Page 119 of Touch in the Night

The list, the table and the room blurred. Jesse looked at Kelly desperately, but the lawyer’s eyes were fixed on Harrison.

“Would you like to revise your statement, Mr. Truelove?” Harrison said quietly. “As someone who knows him intimately and as someone who knowsthis.” He tapped the screen again. “Do you really think Baron Emory Von Magnusson is a suitable guardian for a human child?”

The silence was like freezing winter fog. Kelly’s hard eyes were now on Jesse. The court reporter sat still in the corner. The lawyers waited.

“I love him,” Jesse eventually said, so softly someone asked him to repeat himself. “I love him, you hear me?” He shouted, clenching his fists. “And he loves Dimity. That’s all that matters.”

He hurried for the door. Several people called him back, but he couldn’t make out the words. Emory stood. His face was a mask of concern. Jesse wanted to fling himself into his arms, bury his face in his huge chest and will the world to go away, but Harrison’s voice was raised behind him. Kelly’s clipped responses cut through it, and Jesse suddenly couldn’t bear to hear or see anything else.

He rushed past Emory, through the building and out into the icy air. He shouldered his way through the line of security and ignored the crowd of onlookers. He thought he saw a flash of electric-blue hair among the crowd but kept moving.

He stumbled along with his heart in his throat, everything hurting until he realized he was standing outside Anton and Sareena’s house. His thumb was on the doorbell, and his forehead was pressed against the glass.

No one answered. It was dark inside. He checked his watch, winced but pressed the bell again, as a sob threatened to choke him.

“Jess?”

Jesse turned. Anton stood at the side gate in a large coat with an open beer in one hand and a log in the other. His face was lost in shadow, but Jesse could tell he was frowning. He stood very still.

“Hey…”

Anton didn’t move. “What do you want?”

“Can I come in? Just for a bit?” Jesse asked with his voice quavering and small.

Anton still didn’t move for a long moment. “You’re not wearing a coat.”

“I kinda left somewhere in a hurry…” Jesse said, rubbing his arms as shivering started to set in.

Anton was still for several pained heartbeats. Then he stepped back and held open the gate. Jesse moved down the side of the house and into the back garden. A fire danced in a firepit on the patio. A cooler of beer was set next to a chair drawn up to the flames. Anton moved over, threw his log on the fire and dragged up a second chair.

“Sareena’s taken Oliver to her mum’s for a few days,” Anton said, a little sluggish, as he sat and drained his beer.

“Is everything okay?” Jesse asked, hovering at the edge of the firelight.

Anton’s face twisted. “I don’t think I’m easy to be around at the moment.”

Jesse clenched his fists. “I’m sorry, Ant. I’mreallysorry.”

Anton met his eyes over the flames. A hundred unsaid things flickered through them before he lowered his gaze again. He gestured at the extra chair. Jesse sat, drawing close to the warmth of the fire. Anton held out a beer. Jesse snatched it and swallowed half in one go, but it still felt like there was a shard of glass wedged between his ribs.

“It’s all been on the news,” Anton muttered, staring at the fire. “Just like you said. A vampire suing for custody.” He shook his head. “What’s happening, Jesse?”

“You really want to know?”

Anton glanced at him then away. “No,” he said flatly. Then he grimaced. “But I should. Tell me, Jess. Help me understand.”

Jesse rocked in his chair with his teeth chattering. “Honestly? I don’t know what’s happening anymore,” he whispered softly. “I thought I knew, thought I understood. That everything was simple.”

“Simple?” Anton raised his eyebrows.

Jesse shrugged. “That’s just it. From the outside looking in, yeah, it must look like the world’s most almighty shit parade, the worst thing since Blood Winter.” He winced and Anton looked away. “But on the inside…” He turned to face his brother, waiting until he met his eyes. “On the inside, Ant, it really was just about him—and how he loves his kid. And how I… How I love them both.”

The lines in Anton’s forehead disappeared as his face flattened. “Come again?”

“I love him, Ant,” Jesse whispered. “I know what I said. What I sounded like on that clip. But it isn’t just about the sex.”

“Jess, I don’t wanna hear this.”

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