“Someone showed me your old Insta.”
I should be alarmed, but instead, all I feel is warm. “What else do you know?”
“That I would do terrible things to anyone who took Jitter from me. And I’m sorry. That must’ve hurt.”
“I didn’t cheat on her.”
“I wouldn’t have thought you did.”
“She gave me an ultimatum. Kick Zen out, or she was gone.”
“That was dumb of her.”
I actually laugh.
“How long have they been your personal assistant?” she asks.
I hesitate, but only briefly. I would’ve told Duchess in Hawaii. I can tell Sabrina now.
Worst case is she betrays me and I destroy her café.
That was supposed to be funny, but even in my head, it’s falling short.
“Zen showed up on my doorstep shortly after they turned sixteen. Said I was the last blood relative they were giving a chance to let them be who they were before they disappeared completely.”
“Oh, shit.”
“I barely remembered them from when I lived back east. Didn’t spend a lot of time with family once I left for high school—”
“Leftfor high school?”
“Boarding school.”
“That’s a real thing?”
“That is indeed a real thing.”
“Ew.”
I readjust my grip on her legs. “So Zen asked if I wanted housekeeping and cooking services in exchange for room and board while they finished high school, and it turns out it’s really hard to say no to a kid who looks like they fit in with the rest of the family about as well as I always thought I did.”
“They cook?”
“No. They’re awful.”
She laughs.
“Repeat that andyou’lldisappear.”
“Do they clean?”
“Yes. Very well.”
She doesn’t ask anything else.
Doesn’t mean I don’t want to tell her though. “When I told Zen I’d send them to college, they informed me the only way they’d take my money was if they were allowed to pay me back.”
“By being your personal assistant?”
