Page 9 of A Brother's Secret

“Funny, the bike you picked me up on doesn’t look like a classic.”

“It’s not, I sold the classic bike to buy that one and to start my business,” hesaid.

“Which is?” I drew the words out carefully, half expecting him not to answer.

“I started in IT services with a focus on cyber-security and went into installing state-of-the-art security systems. The private investigative work was a side gig, but eventually, I integrated it into the rest of what I was doing and became a one-manshow.”

“A PI, huh?”

“Like I said, it was a side gig at first.”

“How’d you get into that?” I asked, knowing the answer already by the way he looked at me alone.

“Don’t be cute, Mali.”

“I hate that word,” I said and it was true. I would much rather be called a cunt than cute any day of the week. Kyle smiled at me and it was heart-stopping, always had been and probably always wouldbe.

He nodded and said, “You. It’s always been you. I looked high, low, and everywhere in between. Do you have any idea how aggravating it was being able to skip trace with the best of them, finding anyone and everyone under the fucking sun I put my mind to but the one person I wanted tofind?”

My breath was stolen by how intently he looked at me, his eye contact level and sure, refusing to let me look away. I swallowed hard enough I felt my throat click and reached for my coke. I took a sip and swallowed and when I was sure that my voice wouldn’t waver I said, “I call that success. I mean, I didn’t want to be found, so I guess I was doing it right.”

He barked a laugh and it was a bitter thing. He dropped his chin toward his chest and shook his head, letting out a harsh breath before returning his gaze to mine. I raised my eyebrows and dared him silently to argue with me but he knew he couldn’t.

“Well,” he said and scraped his top lip between his teeth, “I guess I can’t argue with you there. You didn’t want to be found…” he stood up abruptly and I realized that I’d hurt him, that my words cutdeep.

“Where are you going?” I demanded and it came out surprised but could I reallybe?

“To make that call. Eat, I’ll be back in a bit.” He called the last back over his shoulder, moving swiftly past me, through the room. Before I could open my mouth to protest the door to the suite was clicking shut. I stared after him, my gob shut, teeth gritted grimly at his vacant seat, and I felt my eyes grow hot. I’d be damned if I would actually cry but I felt like a real asshole.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted him to find me. I’d missed him with every fiber of my being at first. It’d been a sharp, aching hole in my heart and the absolute hardest thing about the night we’d fled – even above and beyond pulling the trigger. Kyle was and had always been, my best friend and a part of me and there hadn’t been a day that’d gone by that I didn’t think ofhim.

I stared down at my partially eaten plate, cheeks burning with a mixture of rage and shame with myself at making him feel like I didn’t want him around which was a conundrum in and of itself. I desperately wanted him as far away from me as possible if only because I was afraid of what they might do to him if they found out about him or that he was helpingme.

Fuck.

I was fan-fucking-tastic at just plain digging myself deep and deeper, wasn’tI?

---