I’m empty. Lonely.
A rap on the window startles me, jerking me out of my morose thoughts.
Jude peers through the window, frowning.
Forcing a smile to my lips, I pull on the handle and open the car door. Stepping out and closing it behind me, I shrug at my brother-in-law. “Hi, Jude.”
His frown doesn’t clear. God, with a black beanie pulled over his short hair and a couple of day’s growth of dark blonde and brown hair darkening his jaw and bracketing his mouth, he resembles Knox. It twists a knife in my chest, and my smile wobbles before I can catch it.
And like his brother, he misses nothing. “What’s going on?”
Since,I think your brother broke me, most likely won’t go over well, I stick with, “Nothing. Just got some things on my mind.”
“Is this about—damn it,” he growls, snatching his phone from his back pocket and quickly swiping a thumb across the screen. “Are you sure this isn’t about—shit.” His phone vibrates in his hand again, and once more, he touches the screen, ending the cell’s shaking.
“Ana?” I ask, though I really don’t need to. Only one person irritates Jude to this extent, and that’s his ex-girlfriend. Correction. Crazy ass ex-girlfriend who’s apparently never seenFrozenbecause the girl refuses tolet it go.
“Yeah,” he grunts. “I’m not going to deal with this all night.” He powers down the cell then stuffs it into the back pocket of his jeans. “You sure you okay?” he asks, those narrowed, green eyes fixed on me. Right now, it hurts to look into them since they remind me of his absentee brother.
“Yes.” I walk ahead. “And I’m hungry, so let’s head inside.” Lie.
As soon as we walk into his mother’s house moments later, the aroma of roast hits me. Normally, I would be drooling over one of my favorite dishes, but today, my stomach tightens, lurching a bit in protest. My appetite has been zero lately, and the last thing I’m looking forward to is Katherine commenting on me picking over my plate and asking why I’m not eating.
Yeah, answering that truthfully is off the table.
“I was wondering where the two of you were,” Kathrine called as Jude closed the door behind us. She smiled, holding a platter in her hands. “Well, don’t just stand there, everyone else is here. You’re the last to arrive. Let’s eat.”
Following her into the dining room, I greet Simon and Dan with a wave and hug. Unbidden, my gaze slides to the sixth and empty chair on the other side of the table across from me. No, everyone isn’t here; Knox is absent. And irritation snaps inside me that Katherine doesn’t seem bothered over one of her sons not being there.
As soon as the thought pops into my head, it feels disloyal, and I shove it down. But stubbornly, it refuses to be cowed.
Maybe it shouldn’t be.
Dinner crawls by, and even though the food looks delicious and perfect as always, it might as well as be cigarette ashes on my tongue. And that I can’t stop from glancing at the empty chair doesn’t help matters, either.
“Would anyone like coffee?” Katherine asks, rising from the table and gathering her husband’s plate and mine. All of us, except for Jude, answer in the affirmative, and she smiles again. She’s in a lighter mood today, meaning it’s one of her better days.
Simon stands as well and helps his mother clear the rest of the dishes. He follows her into the kitchen, returning minutes later with a tray full of cups and saucers.
“How’s Knox doing?” Dan asks, taking a coffee cup off the tray. “He had to work?”
“He’s fine,” Simon replies, removing the cups from the tray and placing them in front of him. “And no, he’s in Reno, not the shop.”
“Reno?” Katherine echoes, entering the room with a coffee urn. “What’s he doing there?”
My stomach clenches, dread curling in it, and my gaze meets Jude’s. His eyebrow arches, and I give my head a small shake, understanding his unspoken question. No, I hadn’t said anything to their parents.
“Jude?” Katherine presses, standing behind Dan’s chair.
“He’s there preparing for a fight,” Jude answers.
Silence permeates the room, heavy, thick, and vibrating with tension.
“Since when did he start fighting again?” Dan frowns.
Katherine set the coffee pot down on the table with an ominous thud.
“It’s an exhibition match,” Simon explains, his solemn gaze on his mother.
