“Cam!”Lexie gasped.
“Five thousand,” Roxie returned, not missing a beat.
Lexie whipped her head around.
“Done,” Cam said.
The peanut shell disintegrated between Roxie’s fingers, and her gaze dropped.She stared hard at the crumbled pieces before setting them onto the table.Carefully, she brushed her hands and stood.“Works for me.”
She turned away, her gaze sliding over Lexie.That edge was back, the impenetrable wall she put up around herself to keep others out.
Lexie’s breath left her.What had just happened?Five thousand was all it took to throw away a chance at finding their biological family?How could Roxie do that?She’d thought her sister was tougher than that.A fighter.
And Cam.
What right did he have to snatch that possibility out of their hands?He knew how much she wanted the truth.She didn’t care if he was protecting her.
“But what if she’s right?”she asked as she watched her sister walk away.“What if somebody knows something?”
“There are better methods to use.Stirring the pot like that would only bring up things from the bottom.”
Things like what?Her parents?What if they were still out there?What if they wanted to make contact?
Lexie turned in her chair.“Is that why you agreed to come here tonight?To pay her off?Don’t you think we should have discussed it?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw.“I’m a fixer, honey.I patch up holes and seal up cracks, but it’s not always pretty.”
No, it wasn’t.
Unease settled over Lexie.She didn’t care how ugly things got.She was aware the story behind her adoption could be something she didn’t want to hear, but she wanted to understand what had happened.At this point, it just might be the only way she could move on.“You can’t make decisions like that.It’smylife,my—”
Roxie was suddenly back at their table.“I forgot.Your sister is here.She wants to talk to you.”
“My sister?”
“The kid.”
Oh God.Lexie was on her feet in a flash.She did a quick search, and her stomach dipped when she spotted a familiar blonde head.“Blaire?What is she doing here?”
“Looking for you.”Roxie shrugged.“Don’t worry.I’ve been keeping an eye on her.Only decent one in the bunch…”
She headed back to the bar, but Lexie’s attention was on her younger sister.Blaire wasn’t legal yet, and she was still in college.This was absolutely the wrong place for her.She stood out in the crowd like a shiny new penny.
“What was she thinking coming here by herself?”
Cam let out a sound of disbelief.“I was asking myself the same thing when I came here looking for you.”
Lexie waited nervously.Her baby sister was catching more than one admiring glance as she worked her way through the crowd.One more leer and Lexie was dragging Blaire out of here.
“Hey,” Blaire said when she finally reached their table.Her gaze bounced back and forth between the two of them.The look was filled with surprise and confusion but, unlike Roxie, she didn’t comment on it.She just stood there, gripping the back of the empty chair with both hands.She made no move to sit but didn’t seem any more comfortable standing.
“Hey, yourself.”Lexie pulled her into a hug.“What are you doing here?”
The tension left Blaire’s body, and she squeezed back hard.“Looking for you.I’ve been calling all day, but you wouldn’t answer.I’ve been all over the city, and this was the last place I could think of to find you.”
Lexie felt her purse against her foot.She had her cell with her, but she’d turned it off a long time ago.She hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone.“I’m sorry I worried you.”
“And I’m sorry for what happened earlier today.I had no idea what Mother and Daddy had done.None of us did.”
