Snorting, I tossed the tape in the trash and flexed my fingers. Self-pity wasn’t my thing either, and I’d be damned if I’d fall into that trap.

“No, I don’t like it,” I told Dean truthfully. “But I’m stuck here. You, on the other hand, are not.”

He’d ditched the suits and was now wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Thank fuck. The sight of Dean in a suit while hanging out here annoyed the shit out of me; he should be in a corner office somewhere changing the world with that big brain of his. He should be hanging with someone like Parker, creating algorithms or having in-depth conversations about chaos theory.

How would it have gone if Dean had been the one to meet up with Parker like she was expecting? Would she have stuck to the whole “business only” thing? She disliked me on sight. Dean, she’d recruited.

A sour taste filled my mouth, and I walked over to the vending machine. A sports drink tumbled down to the open slot in the silence, and I knew Dean was watching me, thinking God knew what.

“Why do you keep this place?” he finally asked.

It was the earnest tone, no longer pissy or trying to piss me off, that had me answering with another truth. “It’s all I got.”

It hurt to say. Hurt to admit to myself. But I was used to pain. I turned and found him staring at me with sad eyes.

“You had it all.” A frown worked its way over his forehead. “Shit, I was so proud of you. My big brother Rhys, kicking ass and taking numbers.”

Jesus, this kid. He never needed to use his fists to lay someone flat. He just needed to open his mouth.

“Dean …” It was a plea but he didn’t seem to hear it.

“And for what? This dump?”

My back teeth ground together. “This dump was Dad’s dream. Mom’s dream. It was responsible for putting food on our table and training me to be the fighter you claim you admired so much.”

Dean nodded, clearly unfazed. “Yeah, it was. But now? Rhys, it’s falling apart around you. I’ve seen enough of the accounting to know it’s so far in the hole only a miracle can save it.”

Parker was that miracle. Or the cute fairy who’d get me one step closer to it.

Dean threw up a hand in irritation. “So, don’t tell me that this place makes you happy.”

“It doesn’t,” I snapped, unable to hold back. “All right? It doesn’t. Not now. But it could, Dean.” I glanced around, imagining it like it was in its heyday. Imagining it better than it was. “It’s something worth saving.”