Page 21 of The Murder Club

“Sorry. Lia probably warned you that I’m incurably nosy. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s okay,” he assured her, his voice tense, like he was forcing out the words. It was obvious he disliked talking about his past. Bailey felt oddly pleased that he was willing to make the effort with her. “Remy is what Americans call a grifter,” he explained. “He runs scams, he borrows money he has no intention of repaying, and he sleeps with any woman who is willing to invite him into her bed.” His jaw tightened. “Most of my childhood was spent running from the law or an angry husband with a gun.”

“You immigrated to get away from him?”

“From his baggage.” Dom polished off his wine in one large gulp. “Remy can be charming and childishly impulsive, and when I was young I worshipped him. It wasn’t until I was old enough to see his constant manipulations and betrayals that I accepted he was a vain, self-centered jerk who would always do what was best for Remy Lucier.” He reached for the wine to refill their glasses. “I’ll always love him, but I have no respect for the man.”

Bailey nibbled at her second slice of pizza. “I get that.”

There must have been something in her tone that assured him that she really did understand.

He leaned back in his seat, studying her with an intensity that sent flutters through the pit of her stomach.

“You told me that you’d been raised by your grandmother.”

Bailey nodded. She’d been nervous when they were seated together at the rehearsal dinner. He was just so . . . gorgeous. And when she was nervous she chatted like a maniac. She had no idea what all she’d revealed during the long wedding weekend.

“I lost my mother when I was just five,” she said. “At that time my dad was a truck driver, and my grandma offered to look after me when he was on the road.”

“He was fortunate to have family who was willing to help.”

“Nana was wonderful.” A smile curved her lips. Nana had been a gruff, no-nonsense woman who took in a grieving five-year-old without blinking an eye. It didn’t matter that she barely had the money to support herself, or that she’d lost her husband just a few months before her daughter died. She was the strongest woman that Bailey had ever known. “I missed my mom, of course, but I still had a home where I was loved.”

“That’s easy to see,” he told her. “Your grandmother would be proud if she could see her house today.”

Bailey flushed with pleasure. She didn’t make a great salary at the nursing home, but what little didn’t go to bills was invested in updating the house and adding her own touches. It made her happy to think her nana would be proud.

“It’s a money pit, but it’s home.”

“Is your father still in Pike?”

“No. He met a woman in Tennessee and moved there to be with her and her kids. He invited me to the wedding, but honestly, by that time he’d become pretty much a stranger.”

He frowned, as if he was bothered by her words. Bailey wasn’t. Her dad had never been around much, even when her mother was alive. The fact that he’d faded into a shadowy memory was inevitable.

“Do you ever hear from him?” Dom demanded.

“Not really.”

He placed his wineglass back on the table and snatched a cookie from the plate. “We do have a lot in common.”

Bailey snorted, resisting the urge to grab one of the cookies. She’d eaten half the dough before getting them in the oven.

“Except for the multimillion-dollar company and the glamorous lifestyle.”

“My lifestyle consists of work, sleep, and more work. Nothing glamorous about it.”

Bailey believed him. She’d heard Kaden griping about Dom working long hours even after they’d hired extra help. Was he trying to prove to himself he was nothing like his father? Probably. It was odd how children could carry the burden of their parents’ sins without even realizing what they were doing.

Bailey knew a portion of her inability to form a serious relationship was because of her fear of abandonment. Nothing mysterious about that.

“Do you enjoy owning a pawnshop?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“I do. It’s kind of like being a bartender. Some people are there to browse for hidden treasures and other people are there because they’ve hit bottom and are hoping to turn things around. Sometimes I can help them out.”

Bailey had never been forced to pawn her belongings, but she’d known what it was like to worry that one bad stroke of fortune could steal everything.

“What’s the coolest thing that ever came into the shop?”