I tried to take the toy from him, but he held it just out of reach, and I nearly bumped into him trying to snatch it. “She’s not my dog. I watch her for Velvet. It’s my job. I’m her PA.”
“Are you now?”
I crossed my arms over my baggy dress. “What do you want from me, Fen?”
“Nothing, really. Might be nice to continue our conversation.”
“Were we having one? I thought you were yelling at me.”
He held up a finger. “I was, and for that, I apologize. I let my emotions get out of control, and no good can come of that. I’m truly sorry for the shouting. Can we try again?”
“Try what again? The part where you tell me that I’m your enemy because I’m dating Eddie?”
His jaw clicked to one side, as if the sound of Eddie’s name had some kind of power over him.
“And again,” I reminded him, “Eddie told me to steer clear of you.”
“Why would he do that?” Fen asked. “Little strange, don’t you think?”
I did, actually. “I thought we’d already established that you’re the black sheep of the family. Kicked out of the family house. All that. Seems reason enough to me.”
Fen paused. “Do you know why I got kicked out?”
“Not my business why you don’t get along with your father.”
“It’s true. I don’t.” But he could tell by my face that I didn’t know why. And after a short silence stretched between us, Fen offered an explanation. “My brother and I have always been… competitive. It’s how my dad raised us. There can only be one winner. Who loves Daddy more? Eddie does, so he gets a trip to Los Cabos. Fen loses, so he gets no dinner. So Eddie started making sure he’dalwaysget the trip, understand?”
“Um, okay?”
“Things escalated over the last couple of years. Eddie saw that I was happy with someone about a year ago, a girl whose father worked in marketing at Sarafian Events, so Eddie asked ourfather to have him fired. He made up some shit about catching her father stealing something from the festival offices.”
A small noise escaped my mouth. “Eddie wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh, he would. He does. And he did. The girl’s family ended up moving across the country. She didn’t want anything to do with me after that. And that was the final straw for me. That’s when I went after my father and Eddie.”
“I don’t—”
“I filed a formal complaint with Eddie’s university and said that my father had paid the school thousands of dollars to get Eddie pushed past the admissions board. I threatened to take it to the FBI. They quietly kicked him out rather than get the press involved. Which is when my father told me to get the hell out of the family house. Now I’m in exile.”
“I… don’t believe you.”
He shrugged. “It’s the truth. Ask Eddie if you trust his word over mine. It’s just that I can’t figure out how you got to that.”
“To what?”
“Trusting his word over mine.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded. “I barely know you.”
“And that bothers me. Because I’ve thought of you every day since you fell in the dam.”
Was he mentally unwell? Or was my word-pixie acting up and I just hadn’t realized it? Had I mixed something up? Should I be concerned?
“We shared something that night,” he said in a low voice. As if he were trying to remind me of a drunken hookup. But I’ddefinitely remember that. And no. Not with Fen. Definitely not that night at the dam. Events around my fall were a touch foggy in my head, due to my injury, but I’d rememberthat.
I glanced over my shoulder into the dark, open doorway, unable to see past the foyer, then whispered, “People might hear you. And what the hell are you talking about? I never talked to you that night before I fell.”
“Not talking about before. Talking aboutafter. You really don’t remember? My mouth, your lungs,” he said in a seductive voice. “The gift of life.”
