I didn’t know where to begin. “Well, out of town, to his place out of town.”
“As opposed to his place in Chicago?” he asked.
“I suppose so,” I said, silently panicking about not having any cover story. “He’s got a house, and he lives in an apartment here in Chicago.”
“Oh, big money then,” Declan said.
Like you wouldn’t believe, I thought.
“And you met him at work?”
“Oh, yeah.” I knew how that sounded. I had never been good at lying to my brother, and even when sick, he was smart enough to keep the interrogation going.
“Is there something you’re not telling me, Syd?”
He knew, of course he did. I said, “Well, look, I’m sorry, I’m not trying to fool you.”
“Yeah? Because Julia told me you met this guy at a club. Since when are you hot on nightlife, Syd? Come on, you can tell me, I’m on my deathbed here.” He said that with such cynicism that I was ready to cry.
“Don’t you say that, Declan.”
Declan smiled. “Go on then, lay it out for me. What, does he have some weird fetish? Why don’t you want to talk to me about him?”
I guessed there was no way out of it. And to what end? My brother had every right to know what was going on.
“Promise not to get angry.”
He frowned, which was visibly hard for him. “I will try.” Pale as he was, I thought he was beginning to get red in the face already.
Taking a deep breath, I told him exactly what had gone down. How Julia tipped me off about this club, and how it turned out to be an auction for rich men, and how there was a spark between Owen and me, and how I left the club with him…
“Let me stop you right there,” he said, his voice sore. “He bought you at an auction?”
“It’s not like that!”
“If I’m honest, it fucking sounds exactly like that.” The equipment beeped faster as Declan’s heart began racing.
“You need to calm down, Declan.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
Now it was my turn to blush. “It wasn’t because of the money.”
He shut his eyes tight, as if he wanted to disappear. I felt the same way.
When the silence got awkward, I said, “I really liked him Declan, and not to get money for me. I did it for you, Declan. I’ve been trying, but I just can’t do it on my own.”
His eyes were still closed, but now there were tears at their corners. He coughed, then said, quietly, “I’m sorry, Syd. It’s all my fault.”
“It isn’t!”
“I want you to be happy.”
“And I want you to be better. And we’re both getting what we want. I’m not selling myself into slavery, Declan. Besides, it’s over now.”
“Why?”
“We had a fight, or whatever. Anyway, he’s not coming back here anytime soon. We’re done.”