“Can I help you?”
“What do you need fuckin’ boxes for?”
I rolled my eyes and turned my back on my brother, returning to my post by the bookshelf.
“I’m cleaning out this house. If I have to live here, then I’m going to make it mine.”
“What are you talking about, Caity?”
I looked up at my brother. “Everything in this house was his, Sal. I don’t want it. I’m going to box it all up, and then the guys can come take it away. You can go through it and take what you want, or you can donate it.”
“Throw it in the fuckin’ trash,” he snapped.
“No, it will be donated. Everything here is in perfect condition. It’s like a fuckin’ museum. He’s been dead for over twenty years, Sal, so why did you never take care of this?”
My brother rubbed the back of his neck, while Mac moved into the kitchen, giving us some privacy. Sal didn’t answer my question; instead, he moved around the room peeking into boxes.
“Do you want to move somewhere else?”
I stared at my brother. He insisted I move into my father’s house, and now that I wanted to make it my own, he wanted me to leave? It didn’t make sense.
“What is going on with you?”
“Nothing. I just don’t think you should bother with this shit.”
“Why didn’t you do it, Sal? Why has this house been sitting empty all this time? What don’t I know?”
“Nothing. I just don’t see the point in digging shit up.”
“You’re afraid I’ll find something, aren’t you?”
Sal stared at me. It was the look he gave his men when he wanted them to do his bidding. A look that terrified them. But he didn’t scare me. I knew he’d never hurt me.
“There’s nothin’ to fuckin’ find.”
“Then what’s the problem?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“There’s no fuckin’ problem. I offered to get you a new place. One you could make your own. If you want to do all this fuckin’ work, have at it.” He waved his hand around the room as if he were exasperated with me. Like I had done something to annoy him on purpose.
He was hiding something from me. What was supposed to be a simple house cleanout had now become a scavenger hunt. There was a reason my brother left this house like a shrine. And I planned to find out what it was.
“Fine. Now if you’re done bothering me, I have work to do.” I turned away from him and heard him huff as he walked out. Mac stopped at the door and turned to me.
“He loves you, Caity.”
“I know, but he drives me fuckin’ crazy.” I waved my hand around the room. “This shit is all just stuff.”
“I ain’t talking about your brother, and you know it. Talk to him.”
I dropped my head back and looked at the ceiling. “I can’t, Mac. I’m not ready.”
“He won’t wait forever, Caity.”
I nodded, and Mac walked out the door, closing it behind him. I couldn’t think about Cian right now. I couldn’t let my mind get distracted by what I couldn’t have.
I left what I was doing and walked down the hall to my father’s office. The door was locked, and I hadn’t bothered with it since moving in. There was no reason for me to go in there.
Until now.
