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“In any sense, I can’t see why her peace should be upheaved now.” He leveled me with his gaze. “She and her brother live a very nice life. A quiet life, and I’d like to continue to provide that for them. No need for the noise, and if you and your friends are worried about me, you don’t have to be.” He moved his cane. “Sloane and I have an agreement. She and her brother take care of themselves, and that works for me anyway. I’d like to continue living my quiet life and do plan to return home after my visit. I’m only here now because her brother is sick, and I came to see about his care.”
Wolf had mentioned that Bru was sick. Said Sloane had said that.
I just hadn’t put much stake in it.
I gripped that counter now, the world tilting on its axis.
“Might be too late for the truth now anyway.”
I focused on my grandfather after what he said, his fingers folded.
He nodded. “I mean, you lied to her. Lied to her about me and who I am to you.” He opened his hands. “I can’t imagine that will sit well with her. She should be able to trust you. Her friend, should she not?”
And how the tables had turned. He’d made me the liar.
And I’d let him.
He’d created a world in which he now looked like the hero, and I was the bastard who’d fallen into the trap. I was the liar who looked for secrets in all the wrong places. My grandfather had been up to something, and with my help, he’d gotten it. He now had a place in Sloane and her brother’s life.
I’d given it to him.
“Callum?”
Sloane entered the kitchen, my grandfather between us. She’d gotten dressed, her hair up and out of her face. She flashed her tight little waist with one of her bare midriff tops, a hoodie she’d cut off well above her hips. Her head tilted. “What are you doing here?”
She asked the question, but there was only a mild curiosity there. This wasn’t unusual to find my grandfather here.
My stomach twisted, her attention focusing on me next. A heat hit her eyes, and in a manner of seconds, she placed distance between me…
And moved closer to him.
“What’s going on?” she asked, and my grandpa stood from his chair.
He smiled at her. “Just talking to Dorian here,” he said and so coolly. “We ran into each other. Didn’t we, son?”
My grandfather obviously wanted to continue his ruse.
His smile stretched. “I was just telling him how I’ve come from seeing Bruno at the hospital. He’s doing well this morning, which is good.”
The… hospital.
I really hadn’t been listening. About so many things, I hadn’t been listening.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked, but out of the two, only my grandfather shifted in my direction.
He frowned. “The boy’s been sick, but he seems to be coming around,” he said, and Sloane’s response to that made my stomach crawl. She flushed all over, cradling her arms. She stayed near my grandfather, clearly comfortable with him.
I was well aware of her distance and her body language, and her reaction to me when she came in versus my grandfather was definitely telling. She trusted him. She was comfortable with him.
And definitely not with me.
“Bru said you were at the house, Sloane, which was why I stopped by. I hoped to catch you,” my grandfather continued. “The school informed me your tuition bill was sent here, and I wanted to pick it up and take care of it.” My grandfather’s sight fell on me. “Dorian, did you say you saw it? The mail?”
I twitched.
How long had he been watching me?
Obviously, for a long enough time to watch me circulating the house. My jaw locked. “By the front door. The hallway on the table.”
