Page 145 of The Wrong Brother
“From where?”
“I can’t say.”
“You’re a corporate attorney. You shouldn’t know who Ruslan Smirnov is.”
She pauses. “I know.”
“So, how?”
“I said I can’t tell you.”
Frustration crashes over me.
“No.” I shake my head even though she can’t see it. “You don’t get to tell me to run away from someone and then refuse to explain why.”
“I don’t have to explain organized crime toyouof all people, Emma, unless the real reason they made you leave is because you didn’t actually learn anything.”
Without meaning to, I raise my voice. Now the shop owner is at the end of the aisle, asking Frank a quiet question, her eyes on me. “I know exactly who he is, Matty. I knew the moment I decided to stay in California with him, to travel with him?—”
“Do you?” Her voice rises. “Then you know you’re making the biggest mistake of your life.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I don’t have to.”
“I do.”
“You’ve known him for a month! And you let him knock you up?”
“Don’t. You always think I’m reckless.”
“Because you are.”
“I left the FBI because it wasn’t right for me.”
“You threw away your career.”
“I survived.”
“You keep making impulsive decisions.”
I laugh bitterly. “And you’ve never made one?” Even as I throw the question out, I’m not quite sure she has. Matty lives by the book; always has.
“I think before I act.”
“Maybe that’s why you’re so unhappy.”
The silence on the other end of the phone is deafening. For a moment, I wonder if I ruined something—really ruined it. Irreparably this time. I’ve never talked back, fought back, like this before.
“Emma...” Matty’s voice softens. “You’ve always thought Mom and Dad loved me more.”
I swallow hard.
“They do.”
“They don’t. They’re proud of you.”
I shake my head, even though she can’t see me. “No. They’re disappointed. They never call me, Matty. I know you want me to think they care, but they don’t.”
