The Long Road Home

Chapter Nineteen

The layout of the floor hadn’t changed, so finding his way was no issue. Reaching what had been his office, and now his brothers, Gus was finally stopped.

“Um, sir, you can’t go in without an appointment,” the secretary warned them, then hesitated as she stared at him for a long moment. “Mister…Kimball?”

Maybe that was another reason they hadn’t been stopped. Gus and Fin were identical twins, after all. It stood to reason many people in the building would confuse one for the other. Then, why hadn’t they said anything about his attire? Did they think their boss moonlighted as a biker?

Those were questions for another time. Giving the secretary a smirk, Gus said, “I am, but not the one you’re thinking of.”

She stared at him, perplexed, before realization suddenly dawned on her. Gus figured it wouldn’t take her very long since she had been his secretary twenty years ago. The years had been kind to her. She had matured and now had a matronly air around her. It was probably a good thing for Fin, who needed someone to look after him. In fact, maybe she could help him stay on task.

“I’ll just let myself in,” Gus told her. “My brother is expecting me.”

She barely nodded, still awestruck by his appearance. Gus didn’t give her time to recover and pushed his way into what had been his office. Inside, he found Fin leaning on his desk, holding his head.

“I said I didn’t want to be disturbed,” Fin complained without looking up.

“I can just go home, if you like,” Gus said.

“Gus!” Fin suddenly sat up. “You came!”

“I said I would,” Gus scowled.

“Wait, what is he doing here?” Fin asked as Caine stepped in next and shut the door.

“You didn’t really think I would show up alone, did you?” Gus asked. “Caine’s here to watch my back and be my Gopher.”

“Gopher? Really?” Caine asked.

“What?” Gus shrugged. “He was the young, good-looking member of the crew.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true,” Caine frowned. “Still, doesn’t sound flattering.”

“Maybe I should call you Face instead,” Gus grunted.

“Both those references make you sound really old, just so you know.”

Gus snorted, moving to the desk and gesturing for Fin to give up his seat. Fin complied, not sure what was going to happen. Gus took the chair and immediately started up the computer. Without even thinking, he typed in his security code as soon as the log-in page popped up. Surprisingly, it worked, and he found he had full access to the system and files.

“There is no way that should have worked,” Gus frowned.

“Something wrong?” Caine asked.

“My security login is still in the system,” Gus said, looking at his brother. “Why didn’t you have it removed?”

“Um, I didn’t know I had to?” Fin shrugged.

“Good god,” Gus sighed. “Fin, you should have IT delete profiles of anyone who is not a current employee. You can’t just let someone wander in here, boot up a computer and have access to everything.”

“That isn’t my area?”

“You are the fuckin’ CEO, Fin. How is it—never mind,” Gus shook his head.

He couldn’t afford to be distracted from his mission, but it wasn’t as if he could simply let everything stand as it was. IT needed to do its job and remove profiles of former employees to ensure they did not have access to files and emails. But that was a concern for another day. For now, he should focus on the reason he was there.

With a sigh, he started sifting through the project files. There were quite a few he was unfamiliar with, which wasn’t surprising. The sheer amount was shocking, however. Even after twenty years, there really shouldn’t be this many. Buying up so many things was not a good way to grow a company.

Gus opened a different window and delved into the financial records of the various projects. The sheer amount meant it would take some time to sift through it, but he had to figure out which projects were simply money sinks, and which would give them some kind of payout.

Caine plopped himself on a chair with a sigh. It was clear Gus was going to be at this for quite some time. He probably should have brought a magazine to read. A box caught his attention. It sat rather prominently on the coffee table, completely out of place.

Raising an eyebrow, he leaned forward and opened it to look through the contents. He was surprised to see several trophies and certificates. Even more shocking was that they were all for Gus.

“Debate, chess and spelling bees?” Caine suddenly spoke. “Really, Gus?”

“Where did you get those?” Gus scowled.

“What? They were in the box.”

“And where did that come from?” he looked at Fin.

“I found it,” Fin admitted.

“Found it? Meaning you went digging in the closet of my childhood bedroom and dragged it out?”

“…Yeah.”

“Why dig up painful memories? To make yourself feel better?”

“No, no. I just—I didn’t realize you were in so many competitions.”

“Meaning you didn’t believe what I told you.”

“No. I just wanted to know more, since I never bothered to when we were kids.”

“Fine. Then why is it here?”

Fin hesitated before admitting, “Mom caught me when I was looking through it. I tried to talk to her about things growing up, why she and dad never went to your events. She got flustered and wanted to put it all away. I got the feeling she might try to throw everything out, so I took the box instead.”

Gus grunted. He couldn’t say he was surprised. His mother was very good about ignoring anything that didn’t support her point of view. She definitely wouldn’t tolerate anything in the house that challenged her memory of raising her children like a proper, considerate mother.

“She wouldn’t really throw all of this away, would she?” Caine asked. He frowned at the looks the brothers gave him. “Damn.”

And he thought his mother was a b***h.

“It doesn’t matter,” Gus said.

“So, what do you want to do with all of this?” Caine asked.

“Throw it.”

“Are you sure?” Caine looked up, surprised. Even Fin seemed shocked.

“It’s all ancient history. And it’s just taking up space.”

Caine frowned, putting away everything he had dug out. An idea came out of nowhere, which had him grinning. Gus would definitely not like it, but he knew someone who would love it. Packing up the box, he stood.

“I’ll be back,” Caine announced before heading to the door.

“Wait…” Fin hesitated.

Technically, everything in the box belonged to Gus. It was his right to decide what to do with it, but it seemed such a waste to just throw it out.

“Are you sure?” Fin asked.

“Yeah,” Gus said. “There is no reason to keep it.”

“I got it,” Caine said with a wink lost on Gus, who was looking at the computer screen.

Fin frowned, not sure what the younger biker was getting at. Caine didn’t elaborate, making a quick exit with the box. What was he going to do?

He looked to Gus for answers, but his brother was fully focused on the computer screen. Fin slowly sank into the seat Caine recently vacated. This wasn’t going how he planned. He had wanted to talk more about Gus’s sporting endeavors. It was something they had in common and Fin hoped they could build a relationship with that shared interest.

Perhaps he should have realized it wouldn’t be that easy. Gus seemed wholly uninterested and Fin wondered if there was no hope for them.