“Oh, everything is more than all right,” Danica said, smiling like a cat about to nap in a sunbeam.
Heat crawled up Chloe’s neck from secondhand embarrassment.Possibly thirdhand.For everyone involved.
“Danica,” Chloe said firmly, “you never answered my text last night.Where were you during the break-in?”
“The what?”Danica’s eyes widened, pure innocence on display.“The break-in?Oh, right.That.”She waved a manicured hand.“I was at a friend’s house.Drinks.Music.You know.I told you.”
“You didn’t,” Chloe said softly.
A flicker of annoyance crossed her sister’s face before she smoothed it over.“Well, I meant to.I swear.”
Kayne’s gaze sharpened.“Which friend?”
“Oh, my God, do you want my Social Security number too?”she snapped.Then, realizing yelling at a muscular alpha male with zero tolerance for nonsense was not her best life choice, she backpedaled fast.“It was ...Maddie.Yeah.Maddie’s place.”
Chloe’s stomach churned.Maddie had moved to Denver three months ago.Chloe had helped her pack the boxes.
Kayne said nothing, but Chloe felt him register the lie like a seismic reading.
“Danica,” Chloe said, choosing her words with aching care, “this is serious.Someone broke into the gym and stole thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment.You know that.If you weren’t where you said you were, I need to know.”
“I don’t have to justify my life to you.”Danica snatched up her purse, chin tilting high.“I came here to check on you.To be a good sister.Sorry if that’s not convenient.”
“Danica.”
But she was already flouncing toward the door.She paused only long enough to gift Kayne one last slow, deliberate sweep of her eyes.
“If you ever get tired of babysitting,” she murmured, “call me.”
Kayne’s jaw actually dropped.
Chloe’s soul quietly exited her body in mortification.
Then Danica was gone, heels clicking sharply, perfume lingering.
Silence clamped down.
Kayne exhaled.“Cher, I’m trying real hard to find a polite way to say that your sister is something else.”
Chloe shoved both hands into her hair.“She’s not always like that.”
Kayne lifted a brow.
She deflated.“Okay, sheisalways like that.But she wouldn’t hurt me or my business.She’s just ...over-the-top dramatic.And maybe jealous.She’s been struggling.Money stuff.Life stuff.I know she hates how easy all of this looks from the outside.”
Kayne stepped closer.“Being jealous doesn’t make her a threat.”
“I know.”Or at least she wanted to.Because something was off, and Chloe couldn’t tell if the stalker had turned her nerves too tight or if the unease twisting her insides was finally justified.
“She lied about her alibi,” Chloe confessed.“She accessed my schedule, and I think she’s flirting with you to provoke me or something.”
Kayne laid a gentle hand on her arm.“Chloe, listen to me.Your sister’s a mess, not a murderer.”
Her breath trembled.“I want to believe that.”
His thumb brushed her elbow in a slow, steady circle.“Then believe what you know.Not what your fear is screaming.”
She nodded, swallowing the knot in her throat.“Danica drives me insane, but she’s still family.I don’t want to assume the worst.”
