AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s not funny.”
Forgotten my number?The writing was Monica’s, but Sebastian could still hear his mother’s voice clear as day. That innocent cruelty that was deliberately aimed, just for him.
“I’m fine, Eli,” Sebastian said.
A phone call too hard for you? I spent fifty-nine hours in labour to birth you, and you can’t even bother to call?
I saw you on the news. Who was going to tell me if you’d died? Do you have a will?
He had two, in fact. One for when he died—that didn’t have her name anywhere near it—and one he planned to cuddle and fuck later. He didn’t think Jasmine would take kindly to either of those responses. All the more reason he wanted to give them.
He scrunched up the rest without looking at them and dropped them in the bin beside his desk. He’d need to give Monica a raise. Having to write them down for him would have been bad enough. Her discretion and delicate handling of it was appreciated. Sebastian didn’t know what he’d done to deserve the dedication that Monica and Caleb had for him, but he was selfish enough to keep it anyway.
“And if you hadn’t been?”
“Then someone would have contacted you.”
“Well, that’s not going to give me nightmares.”
“Hence why I don’t tell you about the near misses.”
There was a pause, and Sebastian realised he’d put his foot in it. For someone who had spent half his life warning people to be careful about what they said andhowthey said it, he was doing a great fucking job of doing the complete opposite. To Eli, of all people. The worst decision. At least Charlotte was gently aggressive. Eli was a bulldozer.
“What near misses?” Eli asked dangerously.
“We’re not having this conversation.” Ever. There were some things that his siblings just didn’t need to know.
“Too late.”
“You have to trust that if it were truly important, I would tell you.” Their ideas of what was important might be different, but Sebastian was at least smart enough not to mentionthat.
“Funnily enough, Idon’ttrust that.”
Busted. “Eli…”
“Promise me that you’re okay.”
Sebastian hesitated.
“Seb.”
Sebastian took his glasses off and idly fiddled with them. “It’s getting handled.” He really hoped that was the truth.
Eli made an honest-to-God growling noise. “Fucking hell, Seb. Just…fuck.Be careful, okay? Or I’ll fucking haunt you.”
“I think it’s the other way around.”
“I don’t give a shit. I will haunt your ghost ass, you fucking got it?”
“I’m being careful.”
Eli sighed. “For a lawyer, you’re a terrible fucking liar. I have to go; we have an event tonight. Call me tomorrow and we’ll do lunch.”
Sebastian tossed his phone on a stack of papers and dropped his forehead to the desk with a painfulthud.
Chapter Four
Peytonabsentlyranhisfingers through Will’s hair as they lounged on his bed. He’d propped himself up on the headboard to keep his shoulder happy, and Will was stretched between his legs, fiddling with his phone as they watchedThe Great British Bake Offreruns on his laptop, which was balancing precariously on the end of the bed next to Will’s socked feet.
