The driver pulls up outside Grayson’s house ten minutes later. Tyler and I haven’t really spoken during the ride over. I thought it would be best to wait until he and Grayson were together before I started questioning them.

I find Grayson in his living room, standing by the fireplace, a tumbler of whiskey in his hand. A flash of relief passes over his face when he sees Tyler. But then the relief is gone and anger settles in.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“Nice to see you too, bro,” Tyler says as he throws himself down onto one of the plush couches. “You know, you look just like dad, standing there by the fire, glass in hand, pissed-off look on your face. I feel like I’ve just gone back ten years in time.”

“Screw you,” Grayson snaps, putting the glass down on the mantelpiece. He pushes his hands into his pockets and steps closer to Tyler. “How could you do this? You promised me that it wouldn’t happen again.”

“I didn’t exactly have a choice,” Tyler snaps.

“What do you mean you didn’t have a choice? There’s always a choice,” Grayson says.

“Maybe in your perfect world there is. But in my world”—Tyler gets to his feet—“there isn’t.”

“I don’t know how to help you anymore,” Grayson says, sounding lost and frustrated.

“I never asked you to help me in the first place,” Tyler says quietly.

“You’re my little brother…I couldn’t just…” Grayson’s words die out and his eyes come to me. It’s as if he’s remembering I’m still here.

Tyler turns to look at me, too.

“Don’t stop on my account.” I wave a hand toward Grayson. “I mean, I think I’ve pretty much figured it out myself, anyway. Tyler has a history of criminal offenses. The cops raid the club. He has a sizable amount of drugs on him. Enough to put him away for a long time.

“Grayson, you tell him to give the drugs to you, so if they get found, neither of you will go to prison, because your record is clean and you’re a notable figure in entertainment. You’ll probably get a slap on the wrist—at the worst a fine and be put on probation. Only when it comes to laws about drugs, you don’t know that Tyler was carrying enough to up the charge to possession with intent to sell.

“Because that’s what you were doing, right, Tyler? You were going to sell the coke. Grayson took the drugs from you, got caught with them, and now he’s looking at possible jail time. And I’m taking it the people you work for were not happy you lost those drugs that were seized from Grayson. Were they looking for their money back? Maybe you were out tonight, selling to try to make the money back to pay them off. Am I on the right track here?”

Tyler opens his mouth, but Grayson holds up a hand, cutting him off.

Grayson turns to me, his expression weary. He moves over to me, puts his hands on my arms, and says, “Mel…I need to talk to my brother…alone. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and Tyler. But just give me tonight with him to talk.”