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looked me over. “I heard you’d set up an office and I wanted to say hello earlier, but work got in the way.” He held out his hand and I shook it as I smiled.
    “Thank you, Mr. Stevens. It’s really good to be here.”
    “I was just a high school intern when your father started this business. I’m sure he’s proud of you. You’re a remarkable young woman.”
    “Don’t flatter me too much. At least not until I’ve earned it.”
    He nodded. “Of course. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind, but I really hope I don’t need to come running to you just yet,” I replied feeling slightly awkward under his gaze.
    I waited for him to say something more, but he didn’t.
    “Did you need anything else?” I prompted.
    “No. Sorry. I’ll let you get back to work. Again, welcome to your bank.”
    I laughed. “Thank you.”
    He stepped back to door, and before it could close completely, my secretary peeked her head inside. Her glasses slid down her nose and she pushed it back up as she waited for me to acknowledge her.
    “Yes?”
    “Your uncle his here. I told him you weren’t seeing anyone, but he says he won’t leave until—”
    “It’s okay, Constanza, let him in.”
    But before she could, Uncle Adam burst into my office. “What did I tell you? If you had a brain—”
    “Uncle!” I cut him off as I rushed to the door. “I’m so sorry, Constanza. If anyone else asks for me, please tell them I’m a meeting.”
    She nodded and I closed the doors before I turned to him.
    “Do not insult my staff!” I snapped.
    He snorted as he walked up to the windows. “Your staff? Look at you, you sound just like your father. Next will come your work, your company, and your money. Here I am repeating history to a child.”
    I took a deep breath. “What do you want?”
    “Did you know we started this company together? We were just bookies as first, hustlers on the streets. Your father was the brains, I had the street smarts, the charm. Getting people to trust me was just so easy. Too easy . Then he started investing…without me. He doubled their money not only on paper, but in their actual hands. Next he was buying offices…without me. This business, it grew out of thin air. I couldn’t believe it. I thought we’d finally made it and then I tried to walk into the office one day and a girl, the same age as you said I couldn’t go up…not without an appointment. You should have seen my face.” He turned and glared around the office and I could see the tension in his jaw as he gnashed his teeth together. “That’s when I realized that brains outdid charm. He screwed me right out of everything and there was nothing I could do about it—”
    “Uncle.” I sighed. “I know this story. You’ve told me it almost every day since he died.”
    “Good riddance too! He was a fucking bastard!”
    I took a quick breath like he’d stabbed me. No matter how many times he said it, it still hurt. I wanted to scream that he was my father for better or worse, but I knew that it would only make my uncle rant more.
    “Do you need more money, Uncle?” I just wanted him to go.
    He snickered bitterly. “You little…No. I didn’t come for money! I came for my cut, it’s past time I got what was owed to me. This place wouldn’t have been built if it weren’t for the connections and the deals I made!”
    “You know I can’t do that.”
    “Why not? Aren’t you a major shareholder?”
    “It doesn’t work like that—”
    “Then make it, Coraline! Make up for your father’s sins! We are family. I’ve taken care of you since you were a child. You have no one else but me. Your actual blood is my blood, how can you turn away from away that?”
    Nodding, I tried not to cry. I hated when he manipulated me like this. “I’ll work on something for you here and we will work on the board together, but you have to get your act together, Uncle. You can’t just blow through