Ryan's secretary buzzed him over the intercom. "Mr. Atwood… Your… Well, he says he's your brother- is here to see you."

"Seth? Send him up…" Ryan said, without thinking. He glanced at his Outlook Calendar, he didn't know his brother was even in town. Had he missed an email from Sandy and Kirsten? It was quite possible, he realized guiltily, he had been so busy with work and his family. Taylor was six-months pregnant with their second child, so Ryan had been trying to help her out more with their five- year old son, Matt, and their adopted fifteen- year old son Craig. Recently Craig had been a bit of a handful.

Seeing as Seth was about to appear, and probably drag him off to lunch or something, Ryan jumped on the phone with a client who needed placating about a building project that was a month behind it's deadline, and didn't hear his secretary saying, "Mr. Atwood, your visitor isn't Mr. Cohen…"

"Mr. Atwood, huh? Sounds so fancy when you say it like that."

The phone almost dropped from Ryan's hand, "I'm going to have to call you back." He told the client, as he hung up the phone ignoring the client's angry parting words. "Trey… What are you doing here?"

"What? No family allowed in the big fancy office…" Trey said, walking slowly around Ryan's large office, and letting out a low whistle, "That is some view you got there." He looked out over the ocean.

"Trey, what are you doing here?" Ryan repeated, his voice low, and that tone that most builders in Orange County knew as the "danger tone." As in, if that project's not done when I say it needs to be done, you will never work in this state again.

Trey sat down in one of the plush leather chairs across from Ryan's desk, "I just wanted to come and visit with you, little brother. I hear you're the Golden Boy of Newport now."

"And who did you hear that from?" Ryan decided that he really couldn't just throw his brother out of his office. They were blood, and it had been years since he had seen him, still that didn't mean he could trust him.

"I saw Mom…" Trey said quietly.

"Oh…" Ryan said, looking down at his hands and his fancy watch. "Yeah…"

"So I guess you pretty much know how she's doing?"

"Yeah…" Ryan nodded.

"She said you've taken good care of her… Bought her that apartment… Hired the nurse… Paid for all the treatment…"

"Yeah, well…" The gifts sounded more grand when Trey put it like that, but really, he had built the apartments, and Medicare paid for most of the treatments, he just picked up co-pays here and there, and he had hired the daytime care taker.

"She uh… She doesn't have much time left, does she?"

"Six months… At the most."

"Does she know that?"

Ryan shrugged, and smiled a little, "You know Mom, she hears what she wants to hear."

"She's proud of you."

"Right…" Ryan said, unsure what to say. To be honest, he didn't know why he did everything he did for his mom, maybe because she had walked away that day and left him with the Cohens, who had given him all the tools he had ever needed to make it in this world. He resented the way Dawn, in her pride, seemed to take credit for his success, but he know that was cruel. This world had been cruel to Dawn, she deserved happiness wherever she could find it, and it didn't hurt Ryan if she was proud of him.

"She uh… She said you got married. Had a kid, or something."

"Mattie, yeah, and number two on the way. And Craig, my adopted son."

"So I'm an uncle, huh?"

"Yeah, man, pretty crazy huh?"

"So who's my lucky sister in law? Is it… that girl… Marissa?"

Ryan still cringed when he heard his brother say her name, old feelings of resentment and anger boiled to the surface, and he had to fight them back down, "No… Marissa's... Gone." He was not going to talk to Trey about her.

"Oh…" An awkward silence fell.

"So, what brings you to town Trey? Did Mom call you or something? Or did the statute of limitations on attempted murder finally expire?" He was angry with Trey, still. It had been over ten years, but the feelings were still there. Seeing Trey, it was like a band aid had just been ripped off an old wound, taking the scab with it.

"Look man… Mom's dying, alright? So can we just… Not fight?"

"Trey, you've never done anything out of the goodness of your heart. You always have a motive… An angle. So just cut the bull shit, and come out with it."

Trey smiled and leaned back, "So that's what you think this is? Some kind of scheme? Ryan, you're my bother… You're practically my only family…"

"What about Dad?"

"What about Dad?" Trey asked.

"Have you been to see him?"

"No- why would I?"

"He's here,"

"Here?" Trey asked laughing, "In what prison?"

"He's not in prison, he works for the Newport Group,"

"So you mean- he works for you?"

"Yeah," Ryan said, enjoying the look of shock on his brother's face. Trey wasn't the only one with a few surprises up his sleeve. "I have him in my sales department."

"No shit…" Trey said, shaking his head, "Man, if only the kids back in Chino could see you now…"

"Yeah," Ryan said, "So, where have you been?"

"Around… Was in Vegas for awhile, then Texas,"

"Staying out of trouble?"

Trey's eyes darkened, "You're still my little brother you know, not my father."

"Whatever…" Ryan said, standing up and shaking his head. "I need to get back to work. See you around?" He stood, arm stretched towards the door, ready to escort Trey out.

"Yeah… See you…"

"Mr. Atwood, your wife is here, she's on her way up."

"Uh… Can you tell her I'm in a meeting?"

"I'm right here Ryan…" He heard Taylor's annoyed voice. "I know you're not in a meeting. Jenny just said your brother's here. I want to say to Seth."

"Seth's not…" Ryan started to say.

"I'm coming up," And the connection terminated.

Trey smiled, "So, does this mean I get to the meet the fam?"