Page 89 of A Cold Hard Truth

“Good.” As though he’d conjured Sebastian out of his memories alone, the man appeared before him on the sidewalk.

With a flushed face and bloodshot eyes, Sebastian grabbed the front of Remington’s shirt, then reeled back, like he hadn’t realized they were in public. He smoothed the wrinkles he’d made, then patted the material, his fingers lingering before disappearing into Sebastian’s pocket.

“Good?” he repeated back to Sebastian, still confused about what had brought him around.

“This must be your friend.” Another voice, nearly a sneer, rang out from behind Sebastian, and Remington shifted his stare past Sebastian’s tangled blond hair only to find himself staring right at the man he could only assume was Sebastian’s older brother, Rhys.

The family resemblance was clear. Rhys wasn’t an unattractive man, but he looked far too high-strung for Remington’s tastes. His nose was a little longer, his hair a little more pristine. Remington could tell this was the kind of person Sebastian wanted to be, but he’d always fall short, and he was glad for that.

Remington ignored Rhys and tilted his head in question toward Sebastian. “Is everything all right?”

“Sebastian is taking a little trip,” Rhys answered, and Remington sighed, shifting his stare back to the other man.

“Sebastian can speak for himself,” Remington said sharply. “I don’t recall directing my inquiry at you.”

“Big words.” Rhys smirked.

“This is my brother,” Sebastian muttered.

Remington hadn’t taken his eyes off Rhys. “I assumed.”

“Does my reputation precede me?” Rhys lowered a pair of sunglasses to shield his eyes.

“He’s friends with Jace,” Sebastian answered, still staring at Remington’s chest.

Rhys shrugged.

“Is everything all right?” Remington asked again, tipping Sebastian’s chin up.

Sebastian let out a shaking breath, and Remington could smell the whiskey on it. He frowned, and Sebastian’s cheeks flushed. He tried to look away, but not hard. Remington stared down at the soft fan of eyelashes that shielded Sebastian’s eyes from his stare, and waited for an answer.

“There’re some issues I need to attend to at home,” Sebastian said.

“This is your home.”

Sebastian blinked, focusing on Remington.“With my divorce,” he clarified. “I know we haven’t really talked about it. About her.”

“She doesn’t matter to me.”

“Well.” Sebastian swallowed, lips gaping like a fish.

On the curb, a sleek black town car idled, and Rhys checked his watch.It quickly became apparent to Remington that Sebastian would be leaving as soon as they exchanged goodbyes, and the annoyed posture Rhys maintained showed their departure should have been long before the present time.

“How long are you going to be gone?” he asked.

Sebastian shook his head. “I’m not sure. Hopefully not long.”

“The sooner we go, the sooner you can come back, Bastian,” Rhys said, tone sounding tired, like it was something he’d told Sebastian more than once in his life.

“Is that your car?” Remington asked, pointing toward the town car.

“For today,” Rhys answered.

“Can you go wait in it?”

“You know I can seeoutthe windows, right?” Rhys rolled his eyes.

Remington answered him with a cold stare. For his part, Sebastian hadn’t moved since he’d shoved his hands into his pockets. He hadn’t even bothered to tip his head back enough to look Remington in the face.