5. Levi
‘Drink?’ Elias asked as soon as Levi stepped into the room.
Levi’s younger brother didn’t wait for him to answer before pressing a crystal tumbler into his hands. The amber liquid sloshed, the ice clinked, and Levi raised an eyebrow at his sibling.
‘That bad?’ Levi asked, lifting the drink to his lips.
‘Worse,’ Elias replied, taking a long drink from his own glass. The family must be in fine form if Elias was already plying him with alcohol.
As usual, Elias stood behind the wet bar in what their mother liked to call the reception room of the family house. Levi thought maybe Elias took that position because it gave him a physical barrier between him and the rest of the family.
Family dinner. The once-a-month torture Levi endured because… well, he didn’t really know. He supposed it was because he was still hoping their family might actually behave like a family one day. After thirty-three years of dysfunction, he knew it wasn’t likely, but he still had hope.
‘Brothers!’
Levi’s older brother, Jonah, entered the room like the heir apparent… which he was. The three brothers all looked the same, although they dressed differently. Jonah wore a polo shirt and chinos, which Levi thought made him look like a younger version of their father. He even wore the same boat shoes their father preferred. Elias, on the other hand, wore denim. Faded, well-worn jeans, and a stretched T-shirt that Levi suspected had a few holes somewhere under the battered leather jacket he wore. Levi did not even have to look over the bar to know that Elias was wearing scuffed motorcycle boots. He was rarely seen without them. For Levi, he wore a button-down shirt, tie, and dress pants. He’d come straight from work; not that it made any difference. Sure, Levi owned T-shirts and sweatpants, but they were for working out—jogging—not for dinner at his parents’ place. He could just imagine the look on his mother’s face if he turned up in anything less than a shirt and tie.
‘How art thou?’ Jonah said as he approached the bar, not expecting an answer.
Elias rolled his eyes and took another drink. Levi was about to do the same when Jonah’s hand slammed down on his shoulder.
‘Thanks for doing me a solid,’ Jonah said.
Levi frowned and slowly turned to his older sibling. ‘What ‘solid’ would that be?’ He already knew, or at least he guessed.
Jonah grinned but didn’t answer. He pointed to Levi’s glass. ‘I’ll have what he’s having.’
Elias’ jaw worked, and Levi thought he might actually tell Jonah to fuck off, but he put down his drink and grabbed another glass, tossing a scoop of ice in it before grabbing the bottle and pouring a generous slug.
‘So… about this ‘solid’,’ Levi said again.
‘I’m sorry to screw up your perfect record,’ Jonah said after taking a long drink. ‘But if I make one more claim, my insurance would skyrocket.’
Levi gritted his teeth and turned away from both his brothers. Why was he even surprised? There was no way Mother would have authorised a compensation payment to Nikki Farnsworth out of the company coffers. Of course they would have made an insurance claim. And, sure as shit, if they claimed on Jonah’s policy, his premiums would go through the roof… they would possibly even refuse to insure him any longer. That was just spit balling on Levi’s part—he didn’t know exactly how insurance companies decided who to insure—but if he was in charge of the insurance, he certainly wouldn’t indemnify his brother.
Jonah wasn’t a bad doctor; he was just careless and on the same train as their parents—where money was king. Which was why he’d proceeded with Nikki’s injectables despite Levi’s notes on her chart. Jonah didn’t care about the patient—he only cared about the size of their bank accounts.
Levi lifted his glass to his mouth and emptied it in one long swallow. Turning back to Elias, he held out his glass. Elias bit his lip but said nothing as he poured another shot into Levi’s glass.
‘You’ll be right to cover my patients for that week, won’t you?’ Jonah said.
Levi blinked himself back into the conversation. He’d completely tuned his brother out. Most of the time, Jonah only spoke to hear his own voice or to assert his authority as the eldest. Half of the time, Levi didn’t listen, and he suspected Elias never did.
‘Sorry, what was that? You need me to cover for you…?’ Again was implied, but Levi didn’t voice it.
Jonah either didn’t notice or chose to ignore it. ‘I’m going to that conference in South Korea, remember?’
Wait. What? He thought he was the one going to that conference. South Korea was leading the way in non-invasive cosmetic procedures, and Levi was interested in the new technology that was evolving. Levi had been the one to suggest the conference, especially since they’d had increased interest in the HIFU—high intensity focused ultrasound—machine in the clinic.
‘You’re going to the conference?’ Levi asked.
Jonah laughed. ‘You didn’t think you’d be going, did you?’ He laughed again, elbowing Levi as if he was in on the joke. ‘You hate all that stuff. Networking and all the talk about cosmetic augmentations? It would drive you insane. You have a hard enough time treating our patients as it is.’
‘I am always interested in new technology and the ways in which it can help our patients,’ Levi replied steadily. ‘HIFU can be used to treat?—’
‘Acne scars,’ Jonah finished with a sarcastic drawl. ‘You know, we’re all getting a little tired of your holier-than-thou attitude, Levi. You are a cosmetic surgeon, same as me. Same as Dad. Your job is to give the clients what they want, not fill their heads with nonsense about being happy with the skin they’re in. Your job is to make money. Treating acne scars does not make us money. Giving the clients the treatments they ask for is what keeps you in your job.’
‘Like you giving Nikki those injectables?’ Levi muttered.
Jonah rolled his eyes. ‘It’s not like it’s permanent. She’ll get over it, and Mum sold her on some liposuction, so the money we lose paying out her compensation will be made up in those extra treatments.’
‘I thought Mother was offering those to her as compensation?’ Levi replied with a frown.
‘First one’s free,’ Jonah said, lowering himself into an oversized leather armchair. ‘But we both know one won’t be enough for her.’
Levi gripped the glass until his knuckles turned white. Why was he here? Not in the metaphysical sense… okay, maybe in the metaphysical sense. Levi honestly didn’t know why he continued to work in the clinic when he despised it so much. He didn’t even know why he kept coming back to family dinner when he always left feeling like he’d developed a stomach ulcer.
Elias clinked his glass with Levi’s, a sardonic smile on his lips.
‘Welcome to hell,’ he said before tipping the contents of the glass down his throat.
‘May we all make it out alive,’ Levi replied before emptying his own glass.