Page 64 of The Session

“I get it, and I appreciate that.”

“But also, I’d win a lot of points with the trustees if I got you on board,” Cox admitted.

“Thanks, Coach. I’ll get back to you. I promise,” Mark replied.

He hung up, slipped the phone back into his pocket, and kept walking. Seventy-two hours ago, this would have been the call of a lifetime. Today, it was just another event in a string of strange occurrences.

His phone pinged. A text message had arrived from the woman he’d met outside the condo tower.

She’d sent a selfie with an attractive blond woman at a bar, both holding up their drinks. The message read: Sure you don’t want to drop by? It included a location pin.

Mark shook his head and told himself it would only lead to more problems.

He texted back, Wish I could. Maybe another time! then muted the conversation.

Coach Stevenson had told him he had to think about what he really wanted. It was the same advice he’d given Ozzy: Know why you’re here. Know where you’re headed.

Summit Strategies was even more convoluted and potentially dangerous than his mother or Tru had suggested. He could already see sharks like Blaise starting to circle. He still hadn’t met his father, and he was becoming more and more convinced it would not only be a disappointment but he might also regret it.

If Kevin had been killed under circumstances more dire than a covered-up accident, the smart move would be for Mark to get as far away from Summit Strategies as possible.

But Kevin was also blood—a half brother he never got to know, but his brother nonetheless. Even though Mark had never met him, he felt like he owed Kevin something. He wasn’t sure he could just walk away in good conscience. There was also the possibility—more likely, actually—that it was an accident, and that as cutthroat and ethically challenged as some of the people at Summit Strategies were, they were no different from an aggressive Wall Street firm or car salesmen who would step over their own mothers to make a sale.

Mark’s mother had advised him to use his internal compass as a guide. Of course, like many moms who believe their sons can do no wrong, she might have put too much faith in his ability to resist temptation.

Three days ago, on-demand private jets and Lamborghinis delivered within thirty minutes were things he hadn’t thought about. Now he couldn’t help but appreciate the effortless way they could leave the lobby of the Miami office, hop on a plane minutes later, and be in an entirely different country before lunchtime. It felt like magic.

He’d embarked on this journey partly to find out more about his father. Now his connection was to a dead brother he didn’t know, and to Tru, toward whom he was beginning to feel loyalty. She was smart and attractive. She was a few years older, but that only made her more interesting.

When she brought him to Kevin’s beach house, he’d been a little worried she was going to make a pass at him, and he felt the old reflex of guilt about Holly—even though they’d ended things at the airport.

When he realized she really wanted a friend, he felt relief. But some small part of him also was disappointed.

Tru was extroverted and demonstrative, in contrast to Holly’s introverted and demure nature. Both were attractive, but for opposite reasons.

He hadn’t seen Holly in person since the airport. They’d traded a few dry texts. Still, some nights he caught himself hovering over her contact like it was a bruise he couldn’t stop pressing.

Walking through the halls of Summit Strategies’ Miami office, he saw more beautiful women than he could count, and a number of them made sure to catch his gaze and hold it as long as they could. Despite that, Holly was still the only woman who could pull his attention into a knot. The breakup hadn’t turned the feeling off, it had just made it useless.

If he were another man, he wasn’t sure how well he’d be handling that. For a moment, he thought of Devon and could imagine him getting into trouble with all the female attention.

Of course, Mark was only three days in and couldn’t be sure what he would have done if Tru’s embrace had turned into a kiss.

Mark dialed Holly’s number before he could talk himself out of it.

“Hey,” Holly answered after the third ring.

“I . . . thought I’d call,” Mark said.

“Are you at work?” she asked.

The last time they spoke, Mark had told her he’d taken the job at the assisted living facility.

“No, I’m in Miami,” he said.

“For the coaching job?” she asked.

“Not quite, although I just spoke to them, and they think there’s a position for me,” Mark replied.