Page 95 of A Cold Hard Truth

“It’s not his, though. Just, if there’s him, there’re maybe others after me.” He scrubbed his hands down the front of his face and stared down at the marble floor.

“You know I really wanted things with her to work out for you, right? I mean, now that I hear this, I’m glad they didn’t. But I want you to be happy, Sebastian.”

“Same,” he agreed. “For us both.”

“I know it’s a big house, brother, but did you get lost on the way to the kitchen?” Rhys hollered from the far end of the first floor.

Sebastian tipped the phone away from his face to shout his answer, “I’m coming! I’m talking with Callahan.”

“Tell him I said hello!”

“No.” Sebastian lowered his voice to speak to Callahan. “I don’t know what’s going on here. Daniella is telling people about our sex life, she’s telling people she’s pregnant. Rhys asked for a copy of my divorce paperwork, our dad is involved, and now I’m here. I don’t know much more than that, Callahan.”

“That sounds like a fucking mess,” he said.

“That sounds like a fucking understatement.”

“Will you please let me know what’s going on? Will you please keep us in the loop?” Callahan pressed. “And Remington.”

“I don’t want him to know about any of this,” Sebastian said. “It’s embarrassing. He deserves better than someone with this kind of baggage trailing him around.”

“He deserves whomever he wants.”

“Is that Jace talking?” Sebastian sighed. “Am I on speaker?”

“No, and no. That’s me talking to you. Best friend to best friend. You don’t have to do this alone.”

“Rhys is here,” he muttered.

“You don’t have to do this alone,” Callahan repeated.

“It’s my mess. I’ll take care of it.” Sebastian stood, his right knee cracking as he straightened to his full height. “I’ll let you know when I’m coming home.”

“Call me tomorrow,” Callahan said.

“I’ll talk to you later.” Sebastian ended the call, having no intention of doing any such thing.

He flipped his phone to silent and slipped it back into his pocket. He knew Callahan would tell Jace where he was and why, and soon enough it would get back to Remington. When that happened, Remington wouldn’t want to hear from him again. And even if he did…

Remington deserved someone less messy than Sebastian was.

That didn’t change the fact Sebastian wanted him, though.

He found Rhys in the kitchen, two glasses of wine already poured and waiting at the breakfast bar. He climbed onto one stool and poured half the contents of the glass down his throat, topped off his glass up to the brim, then looked at his brother with pursed lips and tired eyes.

“What?” he said, waiting for Rhys to explain.

“Where to start…” Rhys sipped at his wine, eyeing Sebastian over the rim.

“Why is she even in Mallardsville?” Sebastian asked. “She lives in Myers Bluff.”

“She did when she was married to someone who lived in Myers Bluff.”

He sighed again. “She lived there before she met me.”

“And she’s moved on. She’s here because she can cause problems here,” Rhys said.

“She’s here because there’s money here.”