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"Maybe."
"You don't believe that."
"No."
He looks wrecked. That's worse than angry somehow.
"Go home," I tell him. "Get some sleep."
He studies me for another second. Then, quietly: "You're still the best brother I've got."
He leaves.
And then it's just me and Levi.
He slides the second whiskey glass toward me. I take it. Drink it in one go. Set it down.
"I need you to do something for me," I say.
"Yeah."
"I'm giving Aria the estate."
Levi goes still. Not for show. Genuinely.
"What?"
"The board can challenge the land if they want. But Christian thinks the structures are outside the trust's immediate reach." I brace my palms on the island. "The house. The studio. The apartment. I'm signing them over to her."
He stares at me.
"You'll have nowhere to live."
"I'll figure it out."
"You'll figure it out." He exhales hard. "Shit, Everett."
"She needs the studio. Her father needs the apartment. I built that place for them." My voice holds steady somehow. "I'm not letting this take it."
Levi pours us both another drink.
"You built her a home," he says quietly. "And now you're giving it to her because you can't stay in it with her."
I don't answer.
He sets my glass in front of me.
"I'll handle it," he says. "The transfer. The taxes. Whatever needs to happen."
"Don't tell her it came from me."
He looks up sharply. "Everett—"
"I mean it."
He stares at me for a long moment.
And then it clicks. Not just the house.