I walked over to one of the women and used my foot to shake her awake. “Time to get up, sweetheart.”
She turned and opened one squinty eye, using her hand to shade it from the light. “The other guy only paid for one.”
Great. I scooped up a pile of clothes from the floor and tossed them at her. “Party’s over. Get dressed.”
Then I nudged the other sleeping beauty. “Time to take your friend and go home.”
While the two of them groaned and tried to figure out whose clothes belonged to whom, I went in search of Elliott. Unfortunately for me, I found him naked and sprawled out across his bed. At least he was face down. I checked he was still breathing and decided to put on a pot of coffee before waking that one up.
One of the two ladies walked into the kitchen. She held onto the doorway as she spoke. “Do we get a tip?”
Elliott’s wallet happened to be on the counter next to me. I opened it and pulled out the thick wad of cash. Handing it to the woman, I smiled. “Take it all. My treat.”
She fanned the bills, saw a few hundreds, and stuffed it into her bra. “Thanks, cutie. You sure you don’t want a little parting gift goodbye? I bet you’re way more fun than your friend.”
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
After I locked the door behind them, I grabbed a garbage bag, tossed in every bottle of alcohol in the house, and dumped it in the garbage chute. Then I headed back to my loving brother and gave him a little kick, too.
“Rise and shine, big bro.”
He snored louder in response.
A few more attempts still didn’t wake the fucker. So I headed back to the living room, sprayed some Lysol on a chair, and made myself comfortable. I hadn’t slept too well, anyway, last night, and I needed Elliott sober. It looked like I’d be waiting it out.Around six-thirty in the morning, the idiot finally stirred. I’d drawn the blinds last night, so the living room was still dark. My eyes were shut when Elliott walked out from the bedroom, and he brushed against the chair I sat in.
“I hope that was your fucking arm.”
“What the…”
“Relax, it’s your baby brother. Not the pimp coming to collect his two whores.” I stood.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Elliott flipped on a light.
“Someone had to show your guests out. You’re shit for a host.”
“Fuck you.” He walked to the kitchen and poured a glass of water from the tap.
I shook my head at his bikini underwear. “Nice banana hammock. Don’t your balls get uncomfortable in those things? My nuts need room to hang. Then again, maybe you got peanuts instead of man balls.”
He chugged two full glasses of water before turning around again. “What the fuck do you want?”
“I’m glad you asked. I want Gia’s child to be mine and to be rid of you and the entire Vanderhaus family once and for all.”
Elliott snickered. “We can’t always get what we want. Can we?”
I started to lose patience. If I was going to get anywhere with making this happen, it was probably best if my fist didn’t connect with his face and we steered clear of the jabs.
“Get dressed. We need to go see Edward.”
A glimmer of vulnerability peeked through. “Why? Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. I just went to visit him last night. Unlike you.”
“I’ll go see him later then.”
“No. We’ll go now. Together. The three of us have urgent business to discuss, and I’ve been waiting for your wasted ass all night.” My tone told him I wasn’t fucking around.
“Fine. But I’m only going because I don’t have the energy to throw you the fuck out.”
Yeah, sure. That’s the reason.
Neither of us said a word on the way to Mount Sinai. Edward was sitting up in bed reading a newspaper when we walked into his private room. He folded it and spoke to Elliott. “You look terrible. Cut the crap, get over the shit with your wife, and get back to work. Women are a dime a dozen. You’ll find a new one to keep the house and look good on your arm. But the company needs you right now.”
I shook my head. Great fatherly advice.
Edward looked to me. “Why don’t we get down to business?”
Pulling two contracts from the envelope, I handed them to Elliott. “I’ll sign over everything Grandfather left to me, except for the house I live in and the restaurant. You can have all my shares in Vanderhaus Holdings, the three Hampton rentals, and all the stocks he left me.”
“And what do you want in return?”
“I want you to give up your parental rights to Gia’s baby and agree not to come within a hundred feet of either me or her again. Apparently, it’s unconscionable to make one contract where I pay you to give up your rights, so Gerald made two separate contracts. One where you give up your parental rights out of the goodness of your heart. And the other a contractual agreement where I pay you a small fortune to not come within ten feet of me and Gia.”