“Boys,” dad practically bellows as he steps into the dining room that’s been set aside for us.

It’s on the beach, overlooking the gentle waves and the golden sand, and it’s just me, Austin, Callum and now dad. The men of the Stephenson family in one of those rare moments where we’re all together without a pesky stepmother in sight.

Those times have grown few and far between.

“Dad,” I say, receiving a tight bear hug from him, even though I’m something like twice his size now.

Robert Stephenson is no small man. He’s 6’1’’, with a large, cut frame, and he’s in surprisingly good shape for a man pushing sixty. Still, he’s an armchair trader and sports fan and I’m a recent NFL ‘graduate’, so it’s an unfair comparison.

“Good to see you, Troy,” he says with a grin, before moving over to Callum and then Austin, grabbing them with equal enthusiasm.

There’s a lot of back patting and shoulder smacking and horsing around for the first couple of minutes, everybody dancing around the elephant in the cabana with the greatest of care. No one wants to bring up Milan, or Candice, or Andrea before we have to. And maybe not even then.

“So, how have my boys been?” Robert Stephenson asks as all four of us have scooped serious helpings of breakfast foods onto our plates and the servants have cleared out after pouring us juice and coffee.

“We’ve been good, dad,” Callum starts, nodding before shoving a large forkful of blueberry pancakes in his mouth.

“Yeah. The station’s treating us well and we got all our finances settled with the NFL and the team. All the money’s in Austin’s caring hands now.”

We all give Austin a look and he just smirks, shrugging his shoulders.

“I swear to do the very best I can by it,” he says, putting a hand to his heart and rolling his eyes skyward.

I chuckle and dad grins, shaking his head. It’s a running joke in the family that the only reason Austin got into finance was to make off with the family fortune in a legal way. I don’t think any of us have put that notion to bed entirely.

“And you, Austin? Any news from Selina, anything we should know?”

That smile Austin had been wearing is gone in an instant, replaced by the familiar storm cloud of a glower that he wears whenever someone brings up Selina. It’s a touchy topic and we all know it… I can only assume that’s why dad brought it up. Because he knows the rest of us have probably given up on it.

“I don’t think there’s anything to say about her anymore,” Austin says, tapping the fingers of his left hand on the table in a steady, fast rhythm.

The tan line around his finger is all the more prominent for it and I catch him glancing at it at least once. It’s like a constant reminder of what used to be.

It’s better now than it was before, though. It took us a while to convince him to take the ring off in the first place, though the marriage was over far before the divorce was settled.

“She’s a non-issue. She doesn’t exist,” he finishes, grimly stabbing at a piece of bacon on his plate.

“Well, just so you know, if you ever need to talk about it, I’m here for you, son,” Robert says, sipping on his coffee.

Austin nods dully and we all focus on our food for a minute or two.

“You know, it was about time, though,” dad suddenly speaks up, slouching one elbow on the table.

“About time for what?” Callum asks.

“For someone else in the family to start getting divorces. I felt like a damn outcast,” he says with a chuckle, prompting us to collectively sigh.

“I’m not exactly sure if that’s an example you want us to follow,” Callum interjects bemusedly.

“And besides, we’d have to get married before we could get divorced,” I offer.

The moment I’ve said that, I know I’ve made a grave mistake. When I look up and meet Callum’s gaze, I can basically read the ‘WHY!?’ in his eyes.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” dad says, slamming his hand flat on the table. “You two are old enough to get down that path. And you too, Austin. At your age, I was already a father. I know you found one bad apple but you have to remember that it doesn’t mean the whole tree is bad.”

Austin mouths the last part of dad’s wise saying. Robert’s been quoting it for years, so much so that it’s been worn into our brains despite the fact that we haven’t even shared a place of living for a long, long time.

“I’ll get right on that,” Austin says without any notable enthusiasm.

“Oh come on! You three have to be swimming in women,” dad says, giving us all measuring looks.

I notice how none of us really want to answer his questioning gaze. Not with what’s been going on, anyway…

“You three are hiding something from me, aren’t you?” he says suddenly, his pale blue eyes narrowing.

The old man always was smart as a fox. You would think that he was just some millionaire playboy, living off of the wealth he accumulated in his youth and now blowing it on any nice pair of legs that he came across, but Robert Stephenson is no simple man. He’s a shrewd businessman and the kind of man you want to stay on the good side of.

If for no other reason than the fact that if you did mess with him, you’d probably be getting into a fight with someone who could loop you three times intellectually without breaking a sweat. He’s an attentive, wise man and none of us have gotten through our youth without getting caught out by him repeatedly for stupid, and not so stupid lies.

“Spill it,” he says roughly, picking up his coffee cup and cradling it now as he rows his gaze from one to another. “Did you three get into some trouble?”

“It’s nothing,” I say, feeling obligated to talk us out of what I talked us into. “There might be a girl.”

“There might be a girl?” dad asks, quirking a brow, before realization hits him. “Oh for fuck’s sake! You three aren’t after the same dame again, are you?”

When we don’t answer, he lets out a groan and kicks back his coffee in one long gulp.

He gets up, shaking his head as he goes for a refill. There’s an army of servants nearby, ready to jump in if he just called, but despite his wealth, dad has always preferred doing things on his own. He taught us the same – there’s no reason to have someone do something for you that you can’t do for yourself.

It’s a motto that has served us well, I think.

“I thought you boys were over that now,” he says with some annoyance, though his tone softens.

I know he doesn’t really care about what we do in that regards. We’re old enough to fight our own battles and he knows it. As long as he doesn’t find out that it’s Lily, we’re going to be in the clear.

Considering Milan and everything that came with her, I think it’s best that our father doesn’t know that we’re all trying to fuck her lawyer. And maybe even go beyond that.

“And I thought you were over frivolous divorces,” Austin comments dryly, his tone sharp.

Dad and he look at one another and the expressions they’re wearing are copies of one another, both unwilling to back down. Dad doesn’t like to be reminded of his spotted past and Austin’s never approved of the come-and-go style of relationships that dad prefers. While Callum and I haven’t really cared, I think we were all hoping that Milan would be the last one.

The woman has problems, but she certainly made dad happy for a good number of years. And that marriage gave us Candice, who we’ve all been more than happy to have in our lives. That’s exactly what three brothers needed – a younger sister to look after.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business, son,” Robert says tensely.

The standoff lasts for a couple more seconds, before Callum butts in.

“Can we all agree to disagree? And eat our fucking pancakes?”

A murmur of agreement goes around the table but I’m left with an uneasy feeling from the conversation. It’s like dad isn’t telling us something and I can’t put my finger on what it could be.

One thing’s for sure, this week in Hawaii isn’t going to be just about a tropical getaway and family time. I can smell blood in the water and I can only hope it won’t be mine, or anyone else’s that I care about.