Page 44

I nod. Yeah, I am good at that.

“You need to find someone like Elise,” Clement continues. “Someone you can trust. Someone who can be the rock of your world. A partner. A better half.”

“Your wife is one in a billion, Clement. No way can I compete with what you have.”

“You’re correct there. She’s fucking perfect. That’s what you need to do, Fabien. Find yourself the perfect girl.”

A grilled cheese sizzling in a pan. Secrets spoken in the dead of night.

“Easier said than done,” I mutter.

Our lunch arrives. I want to change the subject. We’re skirting dangerously close to Jolie here and my appetite is dwindling.

“What’s going on with the Masked Killer?” I ask quietly. “Any news on that front?”

Clement’s smirk drops. He’s serious now.

“I’m doing the best I can. We will find him, Fabien. Your parents’ death will be avenged, one way or another. I swear it.”

I skewer my meat with my fork.

“The Castaways are doing fuck-all,” I say.

“I know. But at least they now have the sense to make you a member of the Order.”

“We’ll see. I still need to complete my last task.”

Clement scoffs.

“Do you know what the last task will be?” he asks.

Jolie.

I want to flip over this fancy table and tell my best friend it’s his sister I have to fuck. That all this civility I’m throwing on is concealing the fact I have to do something so obscene to the same sister he doesn’t know ruined my soul and made me the man I am today.

But I don’t flip the table. Instead, I bite my tongue and try to pretend my inner world isn’t on fire.

I put down my fork. I’ve completely lost my appetite now.

“I don’t have a clue what it might be,” I lie.

I wish I could speak to him about it. Clement would know what to do.

“That’s bullshit,” he says. “They’re keeping you in the dark for nothing. You could be helping us find the Masked Killer with the resources available to the Castaways, and instead, you’re just waiting around. It’s fucking stupid. I don’t know what Elwood and the other Elders are thinking.”

“I want to prove myself to Cromwell. Make him feel like he made a good investment in looking after me.”

“Father thinks the world of you,” Clement remarks. “Why else would he have brought you in?”

“I always felt like a burden,” I say softly.

“You weren’t. It was fucking great having you around at home during those vacations. Hell, even Jolie spoke fondly of you.”

The mere mention of her name stabs me in the heart.

“The one thing I know about Jolie is that she likes to lie,” I say.

The words are out before I can even reel them in. I’m too exposed.