23. Warner #2
Wincing at the sound of his voice, I turn to head for the sofa. Tom’s resting in the corner, a laptop balanced on one knee and a half-empty beer clasped in his hand. Two frigid, angry green eyes land on me with enough impact to make my ears ring.
“Tom.” I wave awkwardly.
“Where is she?”
“Right…”
“…here,” Ember finishes for me, strolling into the apartment looking far too relaxed. “Sorry, couldn’t untie my laces.”
“Why didn’t you ask Warner here to help?” Tom gently sets his laptop down on the coffee table. “He sure looked confident while trying to tie his tongue with yours out there.”
“Excuse me?” Ember coughs.
“Give it up. I know how to work my own security cameras.”
Seeing Tom stand up to his full height, holding the weight he’s managed to gain during his time in the hospital, I back up a couple of steps. That beer is going to be in my face. I just know it.
“Listen, Tom…”
“My sister,” he deadpans.
I slowly lick my suddenly dry lips. “Yeah.”
“My fucking sister, Warner.”
“Yes… I’m aware of who she is.”
“You’re a little more than aware,” Tom cuts back with acid ferocity. “By the look of things, you’re well acquainted with the one person I told you to protect with your life.”
“I’ve done exactly that.”
“Did I tell you to fuck her too?”
“Tom!” Jamie gasps from the kitchen.
“That’s out of order.” Ember protectively steps up to my side. “My relationship with Warner is none of your business. Frankly, if you acted rationally where my safety is concerned, I would’ve told you sooner.”
“Sooner? How bloody long has this been going on?”
Ember’s poised to leap into an almighty argument that we all know she’ll win. Likely by having to storm out the same way she did when we hired her. This time, I save her the effort.
“I love her,” I blurt out.
The apartment falls silent. Jamie has abandoned his meal prep while Tom blankly stares at me, condensation from the beer dribbling over his hand. Beside me, Ember freezes still, daring to peek a glance up at my face.
“I’ve been in love with your sister for a very long time. I’m sorry that it took so long to tell you, but I was terrified of jeopardising our friendship. You’re family to me, Tom. You gave me a home.”
“And now?” Tom interrogates. “You just decided to stop caring?”
“No, of course not. But I can’t pretend like I don’t love your sister. Not anymore. I’ve done nothing but hurt her by keeping my distance for so long, and I refuse to do it for a second longer.”
“She’s your co-worker! Your friend!”
“Ember’s far more than that, and she always has been.”
In spiralling desperation, Tom looks to his other half. I’m prepared for Jamie to join the Warner hate train when he steps out of the kitchen, looking appraisingly between us.
“What are you so tangled up about?” He laughs. “They look good together.”
“Jamie!” Tom’s eyes bug out. “He’s my best friend!”
“And she’s your sister. Who better to look after her?”
“Excuse me.” Ember holds up a hand. “I don’t need anyone to look after me.”
“True.” Jamie indulgently smiles at her. “Okay, then who better to look after Warner than your awesome, kickass, secret agent sister?”
“Better,” Ember hums approvingly.
“Hilarious.” I roll my eyes.
Tom whooshes out a breath. “Not funny!”
Resting a hand on the back of the sofa, he dips his head to drag a hand over his still-pale face. Despite being fit enough to leave the hospital, he still doesn’t look quite like himself. Part of me worries whether this will be the final straw for the sanity he’s managed to claw back.
Ember inches forward to touch his shoulder. “Please sit down. We can talk, but you should be resting up.”
“We are not discussing this!” Anger ripples across Tom’s features.
“Yes, we are. Now fucking sit.”
He baulks but slumps as the fight drains out of him. “Fine.”
“Thank you.”
We end up seated on his two sofas, a fresh round of beers opened and Jamie’s chopping resumed to give us time to talk alone. Tom glares daggers at me across the drinks, making me feel like I’m at the world’s worst job interview.
I should’ve sent Hyland or Axel in here first. At least they could’ve taken the heat. Next to them, I’d look like a ray of fucking sunshine, saving Ember from the worst that Sabre Security has to offer.
“How long has this been going on?” Tom questions.
While I look down at my clasped hands, Ember doesn’t shy away from his interrogation.
“It’s complicated, but I’ve had feelings for a long time now,” she admits. “My relationships with the guys?—”
“The guys?” he repeats in a high-pitched chirp.
Ah, shit.
That skin-melting glower returns, aimed directly at me and dialled up to max. We’ve had our fair share of fallings out over the years, but Tom’s never looked at me like that before.
“Guys… Plural?”
“Yes.” Ember’s head bobs in confirmation.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Tom points an accusatory finger right at me. “What the hell did you do to my sister?”
“Nothing!” I quickly raise my hands. “Not me personally.”
“It sure didn’t look like that from the security feed. You were seconds away from throwing her over your shoulder like some kind of caveman.”
“And if he was, so what?” Ember bats back. “I’m an adult. If I want to be with Warner, then I’m entitled to make that decision. Regardless of whether or not you like it.”
“He grew up with us, Em!” Tom protests indignantly. “He’s literally family.”
“So you know exactly what kind of person Warner is.”
“That doesn’t mea?—”
“Warner’s kind. Loyal. Empathetic. Loving. He’s honest and reliable. He cares about me and our team. He makes me feel safe, loved and welcome. Even in my lowest moments since returning home. What else could you possibly want?”
Stumped, Tom’s mouth slams shut. He looks down at the beer rolling between his hands, taking several seconds to mull over her words. In that time, I briefly consider whether running is a viable option. He’s in no shape to chase me.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” Tom admits eventually. “And least of all by him. I can’t hate your asshole ex if he’s my best friend, Em.”
“What makes you think that I’d hurt her?” I challenge.
“Besides the fact that you have one of the most dangerous jobs in the whole country and could easily die at any given moment?” Tom pins me with a stern look.
“Uh… Yes.”
“You haven’t sustained a romantic relationship in all the time I’ve known you. Not once. If my sister’s just going to be another notch on your bedpost, I’ll save us all time and kill you now.”
“For fuck’s sake, Tom. Do I have to spell it out for you?”
“Please!” he shouts.
“Fine! Has it occurred to you why I’ve never been serious with someone?”
After a shameful glance in Ember’s direction, I refocus on my hands. One is clasped over my rumpled jeans’ leg, covering the carbon fibre joint that lies below. Another insecurity that I’ve kept buried.
Some would say it’s a reason not to be with me. But not Ember. Not once did she show an ounce of pity or judgement in the aftermath of my amputation. Nor the turbulent years that followed. She was there for me unconditionally just like when we were kids.
“I only ever wanted her.” My confession comes out hoarse. “No one else. In all my years fighting overseas, my time at Sabre, all the people I’ve met or worked with… all I wanted was Ember. To call her mine. To love her like she deserves to be loved.”
Tom’s mouth clicks open, but he remains silent. Clearly, he’s stunned.
“I should’ve owned up to it a long time ago, and for that I’m sorry. For a long time, I thought the feelings would die. Then Ember was taken, and all I cared about was bringing her home. To you. To us. The moment I saw her… it all came crashing back ten times stronger than ever before.”
When I look at Ember, her eyes are glistening.
“I’ve been lost ever since.” I pick at the label of my beer bottle.
Tom doesn’t hurl his drink at me or tell me to leave. I almost expected him to list all the reasons why us being together would make him uncomfortable. I’m sure it’s a long bloody list. But he seems to be rendered speechless by all that I’ve revealed.
“I don’t want to lose our friendship.” I catch his gaze. “But I won’t stand at the sidelines any longer. Not while she feels the same way. We’ve both been through hell to get here, and I think we should chase our chance at happiness. Together.”
Sighing in exhaustion, Tom rubs his forehead then takes a very large gulp of beer. “Well… that’s it then, right?”
“What is?” Ember inches forward on the sofa.
“The two people I love most in the world love each other.” His laugh comes out wispy, fatigued. “Who the hell am I to tell them they can’t?”
We both stare at him like he’s an invading alien occupying Tom’s skin. The same man who forbade Ember from joining Sabre Security, prompting her to move out of his apartment. He’s never backed down from an argument.
“I’m sorry… The two you love most in the world?” Jamie crosses his arms while wandering over to us. “Thanks for dancing on my grave, darling. I love you too.”
That’s all it takes for laughter to envelope us all. The back-breaking, relieving kind of laughter that cracks a soul wide open and lets the light flood into each dark, dingy corner.
Tom captures Jamie’s wrist to yank him closer then plants a kiss on his mouth, the pair still cackling away. Watching them laugh eases something inside me. An awful, crippling anxiety that’s gripped me ever since I first looked at Ember in that way.
“Your sister’s fortunate to have found someone who loves her enough to risk it all.” Jamie pushes his boyfriend’s arm. “Count yourself lucky that she hasn’t chosen an asshole.”
“Well.” I clear my throat. “We all have bad days.”
Wiping beneath his eyes, Tom lets out a long breath. “Look, I’m not going to pretend like this isn’t weird as hell for me. But I also learned my lesson the last time that I overstepped. It isn’t going to happen again.”
Ember curses to herself. “Are we sure the doctors didn’t give you a personality transplant while you were on the ventilator?”
“Shut up, trouble. I can take it all back.”
Smiling, she saunters over to her brother’s side to perch on the sofa arm. Tom rolls his eyes when she bends down to plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Love ya, big bro.”
“Alright, get off me. Love you too.”
I can’t quite believe what I’m seeing. After all that terror. The endless, anxious fretting, convinced that I could never find the courage to take what I wanted. All for it to end in two siblings putting their differences aside.
“Just don’t slam my sister up against my front door again.” Tom glares at me in clear warning. “I may only be the legal counsel, but I still know some bad dudes. You’ll be dead by morning.”
“Do those bad dudes happen to work for me?” I smirk at him.
It’s an unwelcome reminder for Tom whose smile quickly drops. He refocuses on Ember with a look that would kill any person weaker than our formidable girl.
“Speaking of… the guys ? Which guys? What relationships? What the fuck?”
Ah, that one didn’t skip straight over his head, then. I sink backwards into the sofa to nurse my beer while Ember reddens and splutters away. This should be fun to watch.