Chapter 4
“What’s that look?” Nick asked even though he knew exactly what the look was.
“I hate the way you act when you’re around Berkley. Or if I’m being honest, I kind of hate the way you are with some women in general.” Clover sat back in her chair, her hard expression one he’d never seen.
“Wait, what?” He frowned at her, beyond surprised at not only her words, but her tight expression. She looked mad—at him.
“You’re a hell of a lot harder on women than you are on men. And I kind of get it because our mom didn’t protect us, but oh my god, Nick. You’re turning into Dad.” She blurted the words out in a rush, and whatever the server saw on his face made the woman turn right around and hurry away from them.
“I…am not.” He cleared his throat, wondering what the hell was happening right now. They both hated their father. He’d been an abusive, cheating asshole, so any comparison to him… What the hell.
“Uh, yeah, you are. You do it in a hundred little ways. Not with me, but that’s because you’re way too overprotective.
When Hannah left her husband because he was an abusive prick, the first thing you said was ‘she should have picked better.’ Not, ‘her ex shouldn’t have been an abusive prick.
’ And yeah, you helped her out financially and made sure she landed on her feet, but that judgment was still there.
Even if you never said the words to her, I can definitely see it in your expression.
And deep down I keep wondering when you’re going to judge me for doing something and blame it on me being a woman! ” She shouted the last part.
Which was out of character for her. He was certain people were staring, but he didn’t care. Because his sister was angry—at him. She’d never talked to him like this before. Never looked at him with this…disdain before. And the things she was saying…
Stomach tight, he could feel his face getting hot as he cleared his throat. “I might be a little hard on—”
“No.” She tossed her unused napkin onto the table, her jaw tight.
“I hadn’t planned to have this conversation with you today.
And definitely not in public. But I’m sick of your bullshit.
I’m sick of ignoring the subtle digs only because you’re my brother and you raised me.
I’m grateful to you and I love working with you, but I’m done listening to your nonsense.
So consider this your warning—next time you say some bullshit, I’m calling you out right then and there.
And for the record, Berkley Knight is one of the nicest, funniest humans I’ve ever met.
I know you bought into the whole ‘wild Knight’ version of her and have this weird obsession with her husband—”
“I’m not obsessed with her ex-husband,” he growled.
If he was being brutally honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he even liked Henry Moore anymore.
But he’d saved Clover’s life. Literally.
So yeah, he was grateful to the guy for the surgery he’d performed on his sister.
And fine, maybe at one time he’d really liked the guy.
But the last few times he’d seen him, the man had been…
off. Maybe that was the right word. Or maybe he was just showing Nick who he really was.
But he’d seen the guy tear into a barista as if the woman had funded a terrorist organization instead of just getting the wrong syrup type.
“Yeah, well, for your information, her ex-husband might be a talented surgeon, but he was cheating on her for years. And he hit on me during one of my check-ins. The guy is a grade A asshole with a god complex.” She rolled her eyes.
Henry had cheated on Berkley? Wait… “He hit on you?”
“That’s your takeaway from this?” She let out a growl of frustration then shoved her chair back.
“I’m done with this conversation. I’ll see you at work on Monday—and you’re taking that meeting with Berkley tomorrow.
I didn’t tell you about it because I knew you’d balk at working with her for whatever reason you’ve cooked up in your mind to dislike her.
So you’re meeting with her, and it’s going to be your first day of learning not to be an asshole! ”
Oh, people were absolutely staring at them now. Unabashedly so. The entire restaurant had gone silent as Clover yelled at him.
At least no one appeared to be recording the scene. He tossed a twenty onto the table, and hurried after his sister. But by the time he made it outside she’d disappeared into one of the many shops on the main strip of Sanctuary Falls.
When his phone buzzed, he read the incoming text from Clover.
Look, I love you more than anything, but you’re turning into Dad.
If you don’t want that, I hope you seriously reevaluate yourself and your immediate thoughts.
I’m also not sorry for that explosion, though I could have chosen a more private place.
I’ll send you the details about tomorrow.
And I’ll find my own ride home. I can’t see you or talk to you right now. Xo
He wanted to deny everything she’d said but… He scrubbed a hand over his face as he made his way back to his truck. They’d parked about a mile back to enjoy downtown, so now he had plenty of time alone with his thoughts.
The last place he wanted to be.
He wasn’t as bad as Clover said… Was he?
They both loathed their father. He’d been an abusive, cruel man who’d broken their mother in a thousand different ways until she finally drank herself to death.
Leaving them to fend for themselves against him.
The little boy he’d once been hadn’t understood why his mom hadn’t protected them but he’d gotten over that.
Or he’d told himself that he had.
Maybe his sister was right. She’d…been a victim too. And sometimes he found himself angrier at their mother’s ghost than their unfortunately still-living dad most days. A man he hadn’t talked to in over a decade.
As he made it back to his truck, he thought about calling Clover, but knew it was too soon. He just knew that he didn’t like this sick feeling in his gut. He and Clover never argued. About anything.
It had always been the two of them against their father, while their mother hid away, passed out in her room. He’d been the one to protect Clover against that bastard. Then when she’d come to work for him, he’d thought… Clearly she’d been bottling up a lot. And she wasn’t an overreactive person.
If anything, the two of them had learned to keep their emotions locked down over the years to avoid triggering their alcoholic father, so the fact that she’d blown up at him like that, and in public… He was going to take it seriously.
And self-reflect. But later.
As he got into his truck, he forced himself not to think about his sister’s words…or how stunning Berkley Knight had been. As always.
He rarely let himself look directly at her.
She was like this ray of actual sunshine, and every time he was in her vicinity, he found himself wanting to orbit around her. To get to know her better. To follow up on never calling her because of a man…he apparently shouldn’t have even trusted.
Which was ridiculous. He’d never allowed himself to be close to a woman. To be vulnerable. That was how you ended up locked in a relationship, miserable and looking for a way to get out. No thanks.
But about a year ago he’d asked for her number. Then he’d let the words of someone who was apparently a cheating asshole sway him. Maybe it was because he’d wanted to believe them. Because the thought of getting to know her, of eventually being disappointed, had been too much.
Shoving all that bullshit down deep, he started making phone calls on his drive home. Might be Saturday, but with all the construction contracts he had going, he never stopped. And work would distract him from thinking about the accusations his sister had hurled at him.
“Hello?” a female voice said over the line.
Frowning, he glanced at his dash, saw he’d called the right number. “Ah, I’m calling for James.”
There was a beat of silence, then the woman said, “This is Detective Knight. Is this Nick Storm?”
The oldest of the Knight siblings. And his name would be on the caller ID. “Yeah. What’s going on?”
“What’s your relationship with Mr. Reed?”
“I’m handling a contract for him.” He owned a construction company, built homes all over the state. But he also did gut and reno jobs or flips if they were large enough to turn a profit. And he had a bad feeling about this.
“Would you mind coming down to the station to talk to us? I’d rather talk to you in person than over the phone.”
Sighing, he took a left turn instead of heading in the direction of his home. “Yeah, I can be there in ten.”
He wasn’t close to James Reed, but he’d liked the guy well enough to accept a gut and reno job of four, six-condo buildings the man had recently bought up. He’d been looking forward to the job, to seeing what they could do with the condos.
If a detective was answering his phone, Nick knew that didn’t mean anything good for Reed.