Page 77 of Reveal Me
‘I saidlittle,dickhead.’ James shakes his head in disgust. ‘Six carat diamond earrings, if you must know.’ Now it’sJames’s turn to smirk. ‘I did give her something big too, though.’ He winks lasciviously and the two of them guffaw like fucking schoolboys.
I think I preferred it when my brothers were lonely, miserable fuckboy players. A hollow pang thrums my sternum. I rub it with my knuckles. I need to lock things down with Layla, because a life without her is unimaginable now.
‘Am I the only one of us paying any attention to a property we’re contemplating spending twelve million euro on?’ I glance between my brothers pointedly, deliberately keeping my voice neutral, despite my irritation.
‘Correction,you’respending twelve million euro on,’ Caelon says. ‘We might all operate under the Beckett Enterprise, but property and land is your department. I still can’t believe you let that forestry slip through your fingers, though.’
I bite back the profanity on the tip of my tongue. ‘I was distracted.’
I’m still fucking distracted.
‘Distracted?’ James’s laser eyes home in on me like a torpedo.
Oh fuck. I’m even distracted enough to let the fact I’m distracted even slip out. Distracted enough that I felt the need to bring these two clowns along with me today to check this place out. I don’t trust my judgement. I’m not on my A game and I don’t like it. Not one fucking bit.
Caelon straightens up, staring at me like I’ve grown another head. ‘Who is…she?’ He says the last word tentatively. I know what’s coming next. ‘Orhe?’ He lowers his voice, even though it’s only the three of us in the back here. Clearly he’s forgotten his stag night. Rian hasn’t though. He’s asked me a hundred times since who my lady friend is. To which I reminded him gentlemen don’t kiss and tell—which is why we can name every single one of his conquests.
‘Who said it was a person?’ I shrug. ‘Can’t I just have stuff on my mind?’
My brothers exchange a look that conveys an entire conversation.
Tread gently.
Don’t joke.
Maybe today’s the day he’ll open up.
I can read them like a book.
‘You know you can talk to us.’ James brushes his thumb over his chin thoughtfully. ‘About anything.’
‘For all our teasing and joking—’Caelon rests his hand on his heart like he’s swearing an oath‘—we have your back. We won’t judge.’
‘Can I have that in writing?’ I attempt to joke, but it comes out more serious than I intended.
‘Seriously, Sean, if there’s ever anything you need help with, we’re here for you,’ James says earnestly. ‘Or if you just want to talk.’
I believe them. My brothers are my best friends. I know they have my back. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to reveal my secrets to them.
I stare out the window at the lush expanse of land stretching before us. The crumbling mansion comes into view as Ben turns the corner. ‘Thanks, guys, but it’s nothing.’
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out faster than a fifty at a strip bar, silently willing it to be Layla. Did she like the flowers? Were they too cheesy? Too much? Not enough?
I squint at the screen, but before I can open the message, I’m rugby tackled from two sides. ‘ItISa person!’ Caelon yells, snatching the phone from my hands. I scramble to snatch it back. ‘Who the fuck is P?’ He shrieks gleefully. ‘Paul? Peter? Parker? The Pied fucking Piper?’
‘Thank fuck,’ James grins. ‘I thought you were hiding some rare illness or something!’ James clutches his chest. ‘Toclarify—I wasn’t worried about you, I was just praying it wasn’t contagious.’
‘Passcode,’ Caelon demands, with a devious glint in his eyes. ‘Let’s see what P has to say.’
‘In your fucking dreams.’ I bite, attempting, and failing, to grab my phone back again.
James’s eyebrows shoot up. I never lose my composure. Correction—I nevernormallylose my composure.
Caelon is loving every second of this new development. ‘Don’t make us pin you down and face ID this thing.’
The only saving grace is Rian isn’t here.
‘You know we can have Killian hack your phone and trace P down in a heartbeat?’ James teases.
