“Why didn’t your brother go pro?” Mason asked the question with a hesitancy that surprised Liam. Maybe the kid was learning some tact. Finally.
“Injury.”
Mason’s entire body reacted to that one word. His injury had threatened to end a promising golf career. “How old was he?”
Emily didn’t make eye contact with anyone as she spoke. “Seventeen. Senior year. Scouts had followed him for years. He was going to be drafted straight from high school.”
“That must have been awful.” The total absence of sarcasm in Mason’s voice testified to how strongly he was responding to this revelation.
“It was.” Emily continued to work Mason’s shoulder. “He was devastated, and he was in a dark place for a while.”
“Is he okay now?”
Was Mason genuinely concerned?
Emily smiled at Mason. “Oh yeah.”
“How—” Mason cut himself off with a frown, and Emily gavehis arm a gentle squeeze. It must have given Mason what he needed to continue to ask his question. “How did he get better? I mean, from being depressed about it.”
“It took a while. But he found other things he enjoyed doing.”
“Like what?”
“Guitar, music, cooking.”
“Cooking?”
“Yep. He’s amazing. His coworkers buy groceries so he’ll cook for them.”
“What does he do?”
Liam watched the interaction, fascinated by the way it was playing out. Emily continued to drop crumbs. And as she did, Mason continued to follow them.
“He’s an agent.”
“What kind?”
She shrugged and glanced at Liam. “Secret Service.”
“What? Do I know him?”
“No. He’s in Raleigh. If he stays in, he’ll probably be on a protection detail in a few years.”
“Why wouldn’t he stay in?”
Liam lost the thread of the conversation. Emily’s brother was a Secret Service agent in Raleigh? That would explain how easily she’d adjusted to the protocols and extra hoops she had to jump through to take care of Mason and meet the strict safety measures he lived under.
“Why wouldn’t he stay in?” Mason asked again, oblivious to the tension that now emanated from Emily.
“He has a woman in his life now. They’re solid, but her job will keep her in Raleigh.”
That wasn’t the real answer. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth. Mason didn’t know what Liam knew—that the Raleighoffice had nearly been decimated the previous spring. Of the five surviving agents, only two had avoided injury. Then last month they’d had a major malware case that somehow had led to a shootout in an agent’s house.
The Raleigh office was small enough that there was no way Emily’s twin hadn’t been involved, at least at some level. It wouldn’t be surprising for an agent to want to find safer employment after surviving that. And if her brother had been injured recently, that might also explain why she kept Liam at arm’s length.
A sharp rap on the door interrupted his thoughts. Liam opened the door, his body blocking the view into the room. The Second Lady’s chief of staff, Lisa Goldman, glared at him from the hall. “Are they done yet?”
“No.”
