Page 55 of Fake Rocks
Tris grabbed his dad’s arm. “Leave it. Now’s not the time.”
“Very pretty she is too; and loaded by all accounts.” He held out his hand. “Louis Johnson. I’m Tris’ dad,” he confirmed.
I looked at his hand, seeing the dirt under his nails. It wasn’t the same as the paint or dust Tris had on his hands, the dirt that came from hard work and graft. This was muck and grime, probably from a less than salubrious lifestyle and my skin crawled. I didn’t want him anywhere near me.
Jonas intervened. “Hello, Louis. As your son asked, what are you doing here?” His tone was even, although I could tell he was as confused as the rest of us.
Louis looked between Tris and me. “I’m checking in on my boy after his jail stretch. I knew his uncle had been looking after him, but it wasn’t until my missus spotted his ugly mug on one of those gossip websites with the lovely Saffron here, I realised exactly how well he was doing.”
It was the second time he’d mentioned prison. What the hell was he talking about? I nudged Jonas and tried to convey what I wanted him to ask, but he was already one step ahead of me.
“Tris, is there something you should have told us?” Jonas’ gaze bored into Tris and my boyfriend practically withered in front of him.
Intuition told me everything I thought I knew about Tris was wrong.
Lies.
He lied to me.
Had anything he’d ever said been the truth? Was his mother even dead? Did he make it up simply to get close to me?
What if everything he’d ever told me was fake?
Fake.
Exactly like our relationship should have been. I should have left it as a business arrangement. I shouldn’t have got more involved. Jonas may not have liked how I lived my love life before Tris, but I sure as hell never got hurt like this back then.
“We’re heading off now, Saff. Do you need anything?” Darren came up with Barney and Tommo, the three of them totally oblivious to the fact my relationship was falling apart in front of me.
Impulsively, I pulled him into a bear hug. We weren’t normally a touchy-feely kind of band, but I needed his support. He hesitated for a moment before hugging me back.
“You want us to stay?” he whispered. “What’s going on?”
“No, I’ll be fine. Jonas is here. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I knew once I released him, I would have to confront Tris. “We can agree the dates for laying down the new tracks properly.”
He nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure?”
I was anything but. “Go. Be safe on the way home.”
Darren laughed. “You two, see you later, Tris.”
Tris barely responded.
Once they had gone, only me, Tris, Jonas and Louis remained, along with the skeleton staff who were clearing up the venue. It wouldn’t be long before we would be kicked out and I didn’t want to continue the discussion in the street.
For the second time, Jonas took charge. “Louis, you mentioned something about Tris being in prison? He’s never mentioned it, so perhaps you could tell us why?”
A malevolent smile crept across Louis’ face. “Really? Didn’t tell his new, rich friends he was inside for GBH? Didn’t tell you he beat the crap out of some guy and got sent down for it? What a surprise.” He placed heavy emphasis on the wordrichand appeared to take great delight in tearing his son down.
At Louis’ words, Tris’ head dropped, and he stared at the floor, unable to meet my eyes. I wanted him to deny it, to tell me it was all a lie and his father was making it up.
But the lie was on him for not telling me,us, the truth.
I felt sick, thinking back to the scene outside earlier. Would he have done the same to the guy who tried it on with me? Punched him until he was bleeding or worse? If his father hadn’t appeared when he did, would history have repeated itself?
Jonas exhaled hard. “When we discussed the contract with your uncle, there was something in there about disclosing any criminal records. If what Louis says is true, then I’m afraid that nullifies the deal.”
Tris’ face was pale when he glanced up.
