Then he sighs, frustration bleeding from every pore. “You’re not helpingmeby taking responsibility for your own business. I don’t work for you. I don’t have a stake in this hell hole.”
“You want mine?”
“Fuck, no. I want this towork, for all of you. So I can go back to my real life and stop worrying about your overdue tax bill.”
“What tax bill?”
Sev jabs the iPad screen. “It’s been overdue since last December. I’ve told Sol a thousand times.”
“Does Jack know?”
“I don’t know.” Sev shrugs. “Maybe. If Sol’s told him.”
“Why haven’t you?”
Sev gives me a look letting me know he thinks I’m an idiot. “What do you want me to do? Shove the HMRC app in his face and tell him to get on with it?”
“No, but I don’t understand why you can’t have a conversation with him about something as fucking simple as a bill getting paid.”
“Then you’re an idiot.”
“Not disputing that.” I spread my hands, releasing him from my hold, and it’s a whole lot easier than letting go of Skylar. “Explain it to me like I’m five. Or someone who hasn’t been here when they fucking should’ve been.”
Sev’s anger fades. “No one blames you for that. If Jack hadn’t got hurt, he wouldn’t be here either.”
I don’t need that reminder. But I feel Skylar behind me and the tingle in my skin derails the grief and guilt in my heart.
He fills the space at my side, as tall as Sev, and a little thicker than his lanky frame. He takes the iPad and swipes at it. “Why are you shouting at everyone?”
Sev, not me.
“Corporation tax.” Sev gnaws on his bottom lip, as if Skylar’s mere presence makes him nervous. “You need to pay it before another ten percent gets added to your fine.”
Skylar moves away from me to poke at the iPad. Still under the thrall of his order, I stay where I am and give Sev a hard look. “Why hasn’t Sol dealt with this?”
“Sol doesn’t deal with anything.”
“What about him?” I incline my head to where Skylar’s at. “Or me.”
“Skylar’s never here and Sol told me not to botheryouwith pub shit.”
“I have a phone.” Skylar reappears and tucks the iPad into the bag he’s holding. It’s the bag he takes to work and my heart sinks a little. He’s leaving again already? Fuck my life. “An email address,” Skylar continues. “And I saw you fuckingyesterday.I thought we talked about this already?”
“That was a year ago.”
“So?”
“So?” Sev throws up his hands. “What the fuck do you want me to do? Sol doesn’t understand anything that isn’t on that goddamn boat and last time I came at Jack with a bunch of numbers he had a seizure over it. Andyou—” He points at Skylar. “Don’t even pretend you ever answer that phone or check your emails, cos it’s bullshit and you know it.”
There’s so much in what Sev’s saying it’s hard to pick something to focus on. The urge to blow past it all and just fuckingrunis strong. I don’t care about this place—this pub. But I love my brother. I love Sol, and Sev, and it tears me up that life has been so hard for them.
That it’s still fucking hard.
“I’ll pay the bill,” I tell Sev. “Just give me a few days to move some cash around. And if anything else comes up moving forward, talk to me. We’ll figure it out.”
Scepticism colours Sev’s frown, and I don’t think he’s questioning my ability to front the money. It’s the rest of it he has trouble believing, and I don’t blame him.Moving forwardis the future, and I’ve made no secret of the fact I have no intention of sticking around.
Right now, though, leaving is the last thing on my mind. For a couple of reasons.