Page 67 of By His Side

“We are.”

Someone knocking had me ending the call slightly prematurely. It was a rare enough occurrence that Felix trailed me to the door, his brow creased with concern. He stopped me with a hand on my arm before I could open it. “It could be reporters.”

“It could, but they don’t tend to knock. They usually camp outside and lie in wait.” I opened it before he could paint another picture of doom. Maybe the bogeyman, or the monster from the black lagoon lurking outside. It was neither of those, and it wasn’t reporters either. It was a small dark-haired woman, her body language screaming that she didn’t want to be here. Which begged the question why she was. There was something familiar about her, but I couldn’t place why that would be.

“Close the door,” Felix said, the harshness of his tone surprising me.

She surged forward, grabbing my arm. “No, wait, please. I’m not here to cause trouble. I promise you I’m not.”

“Close the door,” Felix repeated. He’d gone pale. Paler than I’d ever seen him. “This is Laura, Julian’s sister.” To her, he said, “I don’t know how you got this address, but Darien is nothing to do with you, and you shouldn’t have come here.”

“I followed you,” she said, her words coming out in a rush. “When you left the office the other day. It was easy enough to find out who Felix’s probation officer was and where you were based.”Well, that was creepy and made me vow to be more careful in the future.She still had hold of my arm, her expression imploring. “Just give me five minutes, please, and if you don’t like what I have to say, I promise you I’ll leave without a fuss.”

It was quite the quandary, the need to know what she wanted at odds with the desire not to upset Felix any more than her presence already had. In the end, curiosity won out. “Five minutes,” I agreed.

She nodded, and I led her into the kitchen, the kitchen table having seen more than its fair share of drama over the past few weeks. While she took a seat, Felix stayed over by the sink, his expression thunderous. I didn’t offer her anything to drink, sensing that would be a step too far in Felix’s eyes.

Now that I knew she was Julian’s sister, I could see the resemblance in their similar coloring. She was obviously his younger sister by quite a few years, my quick mental calculations placing her closer to Felix’s age than her brother’s. Laura interlocked her fingers in front of her on the table, seeming to need the help of her other hand to keep its twin still.

“Why did you come here?” I asked to get the ball rolling.

She took a shuddering breath in and then let it out again. The slight angling of her body away from Felix said she was struggling to look at him. “I know you went to see him?”

“Julian?”

She nodded. “He told me. He… boasted about it.”

Felix made a noise of disgust in the background. “I bet he did.”

“He said he knew what your game was from the moment you contacted him, but that he wanted to see how well you could lie. Not well, was his judgment in case you’re interested.”

“I’m not. I’m not interested in anything to do with him.”

“Including his sister,” Felix added waspishly. “I might even go so far as to say, especially his sister.”

We’d never talked about Julian’s family. Why would we? But it was obvious things hadn’t exactly been smooth sailing between Laura and Felix.

Laura turned herself to face Felix, the action seeming to take an immense amount of willpower, and even then her gaze didn’t stray above his chest. “I came here to make things better.”

I frowned. “How? And why now?”

“My brother and I have always had something of a fractious relationship.”

“Before or after he murdered someone?” I asked.

“Before.”

The word was barely a whisper. At least she didn’t try to tell me he hadn’t done it.

Felix crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you here, Laura? I never expected to see you again after you stood on that stand and told the jury how blissfully happy me and your brother were, when you of all people knew it wasn’t sunshine and roses between us, given what you once walked in on.”

“What did you walk in on?” I asked.

“Julian hitting me,” Felix said, without a shred of emotion in his voice.

A tear streaked its way down Laura’s cheek. “I know, but he told me it was the first time, that he’d lost his temper and that he hated himself for it and that it wouldn’t happen again.”

“It wasn’t the first time,” Felix said. “And if you believed that, then you’re stupid.”

---