Page 75 of The Fate of Us

“I sure as hell hope not.”

“Carson, you can get in a lot of trouble for this.”

He exhales loudly and I can picture him leaning his face over his desk. With a sound of defeat, he responds, “I know.”

Those two words tell me a whole lot more than I think he knows. “This isn’t the first time, is it?”

Something crashes in the background, maybe a glass falling off his desk. “What? Are you accusing me of something?”

I can tell by his defensive attitude this whole thing could put him into a shit ton of trouble. “Nah, man. I was just curious.”

There is an awkward silence over the phone. “I need to go. I have an appointment in a few minutes.” He pauses. “Just let her stay there. Do what you can to find anything out. And I’ll get my P.I. on your house too.”

I don’t like the idea of someone staking out my house but if it gives us answers I’ll deal with it. “Okay, Car.”

He hangs up without a goodbye. My mind turning at the thoughts I shouldn’t be thinking about him. Is he corrupt? Has he gained all his success through lying and cheating?

I sure as hell hope not.

I grab my beer and head downstairs. I dump the rest of it in the sink before tossing it in the recycle bin.

I take a deep breath as I head to my front door.

I cannot believe I am going to do this.

I pull it open and see Claire leaning against the rail smoking a cigarette. “When did you start smoking?”

She looks at me and then the cigarette before she taps it out on the rail and tosses it into my bushes. “Oh umm recently. Stress and all.”

I point to where she threw the butt. “Clean that up. And there is no smoking in my house. You can do it in the back yard by the back of the fence.”

Her face turns into a smirk. “Does this mean you are letting me stay here?”

“Unfortunately yes.”

“Don’t be so sad, stud. This is going to be so good for us.”

“Unlikely,” I mutter.

She pats me on the cheek. “Let me grab my bag.”

I watch as she struts to her car in the street. I have no idea why I agreed to this. What my crazy, asshole brother was thinking but maybe this is what I must do to make this all right.

She heads toward me and hands her bag off to me. I reluctantly take it as I shut the front door behind us. I watch her as she takes in the house. It’s not like she hasn’t been in here before.

I head down the hall to the guest room as she says, “This doesn’t seem like you.”

“What?” I ask as I step into the guest bedroom.

“The house doesn’t have your vibe to it. It feels kind of bohemian and trendy. Plants, rugs, throw pillows.”

“Anna decorated it.”

“Hmm,” is all she says as she sets her designer purse on the bed. “Do you still sleep on the left side of the bed?”

I look at her quizzically and then realize she thought we were sharing a room. “It doesn’t matter what side I sleep on.”

“That’s sweet of you, stud,” she says as she approaches me.

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