I nudgedthe speed just a hair slower, stealing another look at her. “Would you feel better if I swore on my brother’s life?” I was teasing her now, but it’s what she needed to lighten the mood.
She wrinkled her cute button nose. “Or you could just swear. It doesn’t have to be on anyone’s life.”
A knot pulled tight beneath my ribs, nothing even close to funny. “Since we’re making confessions. I have one.”
She shifted in her seat. “You do?”
“My father wants us back at the house. All of us.”
Her shoulders loosened a fraction. “Oh. That…that makes sense. Of course, he’d want his sons home again.” A pause. “It’s not like you can live with me forever.”
“The fuck I can’t. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“But you made a deal with him,” she said gently. “I’m not letting you break it for me, especially since, for once, his request is actually reasonable.”
I exhaled through my nose. “It’s not just my brothers and me. He wants you there too.”
Her head snapped toward me so fast her hair brushed my shoulder. “Me? Why me?”
“Who the fuck really knows. There is always an ulterior motivewith him. For now, he knows I won’t leave you alone, and he’s guaranteed your protection until Rusty is no longer a threat.”
“And then after…”
“Until you’re eighteen.” The words tasted bitter. “He’s already arranged everything, your return to school, makeup work, meetings with your teachers. The whole damn itinerary.”
“And if I refuse his generous offer?” Her fingers curled tightly in her lap.
I lifted one shoulder. “He made sure to remind me in very clear terms that he’s still your legal guardian and gets final say over where you live.”
Her breath hitched. “He can’t just—that’s not?—”
“Unfortunately, he can, little raven.” I cut her off before she could build false hope. “He’s got the legal documentation until the courts overrule.” I didn’t like this any more than she did, but I also wouldn’t make her do anything. It would be her choice, and the old man would have to live with it. “I think we both know this isn’t about your protection or safety. It’s about control. It’s always about control with him.”
She cursed under her breath. “This day just keeps getting progressively better.”
“You don’t have to do this. No matter what promises he makes.”
“He made promises?”
My brows furrowed as I took a left turn. “If you don’t cause trouble and you stay until your birthday, he’ll expedite your inheritance for you to do with as you choose.”
“You mean what’s left,” she grumbled, clearly not trusting my father, as she shouldn’t.
“He claims he hasn’t touched a dime.” I snorted softly. “I don’t know if there is truth in that, but I’m sure Brock can have Fynn check it out, hack into the accounts.”
She stared out the windshield as the road unraveled ahead of us. “And what’s the alternative? Running from your father?” Her voice hardened. “I’m done running.”
“I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I.” She finally looked at me again. “But he’s not giving us much of a choice.”
“He never does. He’s good at getting what he wants.”
“Then maybe we stop letting him run the board,” she said slowly. “Maybe we use this.”
My brows lifted. “What are you concocting in that pretty head of yours?”
“Use me,” she said bluntly. “There has to be a way we can leverage me to get him to help take down Rusty. At the very least, help locate him.”
