Page 78 of Veiled in Brick

He murmured, “I’m gonna go pack.”

Not a glimpse back to me, I watched him amble to his room and Claire voiced a quick, “Oh?”

I huffed out a breath. “I’m not entirely convinced, but we do have a small inkling.”

“Go on.”

Uncomfortable prickles at the base of my neck irked me, I scratched at them to ease the itch to no avail, and spoke a vague retelling of Carter’s impromptu visit, his admission to Liam’s sister, and the potential connection of it all. The only detail that I withheld being Liam’s shared vulnerability inevitably expressed in the sensual clashing of our bodies, Claire listened quietly. All I could hear was the occasional, whispered profanity for the grave nature of the situation was apparent.

It was no secret to Luke and Claire that Carter and Liam’s relationship was…estranged. They were only privy to scant details that were mentioned in passing over the past almost-year, but it was not lost on either of them that any mention of Carter would be one that could legitimately incite violence.

“Liam’s father?” Claire nearly whispered.

Luke exclaimed in the background, “I’m sorry, WHAT?”

“Worth a shot to see if he knows anything,” I returned, adding in a morbid mumble, “Or if he’s behind all this.”

Claire asked, “Liam can’t talk to him with a quick phone call?”

Aside from the thought that this conversation was a serious one that felt necessary to be done in person, Cassie’s brief mentioning of Carter’s lack of a cellular device rang through my mind.

I stated gruffly, “Doesn’t sound like it. Anyway—I’m driving Liam down in a bit…he’s staying in Southport and I’m having dinner with my parents for the night. Interested in a trip?”

“Erm,” I heard her presumably press the speaker of her phone to her chest. “You wanna go to the Chris’s for dinner tonight?” Claire had always lovingly called my parents The Chris’s as their first names are Chris and Christine—it was an endearment that I had grown to appreciate. I wasn’t able to hear Luke’s response. I only heard the rustling of her speaker as she moved the phone back to her ear. She spoke softly, “Yeah, we can be ready whenever.”

We exchanged goodbyes that were far from casual, the tension in the air ever-present as I hung up the call. A shiver ran through me, the feeling remained, and I prayed that the sensation was anxiety rather than a forewarning. Liam caught my eye from his bedroom, a backpack slung over his shoulder as he flashed me a tight smile that only barely lifted his lips, and I shuddered once again as I sensed the latter.

Chapter 13

I was grateful that I had packed enough of my belongings to avoid venturing back to my apartment. Our lingering conversations from the morning were enough to send me into a tailspin, and to visit the space that had recently been violated would have been an unwelcome one, to say the least. We met Luke and Claire in the hallway between apartments 2A and 2B, all of our bags in hand, and I noticed that our door had been mended. It looked as if the incident in 2A had never occurred, but the restlessness that the entryway gave me was still nestled deep within me.

“Maintenance finally showed up?” I asked Claire.

“Oh, er—not exactly.” Her eyes shifted about, avoiding my gaze.

“What do you mean not exactly?” I pressed.

She replied in a high pitch, “I’ll tell you about it in the car.”

“You didn’t tell her?” Luke inquired in a soft admonishment as he looked down at her. “Claire.”

“Didn’t tell me what?”

I glanced to them both, and though it appeared that neither of them were intending on answering the question, they wouldn’t have gotten the chance to. The freshly repaired door opened from the inside, and James stood in the doorway.

His sudden presence made me jump, and I clutched at my chest. “Jesus, fuck—what are you doing here?”

“Y’all are loud,” he spoke in a grumble.

His tone matched his appearance—his grey eyes almost sunken into his face from what I assumed was lack of sleep, James was more disheveled than I had ever previously seen him. Though his complexion had always been light, he was pale now. He leaned against the door jamb, his arms crossed over his chest, and I had to blink away the memory of my teeth biting the inked skin on his forearms.

The brief thought faded away immediately when Liam muttered a quiet, “Why?” that I assumed only I was able to hear, and he shuffled his feet against the concrete beneath him.

I nearly whispered, “Jay?”

James’ gaze finally found me. “Hey.”

“What are you doing in our apartment?”

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