She smiled. “Okay.”
She stood and wrapped her arms tight around my middle, Father watching us with an inscrutable look on his face. I did a lot of things to piss him off, but showing my little sister affection was not one of them. Because if I didn’t, she’d have nothing. Just like I’d have had nothing without her. I hugged her back with a deep sigh, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Love you, little A.”
“Love you, big A.”
Father’s eyes gave nothing away at our shared nicknames, something that had started when she was a toddler, running around the house after me.Archerhad been too hard for her, so she called me A.
I didn’t let go right away. Neither did she.
Analise didn’t want to stay in that house any more than I wanted to leave her, but until she turned eighteen, there wasn’t much either of us could do.
My father didn’t say a word as I strode out of the dining room. Rebecca was waiting with a glass container holding my steak, potatoes, and broccoli.
“Eat all your vegetables,” she instructed.
“Yes, ma’am.” I tilted my head toward the front door. “You sure you don’t want to come work for me? I’ll double whatever he’s paying you.”
Her eyes glittered. “If I leave, who’s watching out for her all the time?”
I don’t know what possessed me—maybe this entire experience was softening me more than I’d expected—but I leaned in and kissed her on the top of the head too. “You’re a good one, Rebecca. I don’t think either of us would’ve survived him without you.”
Her cheeks were a brilliant red when I pulled back. “Oh, go on with you. Your flirting’s wasted on an old lady. You should save that for a pretty girl in your life.”
“Don’t have one of those right now.” Green eyes flashed through my mind. “None that want me to give any kisses, at least.”
She studied me speculatively. “But you have someone you like?”
“Good night, Rebecca.”
Rebecca laughed. “Drive safe. No beers tonight?”
The gleam in her eye told me she knew more than she was letting on.
Instead of asking, I said, “Just water.”
“Good boy.”
Fifteen minutes later, I let myself into the garage door of my house in the woods. Construction had been completed a few months earlier, but furnishing the home was still a work in progress. I didn’t want to hire someone to pick stuff, because it was always too small or too fussy. Trends didn’t interest me, because I was the only person who saw it, and the only person who mattered.
But I didn’t care enough to get it done quickly. I had a place to sleep, a place to watch TV or read, and a place to eat my meals, and for now that was enough. As I walked through the kitchen, I kept it dark, only turning on the light above the stove. I stood in front of thesink and ate my dinner straight from the container, ignoring the empty, quiet house around me until it was time to shower before bed.
My bathroom suite was the size of my college apartment, one of the only places where I truly went overboard. The vanity was imported marble, eight feet long with a sink on either side. In the corner of the bathroom was a custom soaking tub I’d had made just for me. Not being able to stretch my legs out in a bath was the curse of being tall. Being rich meant I could sidestep that pretty easily. It was square, six and a half feet long from end to end, with just enough slope on two of the sides that I could lie in it with only my shoulders and chest above the water.
For a moment, I eyed the tub, trying to decide if I was patient enough to wait for it to fill up, but in the end I decided the shower would suffice.
The tiled shower was even bigger than the tub, with multiple showerheads and a bench stretched along the side. Every night, I cleaned off the day before climbing between the sheets. It was the only way I could sleep.
The water heated quickly, and I stripped off my clothes, tossing them in the laundry basket off to the side. When I stepped under the spray, I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, letting the scalding-hot water course over my body.
It was the first time all day that my mind quieted. And as had been the case for the last few weeks, it was in those quiet moments that she crept in.
Red hair.
Blue-green eyes.
A big laugh.
A vicious streak that was hotter than it should be.