Page 37 of The Logic of Loyalty

“Drink some tea, Trev.” His voice is calm but commanding. My shoulders drop from where they were sitting near my ears, and I listen. “Start from the beginning.” He sips his tea quietly and waits with the patience of a father of two.

I’m a father of two.

“I—you know Krista? Okay, sorry, yes. Of course you know Krista. Well, she has been working closely with me.” A small grunt of disapproval from Billy. “She’s my assistant, and she’s been a Godsend.” A wave of guilt crests over me at the admission because I know what comes next. I take a drink of the tea and hum at the flavor. “Jesus, that’s good.”

Another grunt from Billy.

“A few months ago, I realized that I can quit my job by the end of the year, if I play my cards right. It’s miserable there, man. I’ve told you how it is.”

“I know your daddy.”

“Dude. No.”

He snorts. “Continue.”

“A couple of months ago, Krista graduates from college and moves back, so Richard gives her a job at the bank as a favor to a family friend.” I lean back and drain the rest of my tea.

“Because your mom forced his hand.”

“Probably because of my mother. Also because of my mother, I started having lunch with her regularly⁠—”

“Trevor—”

“Let me finish.” I hesitate and go with the unvarnished truth. “I liked my time in the office with her. She’s smart, beautiful, a hard worker⁠—”

Billy starts sputtering and coughing, prompting me to look up from where I was staring into my empty cup. “Are you fucking kidding me?” His voice shakes with emotion, and I lock my jaw. His fists form on top of the table, and he leans close to me. Then he thrusts his arm toward the door as if he’s gesturing toward someone or something specific. “What the hell are you doing talking to me about another woman that way? Are you trying to set me up with her or admitting to something far fucking worse?”

My hackles rise with his inane accusation, but I bite my tongue on my immediate defensive reaction before answering his question. “Of course not, Billy. Don’t be ridiculous.”

His eyebrows raise in clear objection, but he concedes to a degree. “Well, hell, man. Jesus. Just … keep talking.”

I watch his face as I continue. “It’s natural to notice a woman’s beauty.” His expression does not change. “If I were to describe my father, I would say he’s a handsome fuckface of a waste of space.”

“Does Krista have anything to do with why you’re here and not there?”

I consider that. “Yes. She does.”

“Does finding her beautiful have anything to do with why you’re here and not there?”

“Can you stop with that?”

“What?”

“Stating the obvious. I don’t need reminders of where I am and where I’m not.”

He shrugs. “Whatever.”

“Do you want to know what happened or what?” He waves his hand. That’s Billy; his communication is over 50 percent grunts and gestures. “So, Krista had become a life-saver at work and a friend.”

“Red flag.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Keep going.”

“Right. Well, yesterday, she showed up to our Fourth of July party after somehow managing to be the most incompetent, clumsy, oblivious version of herself I’d ever experienced at work. She set up appointments for after I was supposed to leave, dropped my phone down the fucking steps, and misfiled important documents. It was a shit show. Then, to top it all off, she didn’t have a ride home at the end of the day, and the stupid phone store was closed when I decided to swing by there on my way home.”

“Did you let Paige know?”