Page 147 of See You There

Tension gripped every muscle of Luke’s body as he turned slowly to face Chris and Courtney. Frankly, he was surprised Chris approached him. But Luke guessed Chris had waited until most of the guests had left.

“The room empties and you crawl out from underneath your rock.”

Chris smiled. “It is my darling Courtney’s movie studio. I thought I should be here to support her. It’s a big night for her, though it’s a shame we missed the screening.”

Luke folded his lips in and nodded as if he were considering what his old friend said. “It is interesting how you measure your achievements these days, Chris. Fucking the woman who stole from my father and used to fuck yours… That’s a little twisted.”

Chris’s face reddened.

“Once upon a time, I had respect for you. Now you’re just a pathetic loser, lapping up whatever crumbs she drops yourway. I guess you realized you couldn’t do it on your own.” Luke chuckled. “You weren’t even original in the woman you chose.”

Chris’s lip lifted in a sneer, but it was obvious he was close to losing his temper. Luke just needed to prod a little more.

“You fucking Blooms, with your supercilious, arrogant attitudes. Not one of you would be where you were if you didn’t win the sperm lottery.”

“You’ve got a lot of balls, Keller,” James said, his fists flexing as he reached the group.

Luke saw Cara and Wes were close behind. Wes looked almost as angry as James.

“I forgot none of you can do anything alone? Afraid for Luke to face me?”

“I heard Declan’s been looking for you. Is that why you’re late? You wanted to be sure he wasn’t here?” Cara tossed her long hair over her shoulder.

“We aren’t afraid of Declan,” Courtney scoffed.

“You should be.” Cara smiled sweetly. “Because he’s going to rip apart every little thing in your life until he gets answers.”

Courtney took a step forward, and Wes practically shoved Cara behind his back. By her expression, Cara wasn’t happy about it.

Luke added to the pressure. “I just had an interesting conversation with Alex Kovalyov,” he said.

Something flashed in Chris’s eyes. He recognized the name.

Luke was about to follow up when the air shifted near him, and without looking, he knew Dahlia had joined the group. He frowned. He didn’t want her connected to this, but there was no way to make her leave.

“It’s a family reunion!” Matt called from across the room, drawing several eyes. He walked toward them with a wide smile, his younger brother Trey following several feet behind. “Hello, Lia, darling.” Matt said, his eyes blatantly giving her a once over.

Blood thundered in Luke’s head. He wanted to rip the bastard’s lecherous head off. The scumbag didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Dahlia. He felt Dahlia’s hand on his arm and risked a glance. Her calm green eyes met his, and she shook her head.

“Which one of you was it?” James drawled.

“Which one of us what?” Trey asked, looking totally lost.

“I think he means, which one of you killed Dr. Keller?” Luke clarified. “And then tried to frame me for it.” His eyes fell on Chris. “Were you worried about what your father might have said to me?”

Chris showed no flicker of emotion. “I wouldn’t put it past one of you Blooms to murder my father. Luke was there, after all.”

“You mean the way you murdered ours?” James snapped, his nostrils flaring. Luke lifted a brow at his brother. Normally, James played the role of the reserved twin. He loved being in control, but James had the same Bloom temper they all did.

“No one killed your father.” Courtney gave an exaggerated sigh. “How many times do we have to go over this?”

“Well now, that’s not exactly true, is it?” Luke said. “Before his death, I had a very interesting conversation with Dr. Keller. He didn’t admit that he was involved in killing our father, but he admitted he’d helped you falsify the will.”

“You have no proof,” Matt sneered. “The old man was high on painkillers. You probably bullied him into saying it. What’s wrong with you that you could look at a sick old man sitting under a rainbow lap blanket, unable to move around on his own, and still browbeat him into saying what you wanted? You’re despicable. Even if he told you that, it never would hold up in court.”

“What did you say?” Luke barked.

“What?” Matt blinked at him.