Page 66 of Smoke Screen
“No. Say what you have to say.”
Dammit. Phin should have kept his mouth shut. Too late now. Might as well finish it. Just throw it out there to be exorcised. He met his brother’s eye. “I think you’re embarrassed. You had to tell your hot shot FBI buddies that your family is harboring a suspect and,” in full drama mode, Phin smacked his hand over his chest, “heaven forbid anyone have a questionable thought about Ash Blackwell. Or should I say Cameron Blackwell? You flip between your middle and first name so often, I forget who you are.”
Zeke raised his hands. “Whoa. Everybody shut the fuck up. Right now. Phin, you’re out of line.”
“Bet your ass he is,” Ash said.
No argument there. Zinging Ash on using his middle name professionally versus his given name, was a low blow. Phin didn’t understand the reasoning, but assumed it had something to do with distancing himself from BARS.
“Ash,” Rohan said, “I’d say you’re out of line as much as Phin. You haven’t been around much and now you’re telling us what we should be doing.”
“Unbelievable.” Ash shook his head and looked over at Phin. “Fine. Thisdoesput me in a bad spot. I shouldn’t even fucking be here at the same time as Maddy. Regardless of what you think, my family comes first, and I needed to make sure you don’t have your heads up your asses. You and Zeke called me the other day talking all this bullshit about sharing information. Cooperating with each other. And you know what? I agreed, didn’t I?”
Phin paused, thought back on the conversation. “And? What?”
“How much information do you think my superiors are going to give me now? After my boss called me at midnight to ask if there was any truth to the rumor that Maddy Carmichael had moved into my mother’s house? My mother’s house!” Ash’s voice climbed, and he threw his hands up. “And, oh, by the way, President Thompson is a BARS client.”
Knowing it was one thing. Hearing Ash hollering about it? Ouch. Had to admit, it created an awkward situation for his older brother.
The bile in Phin’s throat tripled.
“We’re not doing this,” Zeke said. “We’ve already discussed the conflict of interest. Ash, it’s done. She’s staying.”
“Then you’re making a mistake.”
Keeping Maddy from being framed was a mistake? “Now you’re the all-knowing?” Phin asked, heavy on the sarcasm. “Nothing’s really changed around here. I mean, I’m not surprised that Ash is picking the FBI over us.”
For a second, everyone froze and for the first time in probably ever, the room went silent. Every bit of oxygen just sucked right out.
Phinny, Phinny, Phinny.
Ash’s eyes didn’t just widen. Phin could have driven a semi through them. Ten stacked semis.
“Dude,” Cruz said.“Really?”
Heat filled Phin’s face. How many mistakes could he make in one conversation? So much for Mr. Smooth.
Ash had followed his dream, so what? Until last night, until talking with Maddy, Phin had tried, really tried, to bury his jealousy. The truth was, he liked working with his brothers at BARS.
Flexible schedule. Check.
Meeting interesting people. Check.
Nice clothes and good meals. Check, check.
He didn’t mind any of it.
He just didn’t want to be pigeon-holed.
“I’m sorry,” Phin locked eyes with Ash. “I didn’t mean it.”
“Actually,” Ash said, his voice barely audible. “I believe you did. You’ve just never said it.”
He got to his feet, knocked his knuckles against the table. “I’m gonna find Mom and Grams and get some food before I say or do something I’ll regret.”
“Ash,” Phin said, guilt swarming him.
Ash strode by him, throwing his hand up. “Not now. Let me calm down and we’ll hash this out. Right now, I wanna kick your ass to California.”
