I didn’t want to take it, but the guilt on her face ate at my heart, and I couldn’t say no to my little sister after what she’d been through that year.
Like she can read my thoughts, Tessa drops the clipboard on the counter and gives me a tight hug.
“Thank you,” she says.
“You don’t ever have to thank me.” I press a kiss on top of my little sister’s head, the same way Mom taught me and Tuck to do when they brought her home from the hospital. We still have that moment on a home video VHS, hidden away in a cardboard box in my attic with the rest of our parents’ belongings.
“Dad would be so proud of you,” she says.
I don’t know about me. I wish he would be, but with theblood on my hands, I doubt he’d approve. Though he did always teach me to stand up for the little guy. It’s always a coin toss whenever I wonder what Dad would think about my hobbies.
“He’d be most proud of you,” is all I can squeeze out from my tight throat.
Tessa scoffs as she releases me. “I fudge paperwork about being a consultant and steal money from rich assholes. You’re the one making a difference here.” She thumbs over her shoulder to Merlin, who’s watching us with complete adoration in his eyes.
“You’ve donated millions to charity, Tessa.”
“You literally save puppies.”
“You literally save people.”
“So does Tuck. Hell, he saves babies.”
“Okay. Tuck’s the family saint. Should we make him a plaque?”
Tessa beams at me. “Let’s do it.” She flips over my sketch and starts scribbling across the blank back of the page.
“I was joking,” I say.
“I wasn’t.”
Grabbing the paper, I yank it out from under the pen tip as black ink dances over the white counter. “Hey, I wasn’t done!”
“Use new paper.” I grab her a sheet from the printer behind us. “I need my drawing.”
“Do I even want to know?” She looks at my paper like it’s a grenade.
“It’s better not to. Don’t want you to incriminate yourself.”
Furt’s going to die. I’ll be cautious, but if anything goessouth, I want Tessa and Tuck as far away from this as possible.
Tessa drops the pen on top of the blank paper and strides past me. “I’m going to go play with the puppies.”
At the word ‘play,’ Merlin launches himself out of his dog bed and waddles behind her, his tail flicking like a windshield wiper.
Damnit, why does he have to be so freaking cute?
As Tessa and Merlin disappear and the barking increases through the holding area, I open my laptop.
Even having Merlin in the room felt dangerous. My browser’s still open to the one dark webpage that mentions Daphne and her surprise gift.
Ghost_M110
Wonder if Fox’s daughter liked my present. Did she go crying to Daddy??
I don’t like the sound of that. His IP address says he’s somewhere in Sweden, so he’s using a damn VPN. He’s only posted a handful of other times.
Most were about me.
