Page 87 of Bulletproof

“Aaron said you were letting some guy named Dane Harcourt pick up the tab for your hotel in Waikiki.”

I squinted at him.

“What?”

“Do you remember my last name?” I could tell when he got it.

“Oh, Jory Harcourt … Dane Harcourt … he’s your brother.”

“Yep.”

“So, you’re saying, beyond your family, no one takes care of you.”

“That’s right.”

He was angry suddenly. “You think I’m a whore.”

“I don’t, not really, but don’t stand there and tell me that you guys are equals either. He pays, you ride, and he’s happy. He looks happy, so whatever your deal with him is, it’s not for me to judge. If you’re cool with things, too, let it go, but don’t blame shit on me or him. If you want your life to stay how it is, you look and act how he wants.”

There was only silence.

“It’s weird that we look alike, yeah. And if it bothers you, say something. But don’t blame me for whatever rings you’re jumping through because I walked away from this, from him, and I would like to be his friend if he’ll let me, but nothing more.”

He stared at me, and I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I touched the screen, unlocking it, and passed it to him.

“Oh,” he said, looking at a picture of me and Sam. I was kissing his cheek, wrapped around him tight, eyes closed, pressed against the man from head to toe, and he was holding me just as close but with his head turned, smiling at the camera. “This is your detective?”

“How did you know⁠—”

“Aaron said that you lived with a police detective.”

“I more than live with him, Jaden. I’m married to him,” I stated, lifting my left hand so he could see the ring. “Seriously, I’m the last person you should ever be worried about. I have loved Sam Kage for so long that it’s hard for me to remember a time I didn’t.”

He was studying my face. “Then why are you here alone?”

“You really wanna know?”

“Yeah.”

“Sit down.”

And he did.

As I talked and talked, his eyes got bigger and bigger. I explained about how it had all started with Eddie Liron and led to Cristo being really pissed off. I told him what Dane had said and how I had been fired and all about Fallon liking me and his boyfriend sort of hating me—at least at first. I threw in Sam being undercover and how much I way more than missed him.

“God, Jory, you’re like a ride at the amusement park.”

“You mean my life is.”

“No, I mean you are.”

I grunted.

“You know, I always wanted to go to cooking school,” he said out of the blue.

“Then you should.”

“I really should.”