She blew out a shaky exhale. “Did you ever stop to think that it might have been anicenickname?”
I pulled back enough to look at her. “Was it?”
Her expression turned cagey, eyes flitting away from mine. “I guess you’ll never find out.”
I took that as a no.
“Who’s at the party?” I asked again.
“I already sent you the guest list.”
We’d emailed some since our first “date.” Unwritten norms she’d forgotten to mention over dinner. More rules for her to follow. A general game plan for today.
“I know,” I said. “I read it. What I’m asking is if there’s anyone here who wasn’t on the list.”
“A few kids. My mother’s friend Susan. My parents’ business partner. And uh...” she grimaced. “Blake is here, too. I told him about the swap, and I wouldn’t exactly say he’s happy about it. I also didn’t expect him to be here because he’s so pissed at me. I’ve tried to get him alone a couple of times to warn him that you’re coming, and that hebetterbehave, but he’s also avoiding me.”
The midday sun suddenly felt five times hotter than a second ago. My father washere,in this house?
I lifted my gaze toward the front door, half expecting him to be standing there, waiting for me, but that was ridiculous. The man didn’t know who I was. And even if he did, he still wouldn’t care enough to come greet me. He’d made it crystal fucking clear all those years ago that he wanted nothing to do with me and my mother.
Anger unfurled its poisonous claws inside me, and a dark anticipation swept in on its wake. After all this time, all this waiting, the day had finally arrived to meet the bastard, to stare him straight in the eye as I smiled and shook his hand. To finally force him to look at me, acknowledge my existence, even if it was only as a stranger.
Belatedly, the rest of what Stella said sank in.Blake.Goddamn it. This was a complication we didn’t need.
“Is there a place we can speak to your brother alone?” I asked. If he caused a scene and ruined my plans, I’d make him regret it for the rest of his life. I was so close. I couldn’t fail now.
“Ow, you’re hurting me,” Stella said, pulling away as I loosened my hold. “There’s a study just inside, to the right of the front door.”
“Go get Blake and bring him there. I don’t care if you have to drag him. You have five minutes.”
I finally released her, and between my tone and the look on my face, Stella must have realized how close to the edge I was, because she turned and hurried inside. Instead of five minutes, I gave her ten, pretending to fuck around on my phone in case anyone else glanced out the window. I needed the extra time to calm down, and I was hoping Stella used it to explain the situation to Blake so all I’d have to do was walk in and threaten him into behaving.
Taking a deep breath, I shoved my phone into my pocket and headed toward the house. Thankfully, no one was lingering near the front.
The entryway looked like something out of a magazine: black-and-white tiled floor, wainscoting, crown molding, expensive furniture and artwork, a dark-stained staircase climbing upward. To my immediate left was a sitting room. To my right, with the door closed, was the study Stella mentioned.
I turned the handle and stepped inside, shutting the door behind me.
“Look out!” Stella shouted.
In the split second it took my eyes to adjust to the dimmer light, I almost missed the fist flying at my face.
I reacted instinctually, blocking the punch with my forearm and following the movement, grabbing Blake’s wrist and using his momentum against him as I shoved him away.
“Blake, stop!” Stella hissed.
He tried to turn back to me, but I got there first, grabbing him by the nape of his neck and slamming him into the wall, pinning him. I snatched his flailing wrist out of the air and yanked it up and around behind his back, hard enough that he cried out.
“Stop fighting me,” I snarled.
He thrashed in my hold. “Fuck you! The deal’s off. It’s my debt. I’ll pay it. Leave my sister alone.”
“Blake,” Stella said, rushing up to us, her expression pleading. “It’s already done.”
“Thenundoit,” he demanded, trying to shove me off.
I pressed him harder into the wall, his cheek grinding against the wood, arm twisting so high it was in danger of slipping out of its socket. “No. And keep your fucking voice down.”
