Page 4 of More than Need

That’s my mum.

You’re my brother.

“Riley?”

Riley jolted. Gideon had returned. When? He had no idea.

“I’m fine,” he said automatically. How had she found him from a photo alone? Who had told her that was him in it? Her parents?

Riley sat heavily.Herparents. Not his.

Had they known his locationthis whole fucking time?

Gideon circled the desk and sat back against it, thigh nudging Riley’s arm. Warm, steady.

The silence suffocated him, closing in like someone squeezing him until he couldn’t breathe.

It’s you.

That’s my mum.

You’re my brother.

They had the same fucking eyes.

No. They didn’t. Riley’s eyes were his own. Everything about him belonged to the parents who had raised him. This person waltzing into his office didn’t get to take those pieces from him.

“Riley…”

“I said I’m fine. You have a report due,” he said numbly. He should have made Gideon leave at the start. Hadn’t needed witnesses to that.

“The one you called me in here for, that I already submitted?”

Riley couldn’t look away from the photo. She’d left it. On purpose? He’d never seen a picture of the woman who had birthed him. It taunted him. He didn’t know if he wanted to lookmore closely or rip it into five hundred pieces and let it become nothing but mulch.

“Did you take the notes out of the margins?” he asked, his mind on autopilot.

“I’ve been here this whole time. I’m afraid my skills aren’t quite to that standard.”

“Take them out.” New mothers smiled. He’d seen pictures of Theresa and him as a baby. She had a bright smile on her face in every single one, like she’d been given the best gift on her birthday.

This woman didn’t smile.

Gideon put a folder over the photo, obstructing his view. “Riley,” he said forcefully.

Riley met his warm brown eyes. He’d spent a lot of time in the past staring at those eyes and that handsome face and tripping over himself like an idiot. Years ago, when he hadn’t been in charge of the man. When he’d been too young to be more discerning about the direction his heart steered. Straight, married men were not the right type to focus on. Learning about Gideon’s bisexuality had changed nothing; he’d still been married. If anything, it had been worse knowing. So close, so far away.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything,” Gideon said quietly. “Not if you don’t want it to.”

“It doesn’t.” Itdidn’t. He didn’t know her. Didn’t want to. What right did she think she had to walk in here and throw that at him? None. She shouldn’t have come here. “Go back to work, Gideon.”

Gideon spread his legs, pressing more firmly against Riley’s arm, the touch like a searing brand. “Nah, I’m good here.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion.”

Gideon curled his hands around the edge of the desk and leaned back, his suit jacket falling open as his shirt stretched over his chest. “Wasn’t it?”

Riley left the photo where it was and stood, instantly realising his mistake, as he found himself chest to chest with Gideon. “I’m getting a coffee,” he said, proud that his voice remained steady. “I don’t want you in here when I get back.”

---