a few numbers before they accepted my best and final one.”
“Did you hear that, Jasper?” Spencer asked.
“Every word,” Jasper said, his voice projecting through Spencer’s cell phone.
Hearing him made my throat tighten. Shit, I never realized how much I missed my brothers. In one sense, it was as if we hadn’t gone a day without speaking to or seeing each other. But on the other hand, it was clear time spent apart was the reason I felt that way.
I could feel how widely I was smiling, though. “Jasper, how are you?” I asked past my thick throat.
