Page 27 of By His Side

“An accessory to murder.”

Levi nodded slowly, and I was grateful I was having this conversation with him rather than my brother, because I was damn sure Hayden wouldn’t have displayed the same lack of reaction to my answer. Levi had seen it all firsthand, though. He would have spent time with murderers while he was inside, and he knew it wasn’t as black and white as most people wanted to believe. “He insists he’s innocent, but all the evidence points toward that not being the case. I mean, a jury convicted him. That’s twelve people who didn’t believe he was telling the truth.”

“Juries have made mistakes before. If they were never wrong, there’d be no cases of wrongful imprisonment, and we both know that’s not the case.”

I took another bite of the pastry. “True.”

“Have you spoken to him about it?”

“I tried. He clammed up and didn’t want to talk about it. Sounds like someone else you and I know, doesn’t it?”

Levi snorted. “No idea who you’re talking about. It can’t be me. I’ve always been completely upfront about everything.”

“Right,” I drawled. “No secrets at all. I knew exactly what your living conditions were like, and that you’d embarked on a secret affair with my brother. Oh, and that you were in contact with your old gang leader, a certain David Grimsby.”

Levi’s lips twitched. “Who?” At least he could laugh about it now. The slight smile changed to a frown. “Anyway… what’s the big deal about his innocence?” He grimaced at his own words. “I’ll rephrase that. Obviously, it’s a big deal for him. But I don’t get why it would be such a big deal for you. You’ve said yourself that the past doesn’tmatter, that your job is about ensuring a fresh start, that everyone deserves a second chance. Does it matter what the crime was? Do only certain people deserve to have it? Because that goes against everything you’ve ever said.”

My knuckles turned white around my coffee cup, and I had to force myself to relax my grip. Of course Levi didn’t understand. He was missing the crucial information that I was sleeping with Felix. Missing it because I hadn’t told him, and wouldn’t, because I couldn’t bring myself to admit that part. “It’s complicated.”

“That’s a Facebook status, not an answer.”

I laughed. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t stop it from being true. You’ll just have to trust me on that.”

Levi cocked his head to one side. “And it doesn’t explain why you said you’d fucked up.”

Shit!Why had I said that? Now, Levi would keep pushing until he got the truth out of me and discovered I had zero willpower and used my job like a dating agency.

A shadow fell across the table and I looked up to find my brother standing there with a frown on his face, his focus on the plate with the rest of the pastry sitting on it. “What is that? And more importantly, why is it in my restaurant?”

I plucked it off the plate and crammed the rest of it into my mouth. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” At least that’s what I tried to say. With my mouth full of masticated pastry, it didn’t come out quite that audibly.

Levi stood, hooking an arm around Hayden’s neck and dragging him close enough that he could drop a lingering kiss on his lips. “Don’t worry about that. Worry about saying hello to me. How was the exhibition? Did you buy anything ridiculous and unnecessary? Wooden spoon with a slightly different shape that’ll give sauces thatextra je ne sais quoi? Knife with an ergonomic handle that makes chopping things far easier?”

Hayden frowned. “I already have ergonomic knives.”

Levi laughed. “Of course you do.” He softened his words by kissing Hayden again, my brother leaning into it this time and returning the kiss with equal enthusiasm.

I took the opportunity while they only had eyes for each other to drain the rest of my coffee and stand. Hayden’s arrival had been timely, saving me from interrogation over the comment I’d let slip. “I’ll see you both later.”

I only managed a few steps before Levi struggled free from the kiss and held up a hand. “Wait! We didn’t finish talking.”

“About what?” Hayden asked, his expression curious.

“Darien’s been having a tough time at work. Something to do with a new client.”

Oh, hell no. I didn’t need two of them on my case. I backed off toward the door. “We talked. I appreciated it. All’s good. Thanks for the pastry and the coffee.”

“Yeah… about that pastry,” Hayden said as I turned and made my escape. I didn’t wait around to see how Levi would wriggle out of it. Probably by taking my brother to bed, and that was something I didn’t need to be thinking about. It was bad enough when they spent most of Sunday lunch at my parents’ house making eyes at each other and leaving very little to the imagination with how fulfilling their sex life was.

Just like you and Felix.

I pulled a face at the intrusive thought as I got behind the wheel of my car. Hayden and Levi were nothing like Felix and me. They never had been. Or at least I didn’t think they had. But then I’d been as much in the dark as everyone else at the beginning of their relationship. Fromwhat Hayden had said since, though, it had been far from smooth sailing. And Levi had been in prison for stealing cars, not for aiding and abetting in the murder of a minor. Which brought me full circle to his crime mattering despite Levi reminding me that my rhetoric had always been the opposite. I didn’t enjoy being a hypocrite, but it seemed I was. I should be relieved Felix hadn’t been in contact. It gave me a couple of weeks of blessed peace before I’d have no choice but to speak with him.

At least the documentary about mature escorts—and when they said mature, they really meant mature, like grandma age—was distracting enough that I stopped checking my phone. I’d foregone wine, my alcohol units seeming to have crept up lately. And if there was one thing Felix Church wasn’t worth, it was becoming an alcoholic.

The documentary was half over when my phone rang. I groped for it, the name on the screen causing simultaneous excitement and alarm to erupt in my chest. What did it mean that he was calling rather than texting? Why so late? And why had he been silent for five whole days? I rode the rush of questions for so long while I contemplated not answering that I risked my phone going to voicemail before I snatched it up. Worried the maelstrom of emotion might come across in my voice if I didn’t compose myself first, I said nothing.

“Darien?”

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