Page 77 of Brutal Sin
Everything between them was different. He contradicted the space he tried to place between them by selflessly pleasuring her, by listening to her past marriage problems, by taking the books that served as a painful reminder of Lucas and giving them away respectfully. He’d flirted with her, laughed, joked, bought wine and dinner. He’d taken her out. He’d desiredher.
And those kisses. Every brush and sweep of his tongue had told a story about something more thansex.
“Whatever happened between you two, he’s not coping, Pamela.”
That made her eyes open and her heart climb to her throat. “What do youmean?”
“He had a scare today.” Cassie straightened to her full height. “A panic attack. A complete meltdown. Or something similar. And he won’t talk to any of us aboutit.”
The heavy doses of affection for a man she’d tried to forget came rushing back in a torrential flood. “A panic attack?”
Cassie sighed. “It might not seem like a big deal, but for Bryan—”
“No. I get it.” He was bound by control. Entirely guarded. If he’d broken, she knew it must be due to something unfathomably horrible. “What happened?” She didn’t want to care, but she did. She cared so much her chest fractured a little.
“He left a work meeting early, which wasn’t unexpected with his recent mood. He’s been grumpier than usual since he canceled the demonstration night.”
He’d canceled? Her insides grated over exposed heartstrings.
“You didn’t know?” Cassie scrutinizedher.
“No.” Pamela shook her head. “But I’m nobody to him. There’s no reason I should’ve known.”
“I thought the two of you were close. Shay told me he had dinner at your apartment and took you to a bar. To him, that’s—”
“Our time together was an effort to convince me to be his demo assistant. That’s all. Nothingmore.”
“Right…” Cassie straightened. “I just thought—”
“Maybe something happened with his mother.” She was sick of the speculation. Each question only made her stupidity more apparent. “He had a lot on his mind about his family.”
“He told you about them?” Cassie frowned.
“Only about his mother’s cancer. Maybe she took a turn, and he isn’t taking it well.” She shrugged, becoming increasingly overwhelmed with the layers of confusion and annoyance beaming back ather.
“He told you his mother has cancer?”
“Yeah… Why?” She shot a glance at Kim, wordlessly asking for emotional backup. “Doesn’tshe?”
“I don’t know. Bryan has never spoken to me about his family. And from what T.J.'s mentioned, he hasn’t brought up his parents in years.”
“Oh…” Her mouth formed a circle that cemented in place.
“Yeah, oh. You seem to be the only person he’s opened up to in a really longtime.”
“He didn’t open up.” The tiny glimpse of insight hadn’t been anything remotely monumental. “It was a brief mention.”
“A brief mention that his mom has cancer?” Cassie raised her brows. “Pamela, believe me, if he even mentioned his parents, he was opening up. He doesn’t share information about his past. He barely shares anything atall.”
The woman sighed and relaxed her worried expression. “Like I was saying, he left the meeting early and retreated to the office where he’s been hibernating for weeks. Five minutes later, we hear a huge crash and rush upstairs to find him tearing the place apart. There were books and files everywhere. The desk had been cleared with everything shoved to the floor. Includingthis.”
Cassie handed over the envelope again, and this time Pamela tookit.
“Is heokay?”
“Physically, yes. But mentally? Emotionally? No.” She shook her head. “I don’t think he is. Not at all. But he won’t talk to us. So, that’s why I’m here. While the two of you were spending time together, he was happy.”
“He told youthat?”
