Page 86 of Corrupt

“Then stop acting as if you don’t need anyone.”

A faint smile touched his mouth. “You sound like your mother.”

I didn’t know whether that was a compliment.

The curtain rustled as a nurse passed, and the tension eased between us. Not comfort exactly, but familiarity.

After a while, I asked, “How long have you known?”

“A couple of months.”

“Right.” I leant back, knotting my fingers together. “Good to know where I stand.”

He shot me a sharp look. “Don’t be petulant.”

“Don’t be deceitful,” I shot back.

It would have been an argument once. But he looked too tired to fight.

He watched the drip instead, eyes distant. “You must be busy,” he said finally. “Imogen keeping you drowning in paperwork?”

“Yes.” I checked around his bed, needing to feel useful. “Among other things.”

“Hm. I saw your chambers picked up the Wilkinson laundering brief.”

I stiffened. “…How do you know that?”

“Oh please. The CPS leaks like a sieve. Besides, it’s all middle-tier chatter. Nasty business, that one. Men like that… they leave a trail wherever they walk.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

Once.

Then again.

I didn’t take it out.

“Be careful, Tristan. There are figures circling that case who don’t fight their battles in court. They eliminate obstacles quietly.”

“Can we not talk about work—”

“I’m not warning you as a barrister.” He locked his gaze onto mine, sharp despite the exhaustion, cutting straight through every layer I’d tried to armour myself with. “I’m warning you as my son. Keep yourself clean. Don’t attach yourself to people who drag shadows behind them.”

My throat tightened.

Razor sparked through my mind like a match strike in a dark room. Not for the first time since leaving his flat, but God I’d been trying, genuinely trying, to shut him out, to cram him into some corner of myself labelled mistake.

My phone buzzed again.

I pulled it out this time. Heart in my throat.

Wolfe: Breakfast next week? I have something you’ll want to hear.

Father glanced at the screen. “He’s someone to keep close.”

I let out a bitter-tasting breath. “Why? Because he can take me places? Because he has influence? Because he’s a better pedigree for me than Zara is for Henry?”

“Have you never heard the saying ‘keep your friends close but your enemies closer’?”