Page 91 of The Long Way
Cort, who had just taken his first sip of coffee, started to choke, and Cam reached over to pound him on the back.
“You okay, babe?”
“Jesus, Cammy,” Cort coughed. “Warn your boyfriend before you start going all porn-fantasy on his brother.”
“Cammy!” Drew crowed from the kitchen, where he was plating muffins or something. “The nickname lives on!”
Damon vaguely recalled that Drew had invented that nickname for Cam… and that Cam loathed it. He stifled a smile.
“No. It doesn’t live on,” Cam said flatly. “It never lived in the first place.”
“The man’s got a death wish, taunting you that way, bro,” Sebastian said from the doorway. He resumed his seat, carefully not looking at Drew.
“No shit,” Cam groused, giving his boyfriend a speaking glance. “I respond toCam, Camden, Mr. Seaver, and occasionally Badass.”
Cort grinned and pulled Cam closer. “Fine, then.Camden Seaver, my love,badass owner of my heart, please continue.”
Cam rolled his eyes, even as he curled himself into Cort’s side, and Damon found himself grinning. He’d been initially pretty skeptical of Cam Seaver, wondering how a relationship between the rich heir of the Seaver Tech fortune, and Damon’s foster-brother Cort, could possibly work. Nowadays, though, Damon was all glass-half-full when it came to seemingly impossible relationships.
Cain’s hand found his thigh under the table and squeezed. Little wonder what had caused that change.
“Fitzpatrick, as some careful readers may remember, was the pilot at the controls during the tragic plane crash that killed tech genius Levi Seaver, his wife Charlotte, and close family friend Amy McMann over a year ago. Fitzpatrick was presumed dead, as well, and until recently was believed to have caused the crash through negligence. However, the investigation into the crash has been reopened this week in light of new evidence that seems likely to clear Fitzpatrick of any wrongdoing in the incident.”
Cam looked up as Drew set a plate of pumpkin muffins on the table and took his seat. “That was thanks tomybadass boyfriend and his FBI connections. Just wanted to note that since Gary here neglected to mention it.” He smirked.
“I appreciate the sentiment, badass,” Cort said gravely. “But if you’re trying to get me into the three-way with Cain, Damon, and the reporter, that’s ano.”
Cam dissolved into laughter. “Good,” he said. He turned his attention back to the article, and his smile softened into something smaller, sadder.
“Mr. Shaw says, ‘Damon and I don’t want to comment on anything related to the crash, except to say that we are extremely thankful Damon’s name will be cleared, and we continue to mourn the loss of the Seavers and Amy McMann, who were and always will be, much loved and missed.’”
Bas ran his hands through his hair, his gaze fixed on the table. Drew’s hand hovered in the air, like he wanted to reach out and touch Bas, but he dropped his hand to his lap instead.
Cam cleared his throat and set the tablet down on the table. He ran a hand through his hair, causing the cowlicks to stick up even more prominently and making him look incredibly young. “Thanks, Cain,” he whispered. “For remembering them.”
“Of course,” Cain said softly. “Always.”
Bas inhaled deeply, like he was mentally preparing himself for something, and sat up straight. “Okay, so now tell us the un-PG-rated version.”
Cain straightened in his chair, as well, and looked at Damon. “Well…”
“Just spit it out,” Drew said. “We already started looking into the businesses you sent us. Bas is doing it under the table, low-key, so it can’t be traced back to us, so it’s taking a while. But I get the feeling you two know have a pretty good idea who we’re going to find on the other end of this.”
“What do you know about SILA?” Damon asked. Sudden silence reigned.
Bas’s eyes widened, Drew blinked, Cam looked around in confusion, but Cort flushed red. “The Russian criminal organization?”
“Yeah,” Damon said heavily. “That’s the one.”
He explained everything the senator had told them about his own involvement with SILA, including the fact that Levi Seaver and Jonathan McMann, Drew’s father, had been in on it from the beginning.
“I don’t believe it. He’s lying. He has to be,” Cam said, staring around the table like he wanted someone to agree with him.
No one did.
“Bas?” Cam pressed. “You know Dad. He would never.”
Bas bent his neck back and stared at the ceiling for a long inhale and exhale. “I don’t know about never, Cam.” He dropped his gaze to Cam’s. “It kind of explains some things I haven’t understood for a long time. Where some money came from. Some projects Dad was working on that never seemed to materialize.Fuck.” He braced his elbow on the table and dropped his forehead to his hand.
