His eyes softened. “I believe you. You’re not the type to abandon a woman, especially a pregnant one.”
I finished my scotch and contemplated having more, but then I remembered April and Maya. I couldn’t go around drowning my issues in booze. That was what my father had done.
“Can he ruin you? Your business? Our business?”
“I won’t let him. April won’t either.”
“Are you sure? We have a lot riding on this, Jude. While I sympathize with your situation, I have to consider my own as well.”
I nodded. “I know. I’m sorry this seems so fucked up. August has a family legacy behind him, but his own personality isn’t one that endears people. He always resented that I could move through life easily. People naturally liked me, even though I usually didn’t give much of a shit about them.”
Cyrus frowned.
I shrugged. “In high school, everyone is so fake. People are friends only because they get something out of it, usually popularity. I wasn’t into the bullshit. Oh sure, when it served me, I could fit in. But I didn’t like anyone, except August.”
“Why? If he’s a jerk.”
“At first, I mostly looked after him, since he was bullied pretty badly. We became friends eventually.”
Cyrus cocked his head. “How much of your friendship with him was to be near April?”
I sat back, never having considered that. I thought back to when August and I first became friends. April was just a kid, so I knew my friendship with August had nothing to do with her. But by the time she was fifteen or sixteen, things had changed. She was infinitely more interesting and vibrant compared to August. And of course, being a teenage boy myself, I didn’t miss the luscious curves she’d developed.
I shook my head. “At first, nothing, but maybe by the end, everything.”
22
April
I arrived back from lunch to an eerily quiet office. Not that it wasn’t usually quiet, but there was something about it today that was different. Ominous.
I went to check on Jude to see if he had questions about the areas I marked on the tapes. Actually, I just wanted to see him. I’d been avoiding him and keeping my distance because I wasn’t sure how to deal with August. I wanted to be with Jude, but I didn’t want him and his new business ruined because of my brother.
Jude wasn’t in his office, so I checked in with Cyrus. When he saw me, he sat back, his eyes scrutinizing me in a way that had me squirming.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. “Is Jude out interviewing?”
He shook his head. “Jude is out getting some air.”
That didn’t sound good. “Oh?”
Cyrus tossed his pen on the desk and let out a breath. “Your brother showed up.”
Oh hell. I sank down into a chair in Cyrus’ office.
“He threatened to ruin Jude if he didn’t stay away from you.”
My gaze snapped up. “Oh God.”
“Of course, Jude had a few choice words about that.”
I could only imagine.
“And just an FYI because your brother seems like the type to embellish a story, he made the first aggressive move, not Jude.”
“What?” Oh no. He didn’t really try to beat Jude up, did he?
“He pushed Jude. Jude, to his credit, didn’t beat the shit out of him, but he did knock him up against the wall. If your brother says otherwise, he’s lying, which, based on Jude’s account, is something he does.”