“No. This is about Evelyn Beckham.”
Jake tilts his head. “The woman you brought to the house on Saturday? Mom said it looked like you were serious about her.” He scoffs quietly. “Not that you’ve mentioned any of this to me.”
Great. Now, I’ve dug myself into a hole with my closest brother too. “It’s complicated between Evelyn and me.Wascomplicated. I screwed it all up and now she doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“Evelyn Beckham, you said?” He stares at me, latching on to her last name. “As in, related to Dominic Baine’s right arm, his attorney, Andrew Beckham? I thought you were tight with that guy?”
“Until about fifteen minutes ago, I was. Eve’s his sister.”
Jake arches a brow, then pushes out a sigh. “You fucking idiot, bro. You and his sister? I guess that explains the busted condition of your lip.”
“Never mind about any of that right now. She’s in danger.” I give him a rundown of everything that’s happened so far, including the discovery of the photos outside my apartment and my resignation from Baine International a short time ago. “Evelyn’s landed on some sick fuck’s radar, and I need to find out who it is.”
“You want me to put a tail on her? I can make a call now and I can have eyes on her in five minutes. Plainclothes or uniform, I’ll arrange for either one.”
As tempting as the offer is, I shake my head. “She would have to agree to it first. And after today, I don’t expect she’ll agree to anything I have to say. She made it clear she just wants me to stay out of her life.”
“So, where does that leave you?”
“If those employee background checks are a wash, I’m back at zero. Less than zero, because if anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself. If she gets hurt, or worse—”
I push out a breath, and there’s no masking the choked quality of my voice. If that makes me some kind of pussy in front of my hardass older brother, I don’t give a shit.
“She means everything to me,” I utter thickly. “I love her, Jake.Fuck.I love her. She’s the best goddamn thing that’s ever happened to me and I’ve lost her.”
“Gabe.”
My father’s rusty voice draws my attention to the bed. His eyes are open now, unblinking and trained solely on me. I hate the idea that he may have heard some of my conversation, or all of it. If he can see that I’m in pain, especially this self-inflicted wound I’ve sustained today, I don’t know what I’ll do if he shows me even a hint of satisfaction in my suffering.
I don’t answer him. Silent, I exchange a glance with Jake before turning to head for the door.
“Gabriel.” He says again. Then, “Son, please . . . wait.”
I pause, even though it’s the last thing I want to do.
Jake steps past me. “I’ll go see what’s keeping Mom and the guys.”
And just like that, I am left alone in the room with my old man. The air feels heavy, like the coming of astorm. Or maybe it’s the aftermath of one, considering how he and I left things last night at his house.
It seems like it’s been a week. Longer, when I consider how my life went from as close to perfect as it had ever been, to completely shot to shit in the space of one weekend.
“Help me with this bed, will you?”
My father’s words are sluggish, but there’s no mistaking that his mind is sharp and clear. So is his gaze. Those shrewd, often demeaning, hazel eyes stay locked on me as I walk over and take the multi-buttoned remote for the bed out of his weak grasp.
“How do you want it?”
“Sit me up,” he says. “I need to talk to you.”
The plastic-covered mattress groans as I hold down the button to tilt the bed under my father’s head. He nods when he’s where he wants to be. I set down the remote but ignore the empty chair that sits close the bed.
I unclench my jaw as I stand there looking down at him. “What do you want?”
He seems to consider the question for a long moment. Still looking at me, he exhales a long and heavy sigh.
“You weren’t supposed to happen,” he states bluntly and without preamble. “A year before you were born, your mother and I had separated. I thought we were heading for divorce. I think we would’ve ended up there eventually, even though we were trying to make things work. Then we learned you were on the way.”
I scoff under my breath. “Yeah, Pop. I already know this story.”
