I chuckled.Yeah, I noticed you like your meat.
I prefer yours.
That had me smiling like a lunatic.
I put the kettle on, and the doorbell downstairs rang. I went to the door and pressed the intercom button. “Hello?”
“It’s Gary.”
I froze.
“Theo, let me in.” His voice was like steel.
Fuck.
I pressed the entry button, then opened the door.
Gary didn’t so much stomp up the stairs aschargeup them, his boots heavy, his breathing harsh, his face already twisted with fury, his eyes blazing.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
My stomach dropped through the floor. “Gary—what?—”
He shoved past me like I wasn’t there. “I want an explanation.” The words came out as a snarl. He turned, his phone already in his hand, holding it up between us.
The portrait.
The room went cold, and it felt as though someone had sucked all the oxygen out of the flat.
“Gary—listen?—”
“Don’t fuckingGaryme.” His voice cracked, raw and furious. “Itrustedyou. I asked you to look out for him. And you—” He shook the phone, his hand trembling. “Tell me this isn’t what it looks like. Go on. Lie to my face.” He wasn’t shouting.
That was worse.
“Tell me you’re not fucking my baby brother.”
The wordbabywas like a punch.
“First of all,” I said, too fast, too defensive, “he’s not a baby. He’s twenty-two, and?—”
“How long?” Gary snapped.
I froze. “How longwhat?”
His eyes burned. “Don’t insult me.”
I swallowed. My mouth tasted like metal. “Not… not that long.”
His laugh was sharp and ugly. “And you thought what? That I wouldn’t find out?”
“I wasn’t hiding?—”
“You didn’t tell me.” His voice dropped to a lethal level. “And we both know why. Because somewhere in that over-analysing head of yours, you knew it was wrong.”
“I care about him.” The words tore out of me.
Gary’s mouth twisted. “I’m sure you do.” He stepped closer. “And that’s the problem.”