Page 105 of Outcast’s Return

Because it’s our greatest fear. And it’s real.

Clement knows about us.

42

FABIEN

“LIAR.”

The word reverberates through my art gallery like a bullet ricocheting off the walls.

The remaining staff in the building stop.

Jolie stops.

I stop.

Everyone’s looking at the man who’s thrown the front doors open. Clement is standing there at the entrance, eyes burning and tie askew. He’s staring at me. At Jolie.

At us.

Somehow, he knows.

I turn toward him.

“Clement...”

He doesn’t even let it land before...

“Liar!”

He yells that word again, and then he takes a step toward us. His hands are fists. His back is hunched. It’s not just rage, but heartbreak.

I have never seen him like this before, and I know it’s already too late. This is it. Our reckoning.

I lift a hand. Calm and steady. Trying to defuse.

“Let’s talk about this, Clement.”

There’s a glimmer in his eyes as he actually looks at me. There’s a recognition of our friendship.

But then it’s almost instantly snuffed out.

“Were you lying to me the entire time?” he asks. “Since we were fucking kids?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What was the one thing I told you?” Clement snarls, taking another few steps toward me. He’s closing the gap fast, like an avalanche crashing down the side of a mountain. “What was the one instruction I ever gave you, Fabien?”

I tense.

“I understand you’re angry, and you have every right...”

He cuts me off again.

“You can touch anything in this house, except her. Do you remember that, brother?”

“Of course I remember.”