Page 55 of Key Change

“Yes.” Though not the only contact.

“If you see him again, you need to go past him without stopping.” The edge of warning was sharp beneath the words. Once was chance, twice was a habit that might see him locked up before he’d made up an excuse.

“That will be hard. We’ve been friends for a long time.”

“I’ll talk to his parole officer.”

“I didn’t tell you to get him into trouble.” He was trying to protect them both.

“It’ll be a friendly reminder as long as he’s behaving in other areas.”

Was Liam behaving? Anthony didn’t know, but he hoped that Liam wasn’t going to be punished for it.

“I’m glad you spoke to me before things escalated. It’s much better to be honest early.”

He scuffed his shoe on the concrete path, drawing a line in the sand that dusted the surface. “Yeah. I’m not sure about my next problem.”

Mick laughed. “Have you been saving them up? You can call me if you have an issue.”

Anthony wanted to force out a laugh, but nothing emerged except for a gasp like a landed fish. “No, they all came to a head.” And the only reason he was being honest was because of the PI. “My brother is causing problems.”

“Not all family members are supportive. We had that discussion.”

“He’s having me followed and is harassing…” He paused for a moment, not sure what to call Cillian, only that he wasn’t an experiment. “I’ve been seeing someone. It’s very casual.”

Mick made a noise that could be agreement or disgust. It was hard to tell. “There is nothing illegal about your brother hiring someone to have you followed. However, he can’t harass the people you are spending time with until they stop associating with you. Are you worried he’ll do the same when you find work?”

He hadn’t realized that fear existed until Mick gave it life. “Yes.”

“Leave that one with me.”

“Hayden’s a lawyer. He’s always delighted in kicking people when they are down.” Now he sounded like a whiny five-year-old. “I need to live somewhere else. Then I can’t run into Liam, and my siblings will be less inclined to interfere.”

“You think your sister is part of it?”

Now he sounded paranoid. “I think she believes she’s helping.” But if she still expected her brothers to make peace, she was sorely mistaken. That would never happen.

“Did you only confess to meeting Liam because you realized you were being followed?”

Anthony sighed, unable to lie. “Yeah, but I only saw him the once, and I don’t want it to happen again. I want to move on.” And he couldn’t do that with one foot in the past. Liam and Rafe and Farring were everything he needed to leave behind.

So was Hayden.

He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life competing with his brother or scrambling to regain what he’d lost. That was impossible without doing something illegal or winning the lottery.

Hayden expected him to play and lose. But if he didn’t play, Hayden couldn’t win.

He needed to choose a new game, one that would steal the oxygen from the room so his brother had nothing to fight with. Perhaps, though, the new game was simple: a small boring job, while his boyfriend stood in the spotlight.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-NINE

Anthony lethimself into the house, and the conversation stopped. He was disappointed Hayden was still there, since that meant they’d been waiting for him to return.

“Is that you Anthony?” Margot called.

Who else was it fucking going to be?

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