DJ couldn’t cry. Literally couldn’t, or else his bloody eyes would give the whole thing away. So he threw his arms around his dad. After a quick squeeze, he collected himself. “We have some more news.”
His dad raised one brow, but DJ just pointed at the living room. “Better we announce this one together.”
His mum was still talking to Shaun, both of them nodding away and discussing a book series they’d both enjoyed. Rake—with Bernie now sitting in his lap—caught DJ’s eye as he came back in, giving him a reassuring smile. Of course, Rake had listened in on the entire conversation.
Once they’d all sat back down again, DJ decided to go for it. “We’re moving to Australia.”
His mum’s face cycled through half a dozen expressions. “Since when?”
This was Shaun’s cue. He looked at both of DJ’s parents, making sure he caught their eyes in turn. “As you know, they’d been speaking about the idea for a while. We’ve booked tickets to move in a couple of weeks.”
His parents’ eyes glazed over a little. It was a simple plan. They just had to compel his parents to believe they’d been planning this for some time, so as not to throw up any red flags.
His dad nodded. “Of course. That’s exciting. Have you got a place out there sorted?”
“Not yet. I can share some photos once we have,” DJ said.
So began the careful layering of compulsions. Shaun would sprinkle suggestions into the conversation, such as emphasising DJ’s dad’s unwillingness to travel long distances. By the end of the discussion, DJ was almost pissed off that theyweren’t moving to Melbourne. Of course, staying in the UK was a better idea, but it didn’t stop him from imagining the three of them lying on a beach some day, even if it would be during the night.
His mum kept offering them food until DJ instilled the belief that they’d all just eaten. It worked for a while, but his mum’s need to feed them seemed to override the compulsion. It had already been late when they’d arrived, so he made their excuses to get out of there sooner rather than later.
DJ’s mum gathered him up in another hug, whispering about how she was proud of him and how much she liked Shaun. She then threw her arms open for Shaun, who, after a short hesitation, stepped in for his own hug. Before leaving, each of them lavished Bernie with attention, as was his right.
It felt like more than a simple goodbye, even though DJ knew they’d be able to visit and talk for a while still.
When they were back in the car, Rake insisted on driving so that Shaun and DJ could sit in the back whilst he played chauffeur. DJ buried his face in his hands once more.
“Are you all right?” Shaun asked, tentative.
DJ lifted his head, meeting Rake’s eyes in the rear-view mirror before looking at Shaun. “I will be. I promise.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Shaun
Shaun had only looked himself up online once since he’d been newly recreated. He’d been desperate to find out if his parents had believed the lie of his staged suicide, but he’d seen nothing and still paid the price when Lawrence discovered he’d been searching. Shaun didn’t recall the exact punishment, but the additional threat of Lawrence taking his parents out of the equation had dissuaded him from ever trying again.
So Shaun was clueless at how to react when, at the hastily put-together leaving party Rake and DJ threw for their ‘move’ to Australia, a woman thrust a folder into his hands.
“Uh,” he said, looking down at her shiny blue nails where she still held her end of the folder.
“I’m Van. You’ll have heard of me.”
“I have,” he said, cautious. “Nice to put a face to the name. What’s this?”
“I did some research.” She tapped her nails on the folder and then let go, leaving it in Shaun’s hands. “I discovered some interesting things about you, Shaun Forrester.”
Shaun blinked. “What did you find?” He readied himselfto compel her to reveal everything. It was a last resort, of course. But his hand would be forced if she’d found something she shouldn’t have.
She gave him a discerning look. “Your secrets are safe with me. In the interest of full disclosure, I found some information about your family. And you, personally. The sole reason I went looking was to protect Rake and DJ. They’re my friends, and I was worried about them.”
“My family?” Shaun asked, the folder suddenly feeling too heavy to hold up.
Van nodded. “I won’t dig any further. What I saw was enough, but tell me if you want any more.”
“Thank you,” he said, swallowing around the lump in his throat.
“Thank me by being good to the guys.”
