Page 90 of See You Again
“What the actual fuck?” Luke was waiting outside of his office when the elevator doors slid open a few hours later.
“I thought Dahlia was in town? Shouldn’t you be in a better mood?” James strode past his brother and dropped his briefcase next to his desk. His head was throbbing, but he’d never admit it.
Luke followed him, his jaw working.
Despite his own tumultuous emotions, James found the sight of his normally gregarious brother at a loss for words extremely entertaining. He leaned back in his seat, crossed one leg over the other, picked up a sheaf of papers Loretta had left for him, and waited.
Luke’s eyes flicked to the small bandage on James’s head before scanning down his body for other obvious injuries. His lips tightened into a flat, angry line. “You had to do it in front of a bunch of witnesses?”
“Would you be happier if I’d chosen a dark alley?” James kept his eyes on the pages in front of him.
“I’d like to know what the fuck made you lose control like that?”
“It was an aberration. I guess you missed the part where he tried to brain me with a rock.”
Luke’s jaw flexed. “I saw that. You destroyed that guy.”
James looked up to meet his brother’s identical stare. “If I tell you he deserved it, will you drop it?”
“Is Cami okay?”
James shrugged to hide the sudden tightness in his chest. “She’s fine.”
An image of Cami’s dilated eyes, as she stood before him in the kitchen last night, appeared in front of him. Her reaction had been a surprise. He’d expected her to be upset, not turned on. As always, Cami was full of surprises.
“Have you heard from the police?”
“I left my card with the valet. I imagine they’ll be here any minute now.” James set the papers on his desk and picked up one of the file folders, uncapping his pen.
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?” Luke let out a vicious curse at James’s continued silence. “You were in a fight at a valet stand, and you have nothing to say about what led up to it?”
“Did you see the whole video?”
After James had showered in his hotel room, he saw his phone was full of notifications. As he suspected, the bystanders at the restaurant had uploaded the video of the altercation. He wasn’t thrilled that his private business was on display for the world, but it provided excellent cover from prosecution.
“That guy, Justin… He looks familiar.”
“Used to be a friend… in college. He has an unhealthy attachment to Cami.”
Luke snorted. “Unhealthy as in he’s probably eating through a straw right now.”
James’s jaw hardened. He wasn’t sorry. He only wished there hadn’t been an audience, because what he had wanted to do would have definitely landed him in a courtroom, self-defense or not.
Luke stared at him for a second and then dropped into a chair. “I can’t think of a time I’ve seen you lose control like that.” One side of his mouth curved up. “You looked eerily like Dec in that video.”
James grunted, mentally willing his brother to leave.
Almost as if he read James’s mind, Luke relaxed. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me. You know that, right? Mom’s not going to accept the silent treatment and neither will Cara.”
James placed his palms on his desk and inhaled. “Fine. Over dinner, I realized that piece of shit lied to me twelve years ago.”
Luke’s brows drew tight over his eyes. “Bullshit. You didn’t go nuclear because of something that happened that long ago.”
James’s chest squeezed, and he tried to shove the anger back into a safe compartment, but it refused to go. His breath quickened and his skin felt tight. The enormity of how much he’d messed up swamped him. His heart pounded.
“James?”
At his brother’s concerned tone, James forced his eyes to lift from the desk and concentrated on breathing. He was fine.