Page 87 of The Best of Us

“And does he know about your, uh, decision to . . .?”

I smirked, knowing exactly why he had left his sentence hanging. I didn’t blame him. “It didn’t exactly come up in conversation.” I felt the flames of heat move up into my cheeks. “We just need to focus on what’s best for Colin.”

“Maybe what’s best for Colin is that his mom finally stops putting herself second and lets herself be happy.”

“Stop third-personing me.” I rolled my eyes. “And are you actually suggesting what I think you are? That I should give it a shot with his father?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if anyone deserves a shot, it’s him, yeah?” Before I could respond, he held up his hand. “Sorry. Give me a second.”

He stood, left the desk, and hushed voices filled the background before he returned.

“That was Gwen.” He shuddered, gripping the arms of the chair. “That woman drives me fuckin’ nuts, I swear.”

“Oh, I bet she does.” I teased my brows up a few times, falling back into a relaxed state again. “Didn’t Wyatt basically assign you to watch over her? You know, to keep her out of trouble?”

“Her dad is a hard-ass and drives her crazier than she drives me.”

“Ah, that’s all love from him.”

His eyes widened. “Shit, that reminds me . . .”

The bourbon slowed my reaction time before I made the connection.

“Her dad didn’t know Gwen existed until she was almost twenty-one. She had no clue the man who raised her wasn’t her real father.”

“A different story than mine, but I suppose Constantine can relate to Wyatt.”

“Yeah, well, Gwen’s mother kept the truth from them both. You’d have gone to war to bring Colin and his father together. Gwen’s mom was a she-devil for keeping them apart.”

“That’s being kind.” I wasn’t much of a swearer, but there were much more colorful words I would use for Gwen’s mother.

“Oh fuck.” Easton, on the other hand, used curses as adjectives, nouns, and verbs.

“What is it?”

“Constantine and Wyatt have also worked together before, too. Twice, actually. That time with Carter, then again, this past fall.”

And I suddenly felt like he was about to share something that’d send me into Constantine’s bar for another drink.

“Do you know his sister, Bianca, was murdered?”

“Yes, and that he took vengeance into his own hands with his brothers.”

“Wow.” His brows shot up. “He told you that already? You two really, uh, connected fast?” He waved his hand. “Forget I said that. Considering what happened in three hours seventeen years ago, why am I surprised?”

For whatever reason, it took hearing my brother saying those words for that particular realization and truth to sink in. Because yeah, why was I surprised things were going from zero to sixty with Constantine, given how they went the last time we’d been together?

“But back to what I was saying. The reason Carter and Wyatt worked with Constantine was because Carter’s other security company, Falcon Falls, happened upon some intel relating to Bianca Costa’s death. Conflicting information. Like the kind that revealed her killer was actually still alive. That’s why Carter had to temporarily bury the hatchet to work with him.”

“Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” My chills made a comeback and fast, backburnering the bourbon.

“Fak.” He sputtered his milder version for the F word. “You didn’t know the first person he and his brothers took out wasn’t her killer?”

My stomach bottomed out.

There it was.

The other shoe dropping.

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