Page 45 of Joey

“He’ll tell me to delete it.”

Ethan raised his eyebrows. “How good is your memory?”

Grey licked his lips. “Pretty good.”

“Memorise it then.”

Joey stopped beside them. “Mine, too.”

Ethan held up a hand. “No. We don’t want anyone to find out Grey has been in contact with you. Just because he came here doesn’t mean he saw you. He just saw Ani. That’s all. My number can be pushed aside as a random guy with nothing to do with Elliott.”

Joey stared into Ethan’s eyes, and Ethan tried to make him understand that he was doing this to protect Joey as much as Elliott and Grey. Joey swallowed and nodded, leaning back against the counter. Ani squeezed his shoulder.

Ethan recited his number several times until Grey had it memorised, and then Grey left, promising to message updates as he could. Ethan wanted to make him promise to contact them every day so they could make sure he was okay, but that might endanger him even more.

“Who the hell is this Robert guy?” Ethan asked.

Joey shrugged. “I just know him as Elliott’s uncle. I barely saw him. When he did attend any family events, he was only there for a short time.”

Ethan sighed. “Do you think Elliott was going to tell anyone what he’d found out?”

“I don’t know. It wouldn’t surprise me. And if Elliott’s death had been anything but…what it was, I might’ve reconsidered the…suicide aspect.” Joey’s voice broke on the word, and Ethan stepped forward, sliding his arms around Joey’s back and resting his head on his chest. “I still haven’t heard from that guy.”

Ethan frowned and then remembered the man who was supposed to call Joey. He lifted his head. “Do you think it was Grey?”

“It wasn’t,” Ani said. “His voice was completely different. He sounded much older.”

“So, we’ve got a brother, a mystery man and an uncle-slash-father, all of whom we didn’t know about,” Joey said. “Who or what else is going to turn up?”

Ethan’s phone rang, and he pulled himself away from Joey to see who it was. “Sorry, it’s Christi.” Joey dropped a kiss on his lips, and Ethan answered. “Hey, you.”

“Hey, yourself. How are things in the world of London?” she asked.

He wasn’t getting into the drama that was slowly unfolding. “Good. Great, even.”

“Glad to hear it. Do you know when you’re tootling yourself home?”

He glanced at Joey, who was talking to Ani and pointing to something on the papers on the counter. “No idea. Meredith has given me two weeks, as you know, but she said I could take longer if I need it.”

“And will you need it?”

Ethan sighed. “I don’t know yet. We’re still trying to figure things out.”

They were both quiet for a moment before Christi said, “You’re not coming back, are you?”

“I don’t know,” he murmured.

Christi sighed. “Well, if that’s the case, I better tell you the latest news about Di. Can you believe this? The woman—and I use that term loosely, now—mixed my customer’s tint wrong. I got the blame for it!”

Christi went into a tirade about everything that happened, and Ethan listened, replying occasionally and smiling always. One day, his friend might figure out that she liked Di, and they’d become friends. One day.

After a good ten minutes, he said goodbye and went to find Joey, who had disappeared into the back room with Ani a few minutes earlier. There was far too much new information for Joey, and Ethan was worried he would take it hard. He appeared to be managing with it so far, but he could tell it was a lot. Especially the secrets. Ethan wished that guy called soon. Getting as much information as they could would only help their cause.

“Look, why don’t you forget about this for a while and show Ethan your room?” Ani said, and Ethan wholeheartedly agreed.

Joey sighed and nodded. “Good idea.”

Ethan followed him up the stairs to a studio that was sparse in its furniture but not in its wall decoration. Designs upon designs filled the spaces, and Ethan was entranced at first glance. They were all different: flowers, skulls, tribal swirls, everything he could imagine.

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