Spencer turned to face an older man, who was gazing at him with a curious expression.
“Hello. I’m a friend of Wolf’s, and I’ve come to check up on him. We’re all worried about him and—”
“It’s fine, Owen. Come on.” Wolf took his arm and pulled. “Goddamn idiot,” he muttered. Wolf slammed the door shut behind him and locked it. “What in the fucking hell are you doing here?”
The words whipped across Spencer’s skin, and he shivered. Not because he was afraid of Wolf, but because there was such an emptiness in Wolf’s eyes, as if something had died inside him.
“What’s wrong?” He advanced toward Wolf, who moved an equivalent number of steps away.
“Nothing. Why are you here? You have one minute before I throw you out.”
“You’re lying.” Spencer took another step, and Wolf, backed up to his large wooden desk, gripped the edges. “You’re a mess. Look at you.” He was within inches of him, and his heart twisted. Dark circles rimmed Wolf’s eyes, and he’d lost weight. His already high cheekbones stuck out on his proud and arrogant face.
“Thirty seconds,” Wolf growled.
“Why didn’t you tell me my father was involved in the drug-dealing?”
Something that looked like regret clouded Wolf’s eyes. “I only discovered he’d lied to me a few days ago. I’ve spent the intervening time making my argument to the judge to have myself removed as his counsel.”
“So it’s really true. He was involved in drug-dealing.” He shouldn’t be surprised. “What about the prostitution?”
“We don’t know yet. The police are still going through all the videotapes and interviewing the women.”
Spencer would bet that if his father hadn’t actively participated in bringing girls into the bar, he’d likely turned a blind eye to what was happening underneath his nose.
“Why can’t you just say he’s scum and you don’t want to represent him?”
A faint smile flickered, quickly extinguished. “It’s not so easy.”
“You’re being evasive. And why didn’t you tell me? I have a right to know.”
“You’re right.” His normal defiant glower softened. “I should have. I’m sorry. If you can believe me, I was trying to figure out a way to make it easier for you.”
“You mean you were trying to spare my feelings for having a miserable piece of shit as a father?”
Wolf met his eyes. “Yes.”
Stunned by Wolf’s apology, Spencer took a moment to collect himself. Enough about himself. He didn’t care all that much about his father. He’d lived without him almost half his life and done fine. Time for the real reason he’d come.
“Why have you been ignoring everyone? Elliot and Chess have been trying to call and text you, but you’re ignoring them.”
Wolf shrugged. “I’m—”
“Busy. Stop it already. Since college, all we hear is how busy you are. Too busy to go out. Too busy to make dinners or brunches or have drinks. Well, I’m sick of hearing it. I’m calling bullshit. Even the fucking president takes time off.”
“I have responsibilities to clients.”
“You have a responsibility to your friends who care about you. Goddamn it, when are you going to listen to what we’ve been saying? We care about you, even if you’re the biggest jerk in the world. Nothing’s going to change that. But you can’t keep shutting us out. If the past few years have proved anything, it’s that keeping things from people never works out well.”
Wolf opened his mouth and Spencer held his breath, hoping he’d broken through, but then Wolf shook his head and shifted his gaze to the floor.
Spencer, however, hadn’t gotten where he was in life without being a persistent shit, and he refused to leave without attempting anything and everything possible to reach Wolf.
“Wolf, forget us. Our feeling butt-hurt over being ignored isn’t your problem. My main concern is you. You’re eating yourself up alive. Even from when I saw you last week, it’s like a part of you is dying. You can’t run on empty. If something’s hurting you, let us in.” He put his hands on Wolf’s shoulders and felt him tremble under his grip. “Tell me what’s wrong. Let me help you.” The bleak devastation in Wolf’s eyes terrified him. As angry and hurt as Wolf had left him the night they’d been together, Spencer’s world would be forever altered without Wolf in it. He couldn’t imagine it, and he refused to.
“You can’t.”
“Try me.” He reached out, but Wolf jerked away from him, almost running across the office to the windows in an effort to put distance between them.
