Vincent slid his hand up to Jasper’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze, but Jasper twisted away from the touch.
“He doesn’t even care that he’s dying, why the fuck should I? Why do you? You never cared enough to come around after Mom died.”
“That’s not—”
“Why are you even here? It’s not like you’re related by blood.”
Amber’s wince was so slight Vincent might have missed it if he hadn’t been watching her so closely. “Mom’s still listed as his emergency contact.”
“Then where is she?”
“Busy.”
Jasper scoffed. “Iwas busy.”
Vincent glanced at the bed to find Jasper’s father watching him through narrowed eyes. Once he saw he had Vincent’s attention, he demanded, “Who are you?”
“Vincent.”
“Lawyer or something?”
Jasper spun to face the bed and lifted his chin. “My boyfriend.”
The man’s expression twisted with disgust. “Bad enough you don’t bring me beer, now you’re flaunting your faggotry? Good that your mother’s dead or she’d kill herself from shame.”
Vincent snarled as Jasper flinched like he’d been physically assaulted and stepped on Vincent’s foot as he caught his balance. “Fuck. You,” he said before Vincent could make the bad decision to punch the bedridden asshole in the face. Jasper grabbed Vincent’s hand and hauled him out of the room as fast as he could without outright running.
Vincent squeezed tight and kept up, following Jasper’s lead and ignoring Amber calling for them as they headed directly for the elevators. One opened for them immediately, butunfortunately she caught up to them before the doors closed, despite Vincent jabbing the button as soon as they stepped on. She stood facing them with her arms crossed as the elevator began its descent. When neither of them spoke, Vincent decided to pry for some of his own answers.
“Why would your mother be his emergency contact?”
Amber cast a furtive glance at Jasper before finding the corner of the elevator interesting enough to stare at. “They were having an affair at one point.”
Jasper made a high noise of offense. “Excuse me?”
“As far as I know, they broke it off after the funeral.”
“Did Mom know?”
Amber scoffed though quickly tried to disguise it as a cough. “Please. Your mother was no saint either. She had her own affair going with Dad.”
“What?”
Vincent winced at the volume of Jasper’s incredulous shout, but he couldn’t exactly blame him for that reaction. Their family dynamics were even more fucked-up than his own.
“How long have you known?” Jasper asked.
“I don’t know. Years.”
“And you never said anything?” Jasper demanded.
“You were a kid. Why would I say anything?”
“You could have told me when I moved in! You’ve been lying to me this entire time.”
Amber eyed him with so much condescension that Vincent took an instinctive step forward even as he fought against the urge to lash out. He hadn’t been any help against Jasper’s father, but he could at least keep Amber from doing any further damage.
“Unless you have anything of value to say, we’re done here,” Vincent said.
