Page 38 of Broken Omega

Shares of cares, going cheap.

“Hello?” a female voice calls out from the other side of the room. “Kellan, are you home?”

I would know that voice anywhere, even if it seems improbable to hear it now. It’s Lana. The friend I almost maybe got fired. The one who lives in Cressidan City.

What’s she doing all the way out here in Crystal Lake?

I quickly get to my feet and stumble in the direction of the front door.

Lana gives me a startled look when I crash into the wall by the bedroom doorway.

She’s just closing the front door and she has something in her hand.

My keys!

“These were in your door. And when I say they were in your door, I mean they were on the outside.”

“Well, they unlock the thing.” I wave at the door, straightening up but keeping an arm against the wall, just in case I might still be a bit wobbly.

“Have you been drinking?” She narrows her hazel eyes at me.

“I’ve been at the gym,” I tell her, avoiding the question.

“Is there a bar around here called The Gym?” she asks, clearly not buying it.

I blow out a breath. “Okay, fine. I might have had a drink when I got home from all the working out.”

“Are you still having a drink?” Frowning, she glances around. “Wait a minute, I thought you were rich?”

“Rich guys don’t get rich by spending money.”

“Clearly,” she says, raising her eyebrows. “I drove out here after work because I was worried about you. You weren’t answering your phone.”

“Did I even tell you where I live?”

“I got your address from the application you sent into the academy.”

“Oh … Well, mystery solved, I guess. I’m all good now, so you should go.”

She gives me a look. “You seriously don’t want to know what I found out?”

I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter now.”

Nothing matters now, because Brooke’s father is the one who’s keeping us apart.

If I thought it was going to be difficult to get to her before, it’s going to be impossible now.

“Can we sit down for a second, please?” Lana asks.

“If you insist,” I tell her, leading her over to the living room area of the apartment. “If I’m walking weird it’s because of the gym, by the way.”

“So, we’re sticking with the been at the gym all day lie, then?” she asks, before she sits down on the armchair across from the couch.

She’s wearing a skirt suit and heels today, hair up as usual. Clearly, she came here from work.

“I was at the gym this morning,” I insist, before I remember. “No. Wait. That was yesterday. What day is it?”

She shakes her head. “I come all the way out here and you’re wasted. It’s Tuesday, by the way.”

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