Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Jayce walked into Luke's office with a scowl. It wasn't like his friend to summon one of them. They all saw Luke as their unofficial leader, but he never acted like it.

Until today.

"You rang?" Jayce didn't bother to keep the annoyance out of his tone. They were used to his surly attitude at this point. No one even commented about it anymore.

"Close the door."

This couldn't be good. Luke never did anything behind closed doors. They had an open-door policy, and Luke was the biggest stickler about it. They all had an equal stake in Kringle Security, and as such, everything was discussed between all of them.

Jayce closed the door with a soft click and took the seat opposite Luke's desk. The space was meticulously clean, due to the fact that Luke rarely used it. But it was the look on his friend's face that put him on edge.

"I just got off the phone with Shaun."

Jayce instantly tensed up. There was only one Shaun he knew and he hadn't seen the man in fifteen years. Not after the bullshit with his ex.

"I didn't know the two of you still talked."

Shaun had been in the same unit as them, but he did his four years and got out, taking Jayce's wife with him.

"We don't, but he needed to get in touch with you and figured I was the best person to do it."

"I've got nothing to say to him." He was grinding his teeth so much, it was any wonder they weren't completely gone.

"I told him as much but then he informed me Jasmine passed away this week."

The mention of his ex-wife's name only further put him on edge. He hadn't so much as uttered that name in the fifteen years since he found out she was cheating on him with one of his best friends.

"I would say send my condolences, but we both know that would be a lie. I don't care what happened to her. She lost that right when she ripped my heart out."

"Any other time I would agree with you, but Jasmine left a note when she died and Shaun thought it was imperative that you knew what it said."

A bright danger sign flashed in his head. It was never good when someone confessed something on their deathbed. It usually meant that whatever they had to say was bad enough they couldn't do it while they were alive.

It turned out this was no different.

"Jasmine confessed that Michael isn't Shaun's son. He's yours."

Motherfucker.