Page 101 of A Matter of Fact

“Well.” He’d give Callahan many things, including an apology, but he’d never admit that it had worked. But the jealousy he’d felt when he saw Callahan and Jace together had spurred on the catalyst that brought him where he was now.

Callahan smiled at him, like he knew without it being said. He didn’t make Rhys say it, which he appreciated. Instead, Callahan gave him a little lopsided shrug before he stood up from the table, the powerful and imposing man that Rhys always knew he would be.

“A week, Rhys.” Callahan picked up both of their drinks. The conversation was evidently over. “Get your name as far away from his as you can.”

“Consider it done.” He stood up, re-buttoning his jacket and adjusting the way his suit lay against him. “And Callahan, one more thing.”

Callahan waited.

“Thank you.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY

BECKETT FACES HIS PAST

Beckett stared at the time clock, waiting for it to click over so he could punch out. The mid-week lunch shift had been slow and he was ready to go. Life at home was full of ups and downs, and watching Rhys try to navigate a relationship with Sebastian had Beckett spending far more time than usual thinking about his sister.

“You look like someone shit in your cereal,” Audra said from behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder. The time clock flipped over and he keyed in his employee number to clock out. She reached over him and did the same.

“I was just thinking about my sister,” he said.

Audra stepped away and fidgeted with all of the shit she had in her hands while he took off his apron.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“We’re estranged.”

“Why?” she asked.

Beckett rolled his eyes and shrugged. He gathered up all of his personal belongings out of his locker with Audra trailing diligently behind him. They walked out into the alley behind La Creperie together and she repeated her question.

“Why are you and your sister estranged?”

It was a question he’d asked himself daily for years, and then weekly, and then monthly, until his relationship with Jessica had faded into background noise. He knew the answer, but it wasn’t something that made sense to him. Like the level of her action didn’t match the cause.

“We had a fight,” he said.

“That’s generally how it goes.” Audra leaned against the back wall of the restaurant. “Do you want to talk about it or do you want me to let you go?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think I want to talk about it, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

“What was the fight about?”

“Life choices.” It was a high-level summary and close enough to the truth. He’d seen something he shouldn’t have and she didn’t believe him. The accusations she leveled at him when he’d come clean about things were some of the most hurtful words anyone had ever said to him. Beckett knew he’d made bad choices as a teenager. He’d done drugs and drank to excess. Their parents told him that he was going to send his father to an early grave for all the worrying, which was why he’d been living with Jessica in the first place. It wasn’t his fault his lab had been cancelled. Wasn’t his fault that he’d come home early.

“Okay. When did you talk to your sister last? Is she older? Younger?”

“She’s older,” he said. “Seven years. She was engaged by the time I graduated high school and I lived with her a bit while I was in college.”

“Here?” she asked.

“No. The fight ended with her buying me a one-way ticket to as far away from her as she could get me.”

“That…Jesus, Bex. That’s the shit.”

“No kidding.” He laughed and scrunched his nose. “Anyway. That’s enough about her.”

“How are things with that boyfriend of yours?”