Page 76 of More than Need

If Riley had more room in his apartment, he would have offered. Danny had and been turned down. Not even their mum’s look of disapproval had persuaded him to stay withanyone else while he finished the place. Instead, Kellan had chosen to live in this hazard for almost ten years now.

He followed his nose into the kitchen. Kellan stood at the stove, cooking steak.

“Beer in the fridge is cold,” Kellan said without turning around. “There’s even some of that fancy stuff you like.”

“I need something a little stronger than beer,” Riley answered.

Kellan turned with a frown on his face. “What’s wrong?” He dropped some garlic butter into the pan and picked it up, shaking and tilting it to distribute it as it melted. “Do I need to get out my chainsaw?”

“For what?” What kind of problem did he think Riley had that it could be solved with achainsaw? Kellan had a licence to use it for SES purposes, not brother-solving skills.

“Lucky for you my clairvoyancy still works, and I’m cooking two steaks.” Kellan grabbed two beers and handed one to Riley. “This good enough for now?”

Not really. “It’s a start.” A warm-up.

“Is this a work problem or personal?” Kellan asked.

Riley used the side of the bench to pop the top off the beer and took a long drink, letting the coolness slide down his throat before he answered, “Personal.” If only it were so easy as to be professional. He could have kept it contained, then. Not even the worst of his homicide cases had affected him like this. It was easier when he could draw the line between the two. “I almost died in your entryway,” he remarked, taking another, smaller sip.

“Ah, shit. Sorry, I’d meant to move those yesterday. I forgot. Had two emergencies come in, and I had to work late.”

“As opposed to every other day?”

“There’s no need to come into my house and attack me; you could have done that in the group chat just fine.” Kellan reachedup and pulled down two plates. “They’re for the spare room. Stick around?”

An easy answer: Riley had plans to drink enough alcohol that he’d have no choice.

“Mum dropped off some salads for me yesterday, so you have perfect timing. It’s like she thinks I can’t feed myself,” he said wryly. He pulled a container out of the fridge that their mother had been using for years now.

“Can you?”

“Fuck off. Do you evenusethat fancy-ass kitchen of yours?”

They weren’t talking about him. It was more fun to poke holes in Kellan’s lifestyle choices.

While they ate, Kellan filled the silence with talk about his work, Lucas’s latest stunt, and other random conversation. So that Riley didn’t have to. He knew he’d come to the right person.

Riley leaned back in his chair, pleasantly full. “My sister came to see me.” The words tasted bad in his mouth. He wasn’t sure he’d said that word aloud before. Like if he didn’t say it, then surely it couldn’t be true.

Kellan coughed, choking on his food. He thumped his chest and took a long swig of his beer. “I’m sorry, what?”

Riley stared impassively.

“Like, biological sister? I assume it’s not from our side of the family.”

“I’d like to think Mum would have told us.” Not once in Riley’s life had he ever doubted her honesty. She didn’t lie, and she didn’t hide the truth from them. She’d told him about his adoption when he’d been old enough to understand. And made sure that he knew it didn’t change anything. She’d explained why he’d been a late bloomer, why he didn’t grow at the same pace as his brothers, why their eyes weren’t the same, and why sometimes children could be cruel.

“Jesus. We definitely need something stronger than beer. How did she find you? How old is she? What’s her name?”

“I don’t know how old she is. Mid-twenties, maybe.” He’d tried not to think about it. She didn’t look that much younger than him. Had his parents had him, thrown him away like trash, and then had her barely a few years later? Or was she older, and they’d decided they didn’t want a second child? Only dark thoughts lay in either direction. “Her name’s Sadie. She found an old photo of me as a baby when she was looking for something. Her parents spilled the beans when she asked. I bet she thought I was some cousin or a kid of a friend of theirs or something.”

“She didn’t know either?”

“Apparently not.” It made no difference to Riley whether she’d been in the dark or not. What did it matter if they shared blood, or if they had the same eyes? They might even share some of the same quirks, andit didn’t matter.She wasn’t his family. He had more than enough of that with aunts, uncles, five irritating brothers—okay, three, Danny and Kellan weren’t quite so bad—and he didn’t need more. Had never asked for it. She should have stayed in her lane and left him alone in his.

Except that if she had, Riley would never have met Dawson. A complication and a boon. Without him, Riley might have been able to forget and move on. Close the door and lock it behind him, the twinge of regret buried under all the good things in his life. Instead, Dawson made it impossible to ignore. He did things to Riley that only one other man ever had. The one sharing their bed, in fact.

Christ. How had this mess become his existence? Riley made it a point to have clear lines drawn between all parts of his life. He didn’t make stupid decisions, and he didn’t do anything without thought. Dragging Dawson and Gideon into bed had been the most thoughtless thing he’d ever done.

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