Chance(26)

Thanks for pointing out yet again how utterly perfect your husband is, Ivy.

"Caleb and I can talk about anything." I smile when I see the owner of the restaurant, Hunter Reynolds, walking towards us. "I'll just be direct. We will clear the air and everything will go back to the way it used to be."

"It will never be the way it used to be." Graham leans close to whisper the words into my ear. "Your friendship with Caleb is ruined forever. He crossed a line. You two can't go back."

I don't glance in his direction. I absorb his words knowing that he's right. What Caleb and I did in my apartment changed the path of our friendship forever.

"Rowan Bell," Hunter Reynolds says my name as he extends his hand out towards me. "I'm glad to finally meet you."

"I'm glad to meet you too," I parrot back as I smile and pretend that I'm having the time of my life in his restaurant even though my heart is breaking inside.

***

I scrub my hands over my face as the taxi weaves a path through the streets of Manhattan. I know that I should be going to see Caleb. The smart and sane thing to do would be to confront him now and clear the air.

We haven't spoken at all in the three days since he left my apartment in a hurry. I have no sense of what's happening with Asher even though I've continually tried to contact him. I did try to follow up with the police detective assigned to investigate the missing person's report Caleb filed but he was reluctant to share anything given that I'm not a member of the Foster family. My last approach is to contact Gabriel. He's due back in New York in two days but I know him and I know that he'll be livid once he learns that Asher is missing.

"Here is good?" The taxi driver pulls the car to a stop in front of my building.

"Here is good," I rifle through my wallet for a few bills.

I hear him telling me to have a good night as I step out of the car and onto the street. I slam the car door shut and watch him take off in search of another fare before I finally turn towards my building and the sight of Caleb Foster leaning against the brick fa?ade.





Chapter 22


"I don't have a lot of friends, Rowan," he says as I hand him a bottle of water. "You might be my only friend."

"You have your brothers," I point out before I realize how ironic that statement is given the fact that Gabriel is half a world away and Asher is missing.

He pulls the cap from the bottle before he takes a heavy sip. "I can't remember a time when you weren't my friend."

I ease into the chair that's across from him. I knew, before we entered the apartment, that we'd be alone. I'd left Graham and Ivy at the restaurant with Hunter to enjoy a lavish dessert treat. Judging by the way the three of them were getting along, I don't expect to see Graham for at least a few hours.

"I told Gabriel about Asher." He skims his hand over the leg of his jeans. "He's putting on a brave face."

"What about your parents?"

"Mom is worried." He dips his chin towards the floor. "Dad made a comment about Asher being a disgrace."

I shake my head disgusted by Roman Foster's reaction to his son's ongoing issues with addiction. "Your dad is something else."

"He lives in his own world." He cradles the bottle in his palm as he leans back in the chair, crossing his legs with ease. "I can't change that."

It's a surprisingly mature outlook coming from the man who typically launches into a tirade the moment anyone disagrees with his stance.

"What about the person you hired to find Asher?" It's the question that has been eating at me since I saw Caleb on the street outside. "Is there any news about where he is?"

"He hasn't used his passport or credit cards." He taps his finger on the cap of the bottle. "Gabriel thinks he might be at one of the properties the company owns."

It's wishful thinking at best but if there's hope I'm going to be the first one to stand in line to grab hold of it.

"Will someone check on those places?" I ask even though it's obvious that if it hasn't already been done, it will be soon.

"We're arranging that now."

"Good." I shift on the chair I'm sitting in. "Is there anything else? The detective didn't find anything else?"

"Nothing yet," he counters. "He was asking about what happened the last time I saw Asher."

I know that it's very likely that the last time Caleb saw his brother it was in my office when the two of them stared each other down before Caleb took his leave. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him about Asher lashing out." He inches forward in his chair. "He wanted to know if there was anything else. Did he say anything to you before he disappeared?"

I scratch the side of my nose. This is one of those situations where you can't win for losing. I've kept quiet, up to this point, about Asher telling me that something had upset him the morning he was arrested. I know that I should have mentioned it to Caleb sooner but it's not as if I have a looking glass pointed towards where Asher has hidden himself away from the world. "He said something to me."

His face is emotionless. "My brother said something to you before he disappeared?"