Jasper rounded on him with an incredulous look. “Like what?”
Noah shrugged. “If it turns out I’m actually a bastard child of Uncle Gabe’s, he’ll have to add me to the inheritance.”
“Of course you only want the money,” Jasper muttered, pushing away from the table in disgust.
“Like you have any room to talk,” Noah shot back.
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Noah raised an eyebrow and waved a hand around at the dining room and rest of the house. “You’ve certainly moved up in the world.”
“It’s not like I live here.”
“Why not?”
Jasper flinched and forced in a breath around the sudden tightness in his chest. Even if he’d fantasized about moving in, he’d only been with Vincent a few months. Didn’t he have to wait at least a year to expect that? Even then, he wasn’t sure he could even ask. The last thing he wanted was to become aburden or annoyance, or for Vincent to agree out of some sense of obligation, only to regret it later.
“None of your business.”
Noah rolled his eyes and turned back to Amber. “Well?” he asked. “Sure you want to risk losing or sharing your money?”
“He wouldn’t cut me off.”
“Sure about that? Doubt you could afford to keep living in your mansion if he did,” Noah taunted.
Jasper gripped the edge of the table for balance, unable to believe his ears. Did Noah want the money or not? If he’d suspected who his father was before now, why hadn’t he done something when he got kicked out? Or when his arm was broken? Had he known back then? How could he have? They’d been kids. Even if he had known, what could he have done?
And why was Jasper the only one shocked to learn his mother and aunt had been cheating with each other’s husbands? For a few moments he worried he was a by-product of incest before the logical part of his brain kicked in. His mother and aunt were sisters and married into vastly different families. It was still fucked-up but not as bad as it could have been, which was something he never thought he’d have to be grateful for.
Everything he thought he knew about his parents was a lie. What else was a lie? Were they even his parents, or had they found him in a box on the side of the road like an abandoned kitten? Why else would his father hate him so much?
“Jas!”
He flinched at the sudden grip of a hand on the back of his neck, then instinctively relaxed beneath it. He closed his eyes with a shuddering breath as Vincent’s thumb traced a firm line behind his ear.
“Breathe,” Vincent murmured, his other hand a warm weight on Jasper’s arm.
After a long moment of silence, Amber cleared her throat. “We should go. Enjoy the rest of your vacation,” she said, and maybe it was the shock still in his system, but she didn’t even sound grudging when she said it.
Jasper dropped into his chair and covered his face with his hands as he finally got his breathing under control. When he heard the front door close he slumped into Vincent. “Can we leave now?” he asked softly. He wanted out of the house and the city. Away from his family.
“Give me ten minutes,” Vincent said, squeezing Jasper’s neck and arm before stepping away.
Jasper slumped against the table and listened to the clinking of dishes and running water as Vincent cleaned up. The guilt that fluttered in his stomach was short-lived enough that he stayed where he was until Vincent finished.
They headed out, and Jasper settled into the passenger seat while Vincent tossed the trash in the bin, and then they were off, back to the airport. They were early enough they had a couple of hours to kill.
Vincent sat them in a booth at a table in a lounge and slid a menu in front of Jasper.
That was enough to finally draw him out of the daze he’d fallen into, and he slanted a questioning look at Vincent. “How’d you know I didn’t eat?”
“That pizza was terrible,” Vincent replied, studying his own menu. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“The pizza?” Jasper picked at the corner of his menu with a brief smile. “Not really.” If only he could forget the last two days had ever happened. “I’d rather not even think about any of it.”
“Okay. Why don’t we talk about what to do with our last week?”
Jasper leaned into Vincent as he skimmed the menu. “You mean we’re going to do something other than have sex?”He doubted an airport would have decent food, even if the lounge was fancy enough it was likely reserved for first-class passengers, so he settled on chicken tenders and fries.
