Page 149 of The Other Side of Green

“You know, you are lucky we never got further than the first bottle of beer. She’d never have come back to you once she’d had a taste of me.”

“Do you want to be punched? That nose will look slightly less attractive with a big fuck off hook in it.”

Alex laughed. He really was a prime asshole, but then he pressed play on an audio file.

I tried to listen. Francine Collins droning on and on. Clink of glasses, the distinct sound of a fridge opening and closing. I’d know that weird suction noise anywhere.

“So, Mom,” Alex started.

“Yes, darling.” There was a distinct kissing sound, and Alex studied the toe of his sneaker with renewed concentration. “I went to Blue’s Bar last night with some friends. It was closed, what’s going on?”

Subtle Alex. Real subtle. I side-eyed him but carried on listening.

“Who knows, Alex darling. Now tell me how have lectures been this week? I hope the other kids haven’t been mean to you because of all this nastiness.”

I bit down on my lip, only too well imagining the face Alex must have been pulling. He met my gaze and lifted a fair brow.

“Mom, it’s college, not kindergarten.”

“Well, still. I told your daddy if anything came about because of these difficulties then I wouldn’t be happy.”

There was another clink of a glass. A well timed refuel of the gossip juice. Day drinking—what would the women at the tennis club say? “Obviously I felt like a total loser last night when I’d dragged half the dorm across town only for the blasted place to be closed. I’d promised them we could drink without getting carded.”

Francine clucked a bit—literally—her very best Mother Hen impression. The woman was a walking parody of all the things she thought she should be.

“Well, my darling, I’m sure it will reopen. Miriam has plans for a quirky downtown face-lift.”

“Miriam?” he questioned, clinking another glass. Jesus, did he want her on the floor? “But it’s Jack’s bar. They are all right aren’t they, Jack and Miriam? Guy’s a douche and a half but I’ve kind of got used to him making her highness more bearable.”

Alex grinned wide and I opened my mouth to reem him out when he held up his finger, telling me to wait.

“Jack who? That poor boy Miriam pulled from the streets in an act of charity?”

“Yes. Jack who has spent the last four years with us.” Alex mumbled something under his breath I couldn’t quite catch but it sounded an awful lot like poor bastard.

“No, no, darling. The bar is Miriam’s now. They’ve taken it back.”

“Taken it back?” Okay, Alex definitely needed an Oscar. He sounded as blond as he looked—which I knew he wasn’t really.

“How on earth? Did he give it back? What a shit. You know Miriam will ruin it. She’s got the taste of a socialite on crack.”

“Alex! Don’t be rude about your sister. And anyway, Jack didn’t give it back, they took it. Charles at Rogers and Rogers dealt with it all. One slip of a forged signature and Jack has lost everything, back on the streets where he always should have been. I’ve told Miriam, next time she needs a project, to rescue a dog, or a cat if she must, and for heaven’s sake check it hasn’t got fleas first.”

“Mom, you know that’s stealing, right? You can’t take back something that has been given.”

“Of course you can, darling, when you know the right people who can do it for you.”

I clicked pause on the voice recording. I’d heard enough. My stomach churned, but I fought against it. None of this wasn’t anything that I didn’t know already.

“Now who’s a fucking awesome spy?” Alex grinned. “Does it help?”

I nodded, my shoulders relaxing. I wasn’t going to give those bastards one more thought of my time. “Yeah, it helps.” Grabbing my own cell, I pinged a contact over to Alex’s, watching it flash up on his screen. “Can you send this to Evan and a copy to me. Tell him not to do anything until I’ve spoken to him. I need to get to Greene’s office before he combusts.”

Alex pulled a face. I’d say good luck but…”

“Nah, you’re all right. I stopped believing in luck a long time ago.”

Alex tilted his head to the side. “Really? Lyra told Eva and I that you were almost a thing years ago.”