Lib Novel Page 26
She heard the pain, and she hated that the news had hurt him. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to. At first, I wasn’t ready to. You have this great family, and I have Royce and a mother who abandoned me. I felt…inferior.”
Understanding filled his gaze. He knew just how hard it was for her to say that, and she rarely shared. It was her love for him that had made it easier for her.
“I don’t know how Sean found out. Royce must have told him.”
Randy sighed again, then walked over to her. He stood behind her and, without hesitation, pulled her back against him into his arms. His warmth surrounded her, as did his love. They stood that way for a very long time. She could hear the waves from the ocean and smell the salt air. It had always been easy to talk to Randy, even about things like this. He accepted her as if they were the same. Probably because Randy did see them as the same. Her background wasn’t important to him.
“More than likely, Royce told him. The last year or so those two have been thick as thieves.”
“Yes,” she said. She thought about how secretive Royce had been in the last few months. There was something going on, something that both of them were keeping from her.
“What are you thinking?”
She smiled and leaned her head back against his shoulder. “It’s nice that you know me so well. I am thinking that those two are hiding something. Royce is never off the grid for me. I haven’t been able to get hold of him for weeks. The office just keeps telling me that he’s on a job.”
“When was the last time he was on the job?” Randy murmured.
“Exactly. Something is up, and it all has to do with what happened in Thailand.”
They stood there together, silent, and she knew his mind was turning over the problem.
“We have only one option.“
“And that would be?” she asked.
“Our only way of finding out is making Sean tell one of us.”
She snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“He’s our only source. You know he hasn’t told anyone else if we hadn’t heard about the burning. He’s lain low—well, as low as you can in a multi-million dollar house. Since we know Lassiter won’t be truthful with us, we’ll have to get it out of Sean.”
Which was going to be a bloody pain. The man held onto so many secrets, he didn’t know how to be truthful even if his life depended on it. But then again, it is one of the reasons he had survived as long as he did.
“True, but it isn’t going to be easy.”
Randy nodded. “Now, which one of us is going to deal with the dragon?”
Sean hung up and frowned again. Days now, and he could not get hold of her. Emma knew she should be answering, but getting her to do anything was like trying to get honesty from a politician. He had no real indication that they had been found out, but his gut was telling him something was about to happen. He didn’t know exactly what, but he did know that things had gone on for too long. Like with his first job with Randy, he knew something was off about the situation.
He walked over to the balcony of his room. They had been home hours, and he had avoided dealing with both Randy and Jaime. It was easy enough. He’d pissed them both off in some way. After breakfast, he had stayed in his room, working on his laptop and avoiding both of his ex-lovers.
“You were always good at brooding,” Randy said from behind him.
Sean didn’t glance around at him. He had been dealing with the issue of Randy and Jaime for a couple of years now, but he didn’t want to deal with it in his own house. Of course, he rarely got what he wanted.
He thought he had dealt with the sense of betrayal and jealousy, but at the moment, he couldn’t seem to shake it.
“No comment?” Randy asked.
He didn’t answer right away. Sean wanted to make sure he didn’t say something he would regret. He’d already done enough damage for the day.
“I didn’t think you needed one.”
“You were also good at being an asshole.”
He turned to face his old lover. “I am. So why are you two here and worried about me?”
Frustration marred his pretty face. The man really was gorgeous. Just like all those years ago, he reminded Sean of a California beach hunk. There were a few more laugh lines around his mouth and those sexy wrinkles around his eyes. It wasn’t fair that the man just kept getting better looking by the year.