Page 34 of The Final Beat

I rolled my eyes. “You’re so pathetic and obvious.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

Glancing at him over my shoulder, I saw the grin that I had been expecting. “You’re such a child.”

He cupped his dick, proving my point. “I think you’ll find I’m all man.”

Sighing heavily, I rolled my eyes, trying desperately not to smile at the same time. “If you’re not going to be serious, I’ll order takeaway.”

Joey cleared his throat. “I have a chili cooking.”

There was one thing that I knew about Joey, and that was he liked cooking and he was good at it, too.

“I’ll be out in ten minutes.”

“You’re staying in this room, then?” he asked.

“Yes.”

With a chuckle, Joey left, and I was alone in the room that I doubted I’d spend much time in.

“So,” I said, picking up my glass of water. “What’s happening with Aldo?”

The smile that Joey had all through dinner disappeared. “No idea.”

“You haven’t been in contact with any of your sisters?” I forked up some more chilli. “This is really good.”

“That’s one thing I can thank my mum for,” he replied with a sigh. “She’s a great cook and made sure I knew my way around the kitchen.”

“She did a good job. Now back to your other parent; Aldo.”

“I told you, I have no idea.” He shrugged. “To be honest I don’t care.”

“And that’s bullshit.”

“No, it’s not.” Reaching for the water jug, he shook his head. “I told you, he’s a selfish twat.”

I blinked. “Joey, the man is dying.”

Another shrug but it was more that of a petulant teenager. “He didn’t care about me for twenty odd years, why the hell should I care about him when he hasn’t got long left?”

“Because you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t.” Joey closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I won’t.”

I smoothed my hands over the table, the white glass cool against my palms as I looked around the open plan room. Everything about Joey’s apartment screamed of money, but not in a flashy way. It wasn’t over the top gold and gaudy but good quality and great design. All of it was well made and classy. It was just like Joey, cool and stylish.

“Joey,” I said in a low voice. “You’re too good a person not to let it affect you.”

His gaze snapped to mine, and he muttered something under his breath.

“You know I’m right.” Raising a brow, I watched him carefully as he watched me. We were both stubborn and neither of us believed we were wrong. I just felt I was more right than he was. “It doesn’t mean you’re weak if you admit you care, Joe.”

“I shouldn’t, though, and that makes me feel stupid. It makes me feel weak.”

“You are anything but weak.” I shook my head, knowing it was going to be hard to get through to him. Years of believing he was to blame for being abandoned wouldn’t just vanish, even if he now knew what a selfish man his father was. “Look at what you’ve overcome.”

Inhaling a slow, measured breath, Joey poured himself some more water. He topped up his glass and then snatched it up and drank almost all of it back in one go. Replace the glass of water for vodka and the action made it easy to see how alcohol was dangerous for him. It wasn’t necessarily his addiction but the release and freedom it gave to him had led to his cravings.

“I’ll think about calling Cosima tomorrow,” he finally offered.

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