Hot Property (Hot Zone 4)

Through it all, he also dealt with the daily traumas from his family that never seemed to cease. Complaints from his sister that his mother was lining up people and events for the wedding she wanted no part of. Meetings with his mother and Harrison, mediating in order to keep his mother from being in breach of contract before actual work on the television project began. Ben wanting to show him the gym he wanted to invest in, all the while constantly pushing him for money.

Roper tried to tell them things had to change, but they weren’t listening. Or maybe, he realized, he wasn’t speaking clearly.

Just as Amy wasn’t coming after him. It was time he took charge in a decisive way, then acted on it.

So he’d called a family meeting. He wasn’t surprised when his mother balked at going out and insisted on hosting the family at her suite. Her new ploy to irritate Harrison was to avoid the public and the reporters questioning her about her new television series. He wanted them to be seen in public, so she adamantly refused to be seen at all.

Cassandra hadn’t come to terms with her contract and she was still running from Harrison Smith’s presence in her life. Ironically, Roper was beginning to accept and like the man. He appreciated the stability Harrison provided Roper’s mother and how he encouraged her independence and her career even if he had to manipulate her into agreement. Harrison could aid Roper’s need to free himself from his mother’s neediness—Roper just had to make the break, as guilty as he felt doing it. If Cassandra chose to rely on Harrison more instead of becoming more independent, that was her decision.

Roper would just have to assert his priorities in a way his family couldn’t misunderstand. Then he had to follow through. He hoped once his family understood, they’d support his efforts, if not now, eventually. In the meantime, he’d get his ducks in a row, so to speak, and then challenge Amy to step up as he had.

That was in a perfect world, Roper thought. He entered his mother’s apartment to find his family already assembled. This was his world, and here, anything could happen.

“I’m glad everyone could make it,” Roper said.

“I was under the impression it was a command performance,” his mother said, obviously miffed.

He laughed. “Yes, it is. We’re here at your command,” he said. “The food looks delicious. Everyone dig in,” he said, figuring they should have full stomachs before they heard what he had to say.

He chose a chicken wrap and a bottle of water and was on his way to sit beside Sabrina and Kevin when Ben grabbed his arm. “Got a minute for your brother?” he asked.

“Sure.” After today Roper would control his own minutes, so he didn’t mind talking to Ben now. He refrained from asking, what can I do for you? knowing he probably wouldn’t like the answer.

They made their way to the empty kitchenette area. Ben pulled a can of Coke from the fridge, popped the top and took a long drink. Roper ate his lunch standing, waiting for his brother to talk first.

“How’s the rehab?” Ben asked.

Roper wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “Coming along,” he said warily.

It pained him to realize that gone were the days when he could confide in his brother about anything—and vice versa. Sure, Roper knew Ben bounced from idea to idea and rarely held a full-time job, but he didn’t understand why. Communication between the brothers had died a slow death about the same time Roper’s major league career had started to soar.

“Are you still crashing on Dave’s couch?”

Ben nodded. “It’s not bad. He’s got a fifty-inch flat screen so he can catch the Renegades away games and feel as if he’s really there.”

“He’s a fan,” Roper said.

“Season ticket holder.”

Roper nodded. The small talk wasn’t working for him. “What’s going on?” he asked his brother.

Ben shifted from foot to foot. “Here’s the thing. I need to talk to you and I don’t want you to turn me down without hearing me out.”

Here it comes, Roper thought. “Okay, what’s your pitch?” he asked, then listened to Ben expound on the perfect gym location in SoHo and how he hoped to bring the money, while Dave would bring the experience, and together they’d set up a fantastic business.

“There’s just one problem,” Roper said to his brother.

“What’s that?”

“You don’t have the money.” He had no choice but to lay it on the line for Ben in a way he’d never done before. He’d come here today to do just that with each family member, and Ben had given him the opening first.

Ben’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. “But you—”

“I don’t have it, either, and before you argue, call my accountant if you don’t believe me. Incoming money is tied to endorsements and performance. The rest is tied up for the future. My future.” He squared his shoulders and faced the brother he’d rarely refused.

This gym proposal was probably the only thing Roper had pushed aside and refused to discuss—proof he’d already been taking a stand even before Amy had entered his life.

“What about me? It’s not as if I have the talent to make it the way you did.” Ben’s voice dropped to a whine and his expression turned to a pout.