Dale eyes the stairwell to the second floor. “Mom’s office is up here.”
“Yeah, I know.” I walk toward the stairway, rethinking what I’m about to do.
“Having second thoughts?” Dale asks.
“How did you know?”
“How can I not know? I’ve known you longer than anyone else in your life, Don. I can read you like a book.”
True enough. I can read Dale as well.
“We can turn around,” Dale says. “No one even has to know we were here. You can begin your search on Monday.”
I nod. “You know what? You’re right. I’d like two more days of innocence. I have a big date with Callie tomorrow. I don’t want to taint it with anything I might find out if we go up there.”
“I understand.” My brother nods. “Let’s go.”
We walk back to the entryway and leave the building. My car is parked a block over, near Murphy’s Bar. Dale and I begin to walk—
I widen my eyes.
Callie. Callie is walking on the other side of the street, her arm linked through Brendan Murphy’s.
What the fuck?
“Please tell me you didn’t see that,” Dale says.
“I’d sure like to.”
“He’s probably just walking her to her car. Feel like a nightcap?”
“You know? I do.”
Dale and I head to the bar and walk in. It’s still pretty packed for nearing two a.m.
“My brothers!” Brianna squeals and comes barreling toward us.
“What are you doing out so late, sis?” I ask.
Dale just glares at her.
“Playing pool. Hanging with my cousins and Maddie. You know.”
“Because you don’t get enough of that at college, huh?” I say.
“We have certain things here that we don’t have in college.”
Right. Jesse Pike, Cage Ramsey, and Dragon Locke. “Don’t even think about it,” I tell her.
Dale continues to seethe.
“I’m actually glad you guys are here,” Bree says. “Don’t ruin it.”
Dale and I walk toward the back, where the band is playing pool with our youngster cousins.
“Steel,” Jesse says, meeting my gaze.
“Pike.”
Our standard greeting. Jesse’s a good guy. I like him, actually, but some wounds never heal.
The bell on the door jingles when Brendan returns. Good. He’s not off somewhere heating up the sheets with Callie. Dale’s probably right. He was walking her to her car. I should thank him for that.
Except what was Callie doing here in the first place?
I leave Dale to deal with Bree and the gang and head toward the bar, where Brendan has grabbed a rag and is wiping it down.
“Hey, Don.” He meets my gaze.
I nod. “Isn’t it closing time?”
“Nah. As long as the place is hopping, I may as well make a buck, right?”
Brendan’s a good guy. At least I always thought he was. But he’s basically blackmailing Dale and me with that quitclaim deed and other shit. Heck, I might do the same thing if the situation were reversed. Why do we even have a lien on this place? A tiny building in town. The Steels own some of the most expensive property on the western slope. What’s so special about this building?
“I talked to my dad,” I say. “About the lien.”
Brendan looks around. “Not here.”
“Dude, we’re the only two at the bar right now.”
“I said not here,” he enunciates in a whisper.
“Fine. I’ll have a margarita.”
Brendan smiles. “You and your mother are the only people who ever order margaritas in here, and even Jade usually orders wine.”
“You got a problem with my order?”
He laughs. “Not at all.”
“Good. I’d hate to have to kick your ginger ass.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
Truth be told, Brendan and I are pretty evenly matched. Still, I could take him. “If I see you with Callie Pike again, you might get your wish.”
Fuck. Did those words just come out of my mouth?
Brendan juices a lime into a stainless-steel shaker. “You got designs on Ms. Pike?”
“She’s a friend.”
“She’s my friend too.”
“Since when? I’ve never seen you in the same room with her.”
“It’s a small town, Steel.”
He’s not wrong. “She and I have a date tomorrow night.”
“You mean tonight, I think.”
“Yeah. I guess I do.” Good thing it’s Saturday. I’m going to need the extra sleep.
Brendan adds simple syrup, tequila, and a dash of triple sec to the shaker. “If you’re concerned, don’t be. My interests lie elsewhere.”
“Good.”
Brendan shakes the margarita and then pours it into a salt-rimmed glass. “Enjoy.”
“Put it on my tab.”
“No problem.”
Brendan wipes down the surface quickly and then heads out into the sitting area, taking drink orders.
I sit alone and eye the staircase leading up to Brendan’s apartment. What else is hidden up there?
When Brendan returns, I ask, “Found anything else underneath the floor?”
He scowls at me. “I said, not here.”
“Sunday, then. Your place. We’re removing your entire floor.”
“Uh…no, we’re not.”
“Yeah, we are. Don’t worry. I’ll pay for everything.”
“Yeah, you will. But what’s the point?”
“Because where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Callie
“Wonderful to see you, Mr. Steel,” the maître d’ at Aspen Grove says. “Your table is ready.”