Nodding to the hospital staff who had come to expect his visits this past week, Lachlan almost missed her.
Robyn.
He slowed to a stop. Mac’s room was straight ahead. Robyn stood at the bottom of the corridor to his left, back to him, phone pressed to her ear. She kicked a foot gently at the wall, her head bent so her ponytail hit between her shoulders instead of the middle of her back. She had a fuck ton of hair.
His breath quickened for a moment before he controlled it.
There was something about her posture that was off. Her shoulders were hunched. Robyn was usually straight-backed, her body language betraying her innate confidence and sense of self.
If she were any other woman, he would think her sexy as hell.
Lachlan strolled toward her, drawn despite himself. He hadn’t seen her in days.
Should have anticipated she’d be here, though.
Maybe he already had.
“I told you.” Robyn’s voice carried to his ears, and he heard the defensiveness in her tone. “It was a heart scare … Mac’s doing okay. I just want to stick around a little longer … I know. I know, I should have called sooner … Mom, I told you I’m sorry. How many more times do you need to hear it?”
Lachlan stopped a few feet away. She’d lied to her mum? Good.
“I’m not taking a tone with you … no, it’s not Mac’s influence. I’m here, I’m on the phone, aren’t I? … Oh, so now we actually get to the reason you’re pissed … No … Absolutely not … Because she’s a grown-ass woman, and she can do whatever she wants … I’m not acting like a child. I have my own stuff going on, and you’re her mother … As far as I’m concerned, she can do whatever she wants. I’m done running after her. Look, I have to go … no, I have to. Talk later.” She hung up and growled, “Fuck!”
“That sounded like a fun conversation.”
Robyn whirled, those big eyes round with surprise. “Jesus, you scared me.”
He smirked. “Sorry.”
“Oh, you sound it.”
He gestured to the phone clasped in her hand. “Mum?”
“Yeah.” She slipped the phone into the ass pocket of her jeans. “Don’t worry. I didn’t tell her anything. Made up some stuff about Mac having heart issues.”
Seeing how disgruntled she was about lying, Lachlan found himself offering, “Well, it’s appreciated.”
“I gave you my word, didn’t I?”
She had.
And she’d upheld it.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. She had a natural pout that lent itself to her current discontentment. Dragging his attention to her eyes, he said, “Sounds like you’re needed at home.”
Her upper lip quirked before she replied, “Trying to get rid of me?”
Maybe.
He shrugged.
Robyn crossed her arms, studying him as she might an opponent. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Never said you were.”
“You didn’t tell me you discovered someone hacked your security system.”
Lachlan didn’t know what to be more bemused by: the randomness of the subject change, or her belligerence. “I would have eventually. I haven’t seen you.”
“I’ve been on the estate plenty.”
He shrugged.
Her arms dropped to her sides in obvious irritation. “I swear if you shrug at me one more time …”
“You’ll what?” he taunted.
Her eyes narrowed, her lashes flicking dramatically out at the corners. “Why didn’t you tell me about the hacker?”
“I was going to when I saw you next.”
She relaxed marginally. “Any leads?”
Lachlan shook his head. “My man is working on hacking the hacker. And I had Lucy spread it around the estate that the system can no longer be compromised.”
Robyn considered this. “So whoever it is knows that whatever they do on the estate, it will get caught on camera now.”
“Exactly.”
“That will only run them to ground for so long.”
“Long enough to figure out who it is. Hopefully.”
Frustration etched into her features as she blew out a shaky exhale and placed her hands behind her head. She turned slightly away from him. The gesture caused her Henley to rise, showing off the taut skin of her stomach.
Lachlan glanced quickly up at her face. She’d been hiding it before now, but he could see how stressed she was. It was in the pinch of her mouth, the deep furrow between her brows, the way her fingers clenched into the hair at the back of her head.
“Are you required at home?” he asked in all seriousness. “Mac will understand if so.”
She shot him a look of surprise as her arms flopped down at her sides. “No. It’s fine.”
He raised an eyebrow.
Robyn let out another long exhale. The woman was wound tighter than a watch. “My sister. Regan. Mom’s worried about her.”
Sister?
Right. The half sister.
Lachlan had forgotten Robyn had a sister. Regan Penhaligon was the daughter of Robyn’s mum and stepfather. Something occurred to him. Something strange, considering she’d mentioned both her mother and Seth Penhaligon in previous conversations. “You haven’t talked about your sister.”
Robyn looked away, expression carefully blank. Had being a cop taught her to control her deeper emotions? Mac always hid his feelings when it mattered too. “Not a lot to talk about. Regan is a bit of a loose cannon. We were close when we were kids … not so much now.” She raised that arrogant, stubborn chin of hers. “I let her get on with her life, and she leaves me to get on with mine.”
Lachlan could relate and surprised himself by admitting, “I have one of those.”
“Oh?”
“Arran. My youngest brother. He’s second youngest after Arrochar.”
“I knew that, actually. He’s thirty-four, right?”
“Yes?” His tone was questioning. How did she know that?
Robyn met him stony stare for stony stare. “My father works for your family. I did my research.”
Fair enough.
“Didn’t find out much on Arran, though.”
“There’s not a lot to find. He took off years ago. Drops me an email now and then to let me know he’s okay. Stops by for Christmas every second year or so and leaves just as quickly.” Because Lachlan couldn’t help but lecture him about what he was doing with his life. His youngest brother was a hellion at school and a petty criminal as a teen. Lachlan had used his contacts to get Arran out of trouble more times than he could count, and after one explosive argument, Arran had left his family behind. Lachlan lived daily with the fear he’d receive a call that Arran was either in prison or dead.
While he was close to Arrochar, Thane, and his niece and nephew, Eilidh and Lewis, there was no denying Lachlan had failed Brodan and Arran. He just didn’t know how to bring them back into the fold without pushing them further away.
“Hey, you okay?” Robyn took a step toward him, her perfume lingering between them.
Lachlan retreated physically and emotionally. “I’m fine,” he clipped. “But I can’t stick around being interrogated by you all day, Ms. Penhaligon. I’m here to collect Mac.”