Page 115 of Flare

I said nothing.

“Well, I’ve made my side clear in an interview today.”

“Good for you.”

“You worked for me for eight years, Rhys. In many people’s minds, there’s no question whose ideas were stolen.”

I held her gaze. “What do you want, Gloria?”

“To put you on notice that you’re done in this industry, Rhys. You did your best and I’m still here. A little bruised but nothing that won’t shake off. But you? No one’s gonna trust you now. There’s ways to do things and ways to behave and this is a small country.”

“I think you’ve got that trust thing around the wrong way, Gloria.” I leaned close. “Look, it’s just us, no one else can hear. We both know what happened. So, whydidyou do it? Is your label in trouble?”

She chewed on her cheek, her gaze flicking from one curious group of faces to another, and for a second or two, I wondered if she might actually give me an answer. Then her jaw steeled and I knew I wasn’t getting anything.

“Just be careful, Rhys. I’ll see you at the show.” She swept past and out the door.

I watched her leave and almost shivered in the icy chill of her wake. Then I drew a shaky breath and turned back to the room. Catching the eye of a couple of friendly faces, I wandered over.

I stuck around for the happy hour, relieved Gloria had left, and figuring my label needed as much positive networking as it could get after the events of the day. A few of Gloria’s cronies made a point of avoiding me, but the rest seemed okay, even though it was hard to judge where the committee itself sat. Still, there was nothing to be done about that now.

I was ready to leave by the time Kip pushed his way into the room, waving frantically to catch my attention. I made my apologies to the model I was talking to and headed over. As soon as I got within spitting distance, he shoved my satchel into my hands and pushed me out the door.

“We need to go, now.” There was a frantic edge to his voice that sent my heart into my throat.

“What happened?” I raced to keep up with him. “Is it Beck? Jack?”Oh fuck, please no.

“No, no. They’re fine, as far as I know. I sent Taylor home in the van with all our gear.”

“But she’s not insured—”

“Least of our worries. Hurry up.” He grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the door.

I yanked myself free. “Kip! For fuck’s sake. What’s going on?”

He barely turned his head. “There’s no time. Flare’s on fire.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

Beck

“Jack!”I shoved my way through the looky-loo crowd gathered on the sidewalk across the road from Flare, not giving a single fuck at the grunts of disapproval and shove-backs I collected on the way. I’d received the call from the police while I was in my office catching up on my woefully late planning for the next week, and I’d dropped everything and run, almost going arse over kite on a tree root in the dim late-afternoon light. In my hurry, I’d grabbed my jacket, but left my jersey on the chair in my office, and the spiky cold wind from the south had sprouted goosebumps all over my body.

It was quicker to run through the university, than it was to hike over to collect my car from the staff car park, and ten minutes was an all-time record to Flare’s door. The pretty brick building was veiled in plumes of grey smoke still streaming from the inside. A fire truck sat outside, and several police cars and an ambulance blocked the street. I almost stumbled at the sight of the waiting paramedics, but they didn’t appear to be working on anyone. A fire hose ran through Flare’s front door and a couple of firefighters were coming and going, but they didn’t appear in any hurry and my fear started to subside.

“Jack!” I called again from halfway across the road, scanning the crowd as two police ran to intercept me.

“I’m sorry, sir, you can’t—”

“Where is he?” I demanded.

“Uncle Beck! Over here.” Jack waved from where he was sitting on the pavement next to a police car and my heart fell back into my chest with a thud of relief that quashed a whiplash of anger, now I’d seen he was safe. He was supposed to have been home catching up on his schoolwork while I’d gone to the university to try and do the same.

“Sir, you need to stay out of—”

“I was called by one of you to come down,” I rushed to explain. “That’s my nephew.” I pointed a shaking hand at Jack and noticed Drew standing behind him for the first time.The two of them? What the hell?“Please, let me through.”

One of the officers spoke into his radio and then waved me past, and I ran for Jack who leapt to his feet to hug me. “Thank Christ, you’re okay.”

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