I whip the Mercedes through traffic in the financial district and take the winding road way too fast. I’m driving like Niles and people are jumping out of my way. My tires squeal in the circular drive of the hotel and Bobby, a lanky guy about my age steps from behind the valet podium. Bobby and I enjoyed more than a few late-night joints behind the mango trees.

“Mr. Lowery, how you doin’?”

I toss him the keys. “Can you let her sit for a minute? I don’t plan to be here long.”

Bobby grins. “I’ll keep my eye on your little girl. She’s a sweet one, for sure.”

The lobby is crowded with a group arriving from the airport and wading through the pasty folks in their jeans and long sleeves feels like treading through pudding. The elevator is crammed with what seems like two hundred southern couples who, from the sounds of them, have been partying since they boarded the plane in Miami.

When I finally burst into the condo, Alicia is stretched out on the couch, remote in hand, computer on her lap. She doesn’t alter her bouncing attention from screen to screen when she says, “Hey, Zach. How the hell did they get you to go shopping?”

Great. Even Alicia is watching my televised humiliation on Liesa’s Life.

I’d rather be sitting next to Alicia torturing myself with the ridiculous show than doing what I came here to do.

You’re not asking for a new car. You’re asking for help to save someone’s life.

You’re asking for Kylie.

Mom saunters in from the kitchen in yoga pants, with a towel around her neck and a bottle of enhanced water in her hand. “Baby! I didn’t know you were coming over. I just finished my workout but if you wait, I’ll be ready in a jiff and we can have a snack by the pool. It’s been ages.”

She seems so anxious to hang out.

Would it kill you to spend time with her?

I should spend time with her. I want to.

But I can’t.

Not today.

“I’ve got to talk to Niles. Is he here?”

Mom gives Alicia a curious look. “Did you say Zach went shopping? On Liesa’s Life?” She shoves around me to position herself in front of the TV. She giggles. “Oh, honey. Look at you.”

“Mom.” I try to get her to focus. “Niles?”

“Miserable.” She clicks her tongue, not looking away from the episode. “Are they paying you enough for this?” She laughs again. “That face. You used to look like that whenever I took you shopping. It’s so cute.”

Jesus.

I hurry down the hall and push open the door to Nile’s office.

He’s sitting at his desk, typing on his laptop. “We knock in this house.”

There’s no time for his bullshit. “I need money.”

He leans back in his chair and folds his arms, a superior smile on his face. “Do you, now?”

“Call it a loan. Take it from my trust. You can harvest a fucking kidney. Whatever you want. Anything. I need eight grand.”

Niles’ eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, ho, ho. The chicken’s come home to roost.”

What the hell does that mean? “A friend has a medical emergency. Please, Niles. This is important.”

“Medical emergency?” Amused, he tilts his head. “Is that miserable fuck-up speak for I got a girl pregnant?”

“Goddamned it.” I slap my hands on his desk and lean in. “For once in your life don’t be a dick.”

He laughs. “A dick, is it? Well, this dick has had enough of your bullshit. It’s time you step up and be a man.”

Be a man? I’m not sure if I want to laugh or choke the shit out of him. I take a deep breath, trying to calm the urgency that heats my blood. “Look, I’m really glad you’ve finally decided to be a father, but I don’t need a life lesson. This isn’t a teachable moment. Right now, someone needs my help.”

“No, you need me to pay for your mistakes.” Niles loses his grin. “Again.”

“Mistakes? Are you fucking serious?” I stand up straight, my spine going stiff like he just punched me in my kidney. “My whole fucking life, I’ve done exactly what you asked of me. Got the grades. Played football. I—”

“Pissed all over Princeton and followed some tramp to a state school.” Niles holds up his fingers in front of me, ticking off my sins, one-by-one. “Dropped out when said tramp dicked you over and spent the last eighteen months drinking and screwing your way around Manhattan before coming here and doing the same fucking thing.”

Hearing it all laid out in front of me makes me a little sick to my stomach, but I shove it all aside, focusing on the fact that Kylie needs me. “Yeah—I went off the rails for a bit but I’m trying to make it right. I’m letting you and Jonas jerk me around like a goddamned—”

“For money.” Niles drops his hand and narrows his eyes, a wave of disgust passing over his face. “You’re letting Knightly jerk you around for money.” It doesn’t matter that he’s the one who signed my life away. It doesn’t matter that he is undoubtedly turning some sort of profit off of my misery and humiliation. The fact that I’m letting Jonas pull my strings disgusts him.

The money stopped mattering to me months ago. My compliance has nothing to do with money and arguing with him about it won’t do any good. It won’t help Kylie.

I straighten myself and drop my hand. “Okay. Maybe you’re right.” I have to force my jaw to unclench enough to let the words out. I’m used to eating Niles’ shit and I’ve done it for a lot less. If I can kiss his ass for a sports car, I can do it to save someone’s life. “I appreciate your guidance and advice. I’ll go back to school—wherever you want. I’ll apply myself and join the firm when I graduate.”

Niles looks at me like just said the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. “Not my firm. I only hire winners.”

“Fine.” I cross my arms over my chest to keep myself from reaching out and jerking him across the desk. “Mom’s parents set up a trust for me. They gave me money. I want it. It’s mine.”

“I’m executor with full authority until you’re 35.” Niles rises from his desk with a chuckle, his signal he’s done with me. “Seems even your beloved Grampa knew what a fuck-up you’d turn out to be.”

“I’ll relinquish my trust fund—both of them.” As soon as I say it, a feeling of relief washes over me and I know whether he helps me or not, I’m done. I’ll never ask him for so much as a stick of gun for the rest of my life. “I’ll move out. You’ll never hear from me again. Ever.”

He looks at me, trying to use his silence to build up my hopes but we’ve done this too many times. I know him too well. I know better than to hope Niles will ever put me first.

“No.”

That’s all he says, and I know that’s it. He’s not going to help me.

“There’s going to come a time in your life when you need something from me,” I tell him. “When that time comes, I want you to remember this moment.” Before he can even open his mouth, I turn my back on him and leave.

When I make it to the front door, Alicia is still slumped on the couch. “She made you have drinks with her friends?” She gives me the kind of look you’d give one of those monkeys that’s forced to wear a stupid hat and perform for pocket change—like I’m adorable and pathetic, all at once. “Come on, that’s cruel.”

I don’t answer her. I don’t even stop. She’s right. I am pathetic.

I can’t wait for the elevator and take six flights of stairs two at a time to crash into the lobby. At least the group has checked in and the lobby isn’t crowded.

Bobby is chatting with an older couple, giving them advice on the best place to eat lobster. If I knew where the keys to the Mercedes were, I’d grab them. Unable to wait, I interrupt, getting disgusted glares from the couple.

“I’m sorry. But I’ve got an emergency. Bobby, can I get my keys?”

Bobby opens a metal key box with movements slow as melting ice. “She’s had many admirers, boss. Everybody wants her.”

I flip around and stare at my car.

The hand-me-down Mercedes Niles gave me last year.

That’s my solution.