“That she pretends she’s not interested so I’ll chase her more. Girls do that all the time.”
“Why?”
“No clue. Ask them.”
He regards me for a bit. “In that case, I’ll grant you a chance.”
“Grant me?”
“Yeah, consider yourself on a trial period.”
“I’m honored,” I mock.
“As you should be. I don’t do this all the time.”
“Wow, Your Majesty. That’s so benevolent of you.”
He grins, showing me his missing teeth. Then he reverts to his serious expression. “Hey, Dan. If you hurt my sister, I’m going to scratch your BMW and burn your luxurious apartment.”
“I’ll sue you for property damage.”
“I’m a minor. You can’t sue me.”
“I sure as fuck can and you might go to juvie for it.”
“Fine.” He rolls his eyes. “I’ll pay someone else to do it.”
I can’t suppress a laugh at how serious he sounds. “You can still get in trouble for it, and next time, don’t tell anyone your plans or it could be used against you.”
“Oh.” He scratches his chin like an old man who’s channeling wisdom. “Good to know.”
“That would be legal advice and I get paid by the hour. Since your only fortune is your Minions collection, I’m not interested in it. I demand another currency. You’ll help me.”
“First of all, I didn’t ask for legal advice, so I refuse to pay for it. But I will help you under one more condition.”
“What now?”
“Can you tell me how to get away with murder?”
I pause at the serious tone in his voice, the sharp gleaming in his eyes. It’s not a question he asked for the sake of asking or due to curiosity. He’s actually harboring such thoughts.
“You have someone you want to murder?”
“No,” he blurts. “I’m just wondering.”
“You can’t get away with murder, Jay.”
“Yes, I can. Aren’t you a lawyer who helps people get away with it?”
“That’s a criminal defense attorney. I deal with international companies.”
“So you’re the boring type of attorney?”
“The richest type. I travel to a lot of exotic places, too.”
His eyes shine brighter than light. “Really?”
“Yup.” Though I skip the fact that I don’t find pleasure in it.
He kicks an imaginary pebble. “Nikki and I have never been anywhere. Well, I was in London when I was a baby but I don’t remember that, so it doesn’t count.”
“You never went back to England?”
“No. That’s where my father is.” Jay purses his lips.
“I assume you don’t like him?”
“No, he’s a twat.”
“You met him?”
“Once. He came to visit us two years ago when we used to live in Colorado, and Nikki told me to hide, but I heard him saying bad things to her and—“
“Jay!”
He startles at Nicole’s voice before his small body goes still. She’s near us now and probably heard the last bit of the conversation.
Her face has turned a bright shade of red and her fingers tremble as she motions to the table. “Go finish your homework.”
Jayden lowers his head, giving me an apologetic glance, and drags his feet back to where he left his homework.
Holding Lolli up, I put her near her bowl of food and stand to my full height. Nicole plants her hands on the counter and gets in my face, even though the surface separates us. “Stop talking about unnecessary things with Jay. Anything that has to do with his father is prohibited.”
I try to ignore the way her tits strain against her white shirt or how a blush creeps up her delicate neck.
Try being the operative word since my dick is in a constant state of stimuli and is warring with my briefs and trousers as we speak.
I’m surprised I can speak in a human tone. “Are you sure prohibition is the best way to raise a child who’s asking about how to get away with murder?”
Her eyes that resemble the most exotic plants widen. “He…he asked that?”
“He’s a lot sharper than you think and happens to notice things, even when you try to hide them.”
“What else did he say?”
“What are you willing to do to find out? I have an interesting currency I’d like to try.”
Her cheeks turn a bright, shiny crimson that makes her resemble a tomato.
It’s her cue to run in three, two, one—
“I’m not willing to do anything,” she blurts, then whirls around and joins Jayden.
I grab the edges of the counter and curl my fingers around it so hard, I’m surprised none of my tendons snap.
If I was suspecting it before, there’s no doubt now.
She is avoiding me.
Whether it’s repulsion or something else, I have no clue. All I’m sure about is that it’s provoking my nasty side.
Breathing in a harsh intake of air, I storm to my home office and make some international phone calls. Work always keeps me grounded enough to keep me from thinking about needless fucking things.
Like the goddess with a body of sin sitting in my living area.
Apparently, work isn’t a solution either if all my brain thinks about is a Pornhub version of Nicole.
Jesus.
I retrieve my phone in a desperate attempt to find a distraction—that’s not Pornhub.
The text I find on my screen allows me to breathe easier.
Astrid: Still alive?
I grin, typing back.
Daniel: Shagging the whole of NYC as we speak.
In my head. And not the whole of the city, just a fucking annoying someone in the middle of it.
Astrid: Have I told you that you’re a pig lately?
Daniel: In as many colorful words as your palettes. I’m kind of desensitized to it after fourteen years of hearing it, little bugger.
Astrid: Wow. I can’t believe we’ve known each other that long. Maybe we should start celebrating milestones.
Daniel: You sure you want to add more dates to the number of birthdays you have to keep up with, considering all the spawns you keep giving birth to?
Astrid: There’s a thing called a calendar. And did you just call my children spawns?
Daniel: All children are.
All except for Jayden because he acts like a thirty-year-old. I contemplate telling Astrid that Nicole has a brother, but that will bring on a whole other line of questions that I’m not ready to answer.
Naturally, I’ll tell Astrid about Nicole.
Eventually.
After she’s no longer working with me and belongs in the past tense.
Or maybe I can get away with not mentioning her to Astrid at all. There’s no love lost between the two women and…fuck, I don’t want to see the disappointment on my best friend’s face if she finds out I’m lusting after her evil stepsister.
It was that way in the past, too. I hated wanting Nicole despite knowing my best friend’s feelings toward her.
Astrid: I’m going to throw this back in your face when you have your own kids, Bug.
Daniel: Not foreseeable for the next five to six decades.