Chapter 14: Edgar Pays

Edgar was waiting in the lobby of my New York hotel when Torsten and I walked in at noon.

He was sitting on the edge of a couch with his coat still on.

He had not shaved.

Three photographers stood on the sidewalk outside, pressed against the glass.

"I saw the story," he said.

"I thought you'd want to hear it from me first. I don't care what it says."

"It says I'm not your sister."

"It says you're not my blood," Edgar said.

"Those aren't the same sentence."

I sat down across from him.

Torsten stayed on his feet by the door.

My brother took a folder out of his coat and put it on the table between us.

"Thirty-one percent of the voting shares of Thaxton Group," he said.

"They're mine. Dad signed them over when I became CEO."

"Edgar."

"I've signed the proxy," he said.

"Whatever you decide at the next board meeting, those votes follow you. I don't get a say."

I looked at his hand on the folder.

It was shaking, and he was holding it flat.

"Why?" I said.

"Because I stood on the stairs five years ago and let Dad tell me you took Mom's money," Edgar said.

"Because I never asked to see one bank statement. Because when you walked into the living room, I pressed a button."

His voice cracked on the last word.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," he said.

"I'm asking you to take the shares."

I picked up the folder.

"I want more," I said.

"Anything."

"Walk outside with me."

He looked past me at the photographers.

"And say it to them," I said.

"The way you said it on the stage."

"Okay."

He stood up and buttoned his coat with fingers that wouldn't work.

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