Page 33 of Perfect Night

“I thought we could go for lunch.”

He broke the hug and looked at her. “You flew three thousand miles for lunch? That’ll look good on our carbon report.”

“This isn’t business. I wanted to speak to my baby brother in person.”

“What’s wrong? Is it the girls? Martin? You?”

“Good to know I’m the last one you think of, but everyone is fine. Just grab your jacket. I booked us a table at the Italian down the road.”

His sister and her love of Italian food. When she found out Martin had a gluten allergy, she’d almost dumped him. She didn’t like to have it in the house, as the girls also had an intolerance. She would indulge when it was just the two of them.

He grabbed his jacket and left the financial reports for later. He may regret that decision, but for now, he was just delighted to see his sister. What the hell was so important that she’d abandon her kids and husband to fly to London, especially when he’d be home in two days?

“Are you on your own? How long are you here for?”

“I’ll fly back with you. Although I also have us on standby for another flight tomorrow, if you want to take it.”

“Why would I want to leave tomorrow?”

“Let’s talk when we get to the restaurant.”

His mind was spiralling as they made their way down the street. For a restaurant which was two minutes away, it felt like hours had passed since Bex had dropped her little bomb.

They were seated quickly. She insisted they order first, so they wouldn’t be disturbed. He ordered a Jack and Coke, as he thought he’d need it. She had a glass of white wine. Once the waitress had left them, he snapped.

“Right, out with it. Do you have any idea what wild things I have been coming up with in my head?”

“Like what?”

“Uh-uh, no. Out with it.”

“I’ve been doing some digging into Charlie.”

He was hit with a plethora of emotions. Anger at her invading Charlie’s privacy, fear at what she’d found out, happiness at the mere thought of Charlie, and sadness at what he was about to lose. His sister wouldn’t have flown across the Atlantic unless she had something big to tell him.

“Get it over with.”

“Did you know his mum is in a care facility? She has multiple sclerosis.”

“I knew she had him young and raised him on her own. He didn’t say anything else. That felt a bit too personal for a first date.”

“I’d hardly call it a date.”

“Go on.”

“The care facility costs three grand a month. His mother’s benefits cover a grand of it, and Charlie pays the rest. Charlie only earns twenty-five grand a year, so doesn’t even clear two grand a month after tax.”

“Can you just get to the point?”

“Look, Sebastian. I don’t want to be having this conversation, but you’ve been played. You need to know how and why.”

She pulled out her tablet and passed it to Sebastian. It was open at a website calledLondon Lads.

It didn’t take long for Sebastian to see it was a male escort site, and there was Charlie’s face looking back at him. His sweet, adorable Charlie. Sebastian should be angry about this, but he wasn’t. He was sad that Charlie had to resort to this to help his mum, but it was also very Charlie. He was a survivor and would do whatever it took. There was something admirable about that. He passed the tablet back to her.

“Like you said, we had a one-night stand. Why is this any of my business?”

“I thought you wanted to date him?”

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