AS IT TURNED out, not everyone left me alone.

My brother Aidan stood leaning against the wall. I gathered the family chose him to be my moral support during this troubling time. I was surprised by that; in my opinion, Aidan's a sanctimonious douche. I get along better with Sean.

"Did you forget something?" I sneered. "Can't be your soul...you must have sold that a long time ago."

Ignoring that, he locked the door and walked over to sit next to me. "It's not the end of the world, little sister."

"For you." Much to my embarrassment, I discovered I had actually started to cry. I wiped under my eyes. "I didn't cause this, Aidan. But for Patrick having sex with minors, I would not have called the FBI."

"I know," he said quietly.

"It's not fair."

"I agree."

"Patrick keeps his pride of place and I get kicked out." I glared at him. "This is whistleblower shit, Aidan."

"Not really," he replied. "You were right to be shocked and angry. You were not right to make Molotov Cocktails to bomb Pat's office and to call the FBI."

"It was the best and most effective action I could take at the time."

He took a deep breath, blew it out, and rubbed his crew cut head. "And that's why you've lost your place. This is not about what is right and what is wrong. It's about our clients and the business of law. You have a good head on your shoulders, Siobhan, but if you can't understand that, then you will have difficulty practicing law."

"Oh, please." I rolled my eyes. "If I'd walked in on Pat and he was only talking to the pimp, it'd be one thing. It's another thing altogether for him to have brought in a group of naked underage girls into this place of business for the purposes of sexual intercourse."

Aidan had the grace to look ashamed. "I know, and I agree. But Pat brings in a lot of money."

"So you're saying that it's okay he's a pedophile because he's a rainmaker."

He considered that, and then nodded. "Yes. That's it, pretty much."

"It's immoral and illegal."

"Some people here don't think so. Some people here think that those girls have a better life here doing what they're doing than they would living in some Eastern European pile of shit."

I raised an eyebrow. "Then some people will be sure to burn in hell for their moral depravity. Also, some people might want to go back to law school for a Constitutional law refresher course."

Aidan's lips thinned out and he shifted in his chair. "Siobhan, we're talking in circles. You've got to let it go and move on.

"Are you going to sing, Aidan? Are you going to start singing 'Let It Go' for me?"

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, as if staving off a headache. "Siobhan, be serious. I'm trying to help you."

I leaned forward. "Alright Aidan. I'll let it go. I will happily let it go. Just give me my trust fund back and I will let it go so far that none of you will ever see or hear from me again." I paused. "Outside of court. You'll probably go up against me in court, of course. But on a personal level, I'm out of here. You all suck."

He looked puzzled. "You had a trust fund?"

Omigod. I rolled my eyes and spoke slowly. "Yes, Aidan. I. Had. A. Trust. Fund."

"I didn't know you had a trust fund."

"Really?" I stared at him. "Who do you think's been supporting me all these years?"

"Why, Patrick, of course. I mean, I know you two have your differences, but he was assigned to be your guardian, so it's reasonable to believe he's supporting you."

I snorted. "Patrick wouldn't throw me a life vest if I was drowning."

"True," he mumbled, picking of a piece of imaginary lint from his bespoke trousers. "Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you did have a trust. You know how it works. Once you're disavowed, all your assets revert to the firm."

"That's not firm money," I exclaimed. "It's my money."

"It's money from Dad, right?"

"I don't know. I could have been from mom, too for all I know. It doesn't matter. It's money Daddy put in trust for me."

"It was money he earned as a partner here, Siobhan." He gave me a pitying look. "Any monies Dad set aside belong first to the firm. It's in all trust agreements."

"That makes no sense!"

"It's the way it is." He shrugged. "Dad agreed to it. We all agree to it."

"So if you drop dead, any money you have doesn't revert to your kids, it reverts to the firm?"

"No." He stared at me. "Only if my children did something that caused them to be disavowed."

I glared at him. "You're bullshit. I will sue to get it back."

He sighed. "And you'll lose. Siobhan, there's nothing to be gain from a losing fight. Let it go and move on."

Somehow, that made me angrier, but I didn't respond. Instead, I stared at the pattern on the table and concentrated on my breathing.

We sat quietly sat for a minute until he pulled out a tissue from his breast pocket and sat it on the table. "Look at it this way, Siobhan. You're young, you're beautiful, you can do whatever you want with your life."

I couldn't even look at him. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

He shook a finger at me. "Don't a lot of girls your age model? You could do that. I know it's what my girls want to do." He laughed. "They want to be just like those Kardashian girls." He paused and smiled fondly. Aidan was a good father who loved his girls. Too bad he didn't expect more of them than a Kardashian life.

Of course Aidan's daughters - technically my nieces, even though we were the same age - were vapid, useless twits. I even think one of them's engaged. To compare me to them was not even a valid comparison.

Man, if only there was a fully stocked bar around, or maybe a letter opener. I started feeling under the chair for any loose pieces of metal.

"You know, it's not such a bad idea," he continued, oblivious to my seething. "You've been the face of the firm now for years. Shoot, you can move to New York. I know Alex will help you, especially since that the two of you are together." He paused, then added, "I understand that there's been some talk of marriage. Personally, I think that's an excellent idea."

My head shot up at that. Marriage? What the hell? "I'm not leaving school," I said softly and resumed the study of the table.

"Alright," he sighed. "Be that way. You're angry, so you're not listening. If you don't want to leave school, you don't have to leave school. You can take out loans, and get financial aid. If you keep your grades up, you might even get a few scholarships."

I looked up at him. "I'm not leaving school, Aidan. I'm going to finish undergrad and go to law school. You can kick me out of the family, but you can't kick me out of the profession."

"Sure, you can still go to law school, if you want," he countered. "But you should know that the Firm will keep you out of top tier schools."

That caught my attention. The family wouldn't allow me to go to Harvard, Yale, or Columbia? "What?" I barked. "Why does it matter where I go?"

He studied his manicured nails in order to avoid looking me in the eye."The firm thinks that if you go top tier, you could potentially work in conflict against us." He smiled a little. "It's a little like a covenant not to compete."

"Covenants not to compete are contractually agreed upon," I argued. "I'm not agreeing to this."

"Take it as a compliment, Siobhan. It's because we know you'd be a good lawyer."

Oh. So they're still pissed off that Jack took his education and ran off to be a Federal Prosecutor. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I'll go to a bottom tier school then. The law's the law, no matter what the school's ranking. Everyone knows the tier system's bullshit anyway."

"Now you're being emotional, Siobhan. You know it's less likely you'd be recruited out of a second or third tier school." He paused. "Then there's the debt. I mean, you'll be coming out of undergrad with close to $200 thou if you stay at Notre Dame, and if you tack 4th tier law debt on top of it, and add on to that the prospect of underemployment...I think it would be stupid myself, but then, if that's what you want to do..." His voice trailed off.

Dammit. He was right. I shut up and studied the table.

"I know it's disappointing, Siobhan, but if you think about it, it's for the best. You are going to find that there are better things out there for you." He reached out to touch me, but I glared and pulled away from him.

"I hate you," I snapped. "I hate you all."

Hurt crossed his face. "I know you do right now, little sister, and I hope that you can get passed it. Whatever it is that you do, don't let it ruin your life. You have wonderful potential. This is an opportunity to discover what else you can be."

I looked up at him. "If God closes a door, He opens a window, right?"

He nodded, relieved. "Exactly. It's not an end, Siobhan. It's a beginning."

I took a moment the think about how I should phrase my response.

"You know, Aidan, out of everybody I've dealt with in the past 24 hours, I think I hate you the most. You sit here in front of me, acting all concerned, but what it boils down to is you just want me to shut up, accept it, and roll over without a fight." I looked him in the eye. "When have I ever rolled over without a fight on anything, Aidan?"

"Don't be stupid..."

"Kiss my ass, Aidan, you sanctimonious douchewad."

His masked slipped and I saw the truth of his feelings in the contempt that was in his eyes. "Take a look around you, Siobhan. I'm the only one here taking time to talk to you."

"Yeah, and I'm sure you're doing that because you got told to." I paused for a second. "Which leads to the reasonable question why are you giving me the let it go pep talk?"

He looked down and started picking at his trousers again. I smiled, for real this time.

"Oh, I see. You're afraid, aren't you? You're all afraid. You're all wondering what I will do." My smile turned into a full on crazy grin. "I mean, I'm the girl who plays with tigers and firebombs pedophiles. Think of all the havoc I can wreck."

"I repeat, Siobhan, this is an opportunity..."

"You all think you have the power," I interrupted, "but I'm the one with the real power here, aren't I? What if I did go to the FBI and talk to Agent Donnelly? Tell him all about Patrick, and you, and everything I know about the inner workings and operations of The McIver Group LLP?"

I heard the sound and felt the pain before I realized that my brother had slapped me.

I automatically raised my hand to hit him back. Unfortunately, another hand caught my arm before I could land my reply. This hand was really strong. It was also attached to an Alex.

"Let go of my hand Alex," I grunted. "I need to hit my brother."

"That's enough, Siobhan. Aidan, leave."

"I see how it is," I yelled while I struggled to free myself. "You want me complacent, Aidan? You get me my 15 million dollars. Then I'll be complacent."

Alex squeezed my wrist. "Siobhan. Calm down."

"Ow!" I winced. "You can break my wrist, Alex, but I'm just saying. Eight figures. Or I'm going to Donnelly."

Alex squeezed harder.

"Alex! Cut it out! I'm negotiating here." I tried to get up from my seat. "Let me go!"

"Do you need security?" Aidan asked Alex. "I can call security, if you want."

Alex ignored him. "Siobhan. Stop hurting yourself. Calm down."

"I'm hurting myself?" I yelled. "You're the one twisting my wrist!" I tried to swing my other arm around, but it was the one with the bullet wound, and it hurt bad enough that I gasped and stopped struggling.

Alex wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear. "That's enough, Siobhan. Calm down."

"Alex..."

"Siobhan, breath."

God. I'm such a girl. I felt myself calm down despite myself. So did he.

"That's a girl," he whispered. "You're fine. Everything's fine."

My brother looked strangely frazzled as he stood up and backed towards the door. "Alex, I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have hit her. It was a mistake, okay? Listen, we don't need this room today, so you all can stay for as long as you need to." He left the room in a controlled run.

I wanted to shout after him, but being surrounded by Alex was equivalent to being hopped up on Valium. I watched him leave without saying a single word.

Alex walked around and kneeled in front of me. "You'll be fine, Siobhan. It's not the end of the world."

I turned and buried my face into Alex's shoulder. "They kicked me out, Alex."

"I know, baby."

"He told me they were going to keep me out of the top tier law schools."

"I'm sorry, baby."

"He told me I should model." I pulled away and looked up at him. "What the hell, Alex? What the hell? And he told I should marry you. What's all this crap about getting married?"

"We can talk about it later."

I didn't want to talk about it at all, but I didn't feel like pushing the issue. Instead, I looked down and saw blood. I must have bled through my bandage on onto his jacket. "Ew. I got blood on your jacket, Alex."

"It's fine. I have other jackets."

I sighed. "My family sucks."

_____ * _____ * _____ * _____ * _____

Meet Aidan, Siobhan's oldest brother. He's... something. With a brother like that, who needs enemies, right?

Thank you so much for taking time to read Siobhan's story! I look forward to your comments, and if you liked it, please remember to vote!

©Copyright Liz Charnes May 2018

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