Kenzie’s friends were dumb, too, and Kala was pretty bang-on when it came to those, but it still hurt. Or didn’t anymore. She’d thought things would change once her sister was happy. Kala had everything she could want. The perfect husband. The best best friend. Parents who thought about her all the time because she was special.
Kenz was the one who didn’t need as much watching, as much care.
“Are you even listening to me?” Kala asked.
Kenzie stood, pushing back her chair. “Sure. I’ve once againpicked an entirely unsuitable person to bring into our group. He’s an asshole who can’t even forgive a hard-core betrayal overnight. I should probably kill him and accept the fact that I’m destined to be alone with my dogs.”
Kala didn’t seem to get the sarcasm in her tone, which was weird since it was her main language. “You’ll be happier with them than you will be with that asshole. He ignored you and you let it happen.”
She couldn’t do this with her. It had been a horrible couple of weeks, and she hadn’t had a Cooper to go home to at night. She didn’t have a Lou who would sit by her side. She’d had sisters, but they were married and moving on with their lives and she was happy for them. But she wasn’t going to listen to this. “I get it. You’re the main character and I’m the dipshit sister. You know, how about you go back to your happy marriage and all your friends and I won’t bother you anymore. Maybe you’re the one I need to be more professional with. Now, I’m going to play with the asshole who will inevitably break my heart, but don’t think you’ll get a second of grief from me. I won’t cry in front of you or ask you to listen. You can sit in self-satisfaction knowing you beat me again.”
Her sister’s eyes had gone wide, and for once she looked genuinely shocked. “What are you talking about?”
She couldn’t. She couldn’t have this fight with her right now. Her skin felt too tight.
Between the morning with cold Ben, the afternoon with warm Ben, the further proof how entangled he was with Huisman, and now she realized how long she’d been fighting her sister over this and it was a storm inside her. One that she was supposed to drown in pop songs and overly dramatic gestures because that was who she was. Simple. Easy to deal with. A little dumb. She was her twin’s opposite, and everyone took Kala seriously.
She knew her sister loved her. There was no question about that. But then Kala didn’t really like her very much.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll see you at the meeting tomorrow. Have a good night, Mistress Kala,” she said.
Kala moved into her space. “You need to change into fet wear. I’ll help you and you can explain this hissy fit to me.”
“Hey,” Vivi began. “Maybe you should back off.”
But that was just it. When Kala got mad it was always serious.When Kala was hurt the world stopped because everyone worried she could do some damage. When Kenzie cried, she would get over it. It was teen girl stuff or young adult stuff, and she would get hugs and promises it would get better while Kala got therapy and long discussions about life and her place in it.
Kenzie worried she was starting to see her place.
“Viv, I love you, but this is between me and my sister,” Kala was saying. “She’s got to get into that damn corset she wears, and she can’t do it on her own.”
Oh, but there was another option. Kenzie pulled the T-shirt she wore over her head and tossed it aside before pushing her jeans off her hips. She wasn’t wearing underwear. She turned and shook out her magenta hair, checking herself in the mirror. She looked hard and beautiful and cold.
Maybe that was what she needed to be. She worried who she was without her sister, but now she asked herself if she ever truly had her in the first place. They’d been close as children, but when Tasha had come along, she’d taken on the role of Kala’s adviser. Then Lou had become her best friend, and now Cooper had her whole heart. The only thing that bound them together was the job they’d longed for, and now that was over.
At least it felt like it was ending and she needed to figure out who she was because she was worried the Agency wouldn’t want a single Ms. Magenta. Hadn’t she always been the one they tolerated so they could have their dream operative?
“I think I’ll skip the clothes,” Kenzie said. The one place she’d always felt powerful was the dungeon floor. “I won’t need them.”
“Please tell me we’re not going into angry queen mode,” Kala said with a sigh.
Kenzie got into her sister’s space, not giving a damn that she wasn’t wearing a stitch. “I’m not angry, Sister. I’m just done.”
She noticed Lou walking in, but it didn’t matter.
She walked out and like Sosa before her, she didn’t look back.
Chapter Eleven
Ben stood outside the locker rooms feeling oddly comfortable in leathers when Cooper McKay walked out.
The American wore leathers similar to his, but the wide smile on his face was different. He held out a hand. “Hey, my man. How did your afternoon go?”
He shook the man’s hand. It was odd to be friendly with him since for so long Cooper had been the man between Ben and what he wanted. Except he hadn’t ever been that. It had all been an act. That made it awkward, too. The trouble was this man was important to Kenzie.
They all were, and he was kind of pissed at her family.
“We had a nice rest. I know the plane was comfy but Kenzie didn’t sleep well, so she needed that nap before tonight.” She hadn’t slept on the plane because she’d worried he was cold to her.
