24-Karat Conspiracy by EM Lynley

Author:EM Lynley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2015-06-13T23:00:00+00:00

IF REED could have run out the back door, he might have. Reed’s silence had hurt Trent, and now he deserved answers. Typical Trent; he thought every problem had a solution. The thing with Reed’s parents wasn’t a problem—not anymore. It had stopped hurting years ago. Only an empty hole remained where his heart had long ago stopped aching.

“My dad and I don’t talk. We haven’t since about five minutes after I came out to my mom. I talk to her now and then, but since then I’ve only seen her a few times. I know where they are, and until now I’ve been able to avoid my father.” The words rolled off Reed’s tongue, completely disconnected from emotion.

Trent stared at him for what felt like an hour. “I hope you don’t think you’re done. That’s barely even a beginning.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Where do I start? Reed, there’s so much to ask.”

The pain in Trent’s eyes made Reed’s heart heavy. “Go ahead. I’ll answer your questions. Tell you anything you want to know.”

“I’m sorry about your family—about your dad’s issues. I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me the situation sooner, that we were coming to the base where your dad is commander. Looking back I see Tom White knew. But why wouldn’t you share that with me?” The pain glowed bright in Trent’s gaze and Reed looked away for a moment until he could collect his thoughts. Telling Trent was harder than he’d expected.

“Trent, your family is close. It’s not perfect—I know that—but when I see how much your parents care about you and your happiness, it makes it more difficult to accept how fucked up my family is.” Reed shrugged. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. I’m not judging you by your father. But I’d like to be here for you when you have a problem. I want to help you.”

That was so Trent. He didn’t get it. Reed reached to squeeze Trent’s hand. “I love you for that. But you can’t fix everything, even if you want to. And talking about my problems doesn’t do me any good.”

“You don’t know that. You never really try, so what makes you so sure?”

Reed smiled. “That’s fair. But…. Talking won’t change the situation. I already understand the problem, and it can’t be fixed. I’m okay with it. It doesn’t bother me anymore. So don’t let it bother you.”

“I don’t agree, but I won’t argue. It never does any good with you.” Trent finally cracked a smile. He’d at least learned one thing about Reed.

“Anything else?”

“Yes.” Trent sipped iced tea. “What’s your dad’s problem? He seemed really nice today. He didn’t give me the evil eye or call us names or anything.”

Reed hadn’t noticed. He’d given up paying attention to anything his father did or said. But Trent was right. “I can only guess it was because my mom was there. Or for some crazy reason he didn’t want to offend you.”

“We were in the office with the door shut, so it wasn’t even part of maintaining our cover.

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