Stepsister. I rub my palm against my chest as I smile tightly and shrug. Maybe I should go to Dr. Jimenez’s for a check-up on the old ticker just in case. Well. Young ticker.
She takes another long drag on her cigarette, still staring at me. I like how unabashed she is. Unfortunately, I like everything about her. Even how open she was with her emotions downstairs.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely fucking hated it, too. The fighting. I couldn’t stand it.
But it was also really admirable. I’m usually so twisted in knots all the time making sure everyone’s getting along, and she just?—
Literally couldn’t give a fuck.
“Mom won’t like it if she finds you smoking. She really hates it.”With good reason.
“Look, you and your mom are nice...” She blows the smoke in one great cloud out the edge of her lips. “So you should know...”
I can honestly say I have no idea what’s going to come out of her mouth next. “Know what?”
“That Silas is just grifting your mom. He’s only ever looking for his next big score before he disappears into the night.” She uses one hand to demonstrate flying off into the night air.
“Next big score?” I repeat dubiously. It’s clear she intends these words to be quite shocking, but Silas never hid his sordid past from Mom or me. I feel confident in the man he is now. And confident in Mom’s bullshit-meter after my father.
“God.” Harper laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “Your mom must be seriously loaded if he’s even stuck around this long. Normally, he would’ve ghosted by now. Let me guess—she’s a trust fund kid?”
I scoff. “Couldn’t be further from it. She just… got a big settlement from my biological father.”
The words are out before I can stop them, and Harper’s eyes narrow, clearly curious. But then she shakes her head.
“The point is, she’s rich. And I’m betting Silas has her investing in some amazing business opportunity? A once-in-a-lifetime deal?”
I shift uncomfortably because she’s hitting way too close to home. “They opened a club together downtown. It’s upscale. Members only kind of thing.”
Harper’s laugh is low and throaty, and it does things to my concentration that I absolutely refuse to acknowledge. “Ding ding ding! Jackpot.”
“It’s a legitimate business,” I say, trying to ignore the doubt creeping in.
“Have you been there?”
“It’s exclusive. I’m not old enough.”
“So no. You haven’t even seen it during the day?”
She’s getting under my skin, and she knows it. “What are you saying? That he’s roped her into something illegal?”
Harper shrugs, casual as anything. “Maybe it’s legit. Maybe it’s a front to launder money through. Or maybe he’s mortgaged the place to hell and is siphoning cash while he can.” She takes another drag of her cigarette. “Just wait. People don’t change, Caleb. Silas Tucker has never met a good thing he couldn’t ruin.”
The certainty in her voice makes my blood run a little cold. I’ve known Silas for a couple of years now, but she’s known him her whole life. What if everything I think I know about him is... wrong?
I cross my arms over my chest, ready to argue with her some more about it, when she shakes her head. “Like I said, y’all seem nice. Seems only fair to warn you about the straight-up villain in your house before I take off.”
“Take off?”
She shrugs nonchalantly, sucking again on her cigarette. “I got places to be. I got people to get back to.”
A scratching sound echoes from inside her room, followed by a high-pitched, insistent meow.
Harper’s eyes go wide. She whips her head toward her door, then back to me, her whole body tensing like she’s been caught doing something illegal.
Which, technically, she probably has been. I’m pretty sure Mom’s “no pets” policy applies to everyone.
“Was that—” I start.