Vienna looks relieved, and I see her whole body sag with relief. Tristan is looking at me rather seriously, not something I’ve seen in his face before.
“Are you sure, Tori? We don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable in your own home.” Something about his words causes some of my own tension to release, and when I think about it, I do actually mean what I’m saying, not just for Suzy’s sake. I just don’t know if I want to mix my personal life with my professional one. After all, I am a killer, and they are college students. How much more different can we be?
“Seriously, you’re fine. Please forgive me. I’m tired, and it’s been a long ass week. I’m going to head up and have a bath if I have time before dinner is ready.” I look at Suzy who gives me a nod, her eyes shining with pride.
“Of course. Dinner will be served in the dining room now that there are enough people not to make it look obnoxious,” she tells me with a smile. “Can you let Sage know?” she asks, glancing downwards to share that he is, in fact, down in his grow warehouse.
“Will do. I’ll see you guys at dinner?” I ask, and Vienna nods enthusiastically while Tristan gives me a wink.
I head upstairs to my room to run a bath and get my head on straight.
Chapter Eleven
By the time I get to the dining room, it is a chaotic, noisy affair. Everyone is there, including Suzy and Ben. Sage sees me and stands up, gesturing to the chair between him and Xavier. “Tori, I saved you a seat,” he tells me, and I send him a grateful look before moving toward it, but I get waylaid by Gio on my way.
He pulls me into a big hug, and I stiffen. My bath may have relaxed my body, but I am still so fucking angry with my brother and how he has constantly been letting me down.
“Tori, I missed you,” he tells me, pulling away and looking into my eyes. I don’t hide how I’m feeling, glaring at him, and he has the decency to wince, but he doesn’t say anything. “How was Cancun?”
“We didn’t go to Cancun. We did some business up north and then headed south to check on some of our holdings,” I murmur before pulling away and continuing to my seat, exchanging pleasantries with the others I haven’t already run into. His eyes narrow, and I can see questions rolling around inside his brain. I move quickly away, hoping he won’t bring anything up in front of our guests.
Sage squeezes my knee when I sit down, and Suzy starts to serve the delicious smelling casserole. Bread rolls and butter are also passed around, and I murmur my thanks to Xavier when he puts one on my plate.
“It’s good to see you back,” he says quietly, “and thank you for letting us stay. I know you weren’t consulted, but the girls feel safer here than they do at a hotel.”
“It’s fine. I probably won’t be around much anyway,” I reply, spreading some butter on my roll and taking a bite before moaning. I love hot, fresh bread with butter, and I really am hungry.
“That would be a pity,” he replies, surprising me, and I lift my head to find him looking at my lips with undisguised heat.
I struggle to swallow my bread before grabbing the glass of wine Ben poured me and taking a sip to wash it down. Holy fuck, he can be intense. Sage doesn’t miss a thing and gives my knee another excited squeeze, all while carrying on a conversation with Tristan on his other side.
“So, Tori, how was your trip? Is everything okay with our holdings elsewhere?” Gio asks, and I can’t stop my scowl as I look at him. I can’t believe he wants to discuss things in front of our guests.
“I thought you went to Cancun.” Casey frowns, looking at the others for confirmation.
“I guess Gio made a mistake,” I say firmly, not inviting any questions. “Everything is fine. I dealt with a few problems, but nothing I couldn’t handle,” I answer evasively, not wanting to go into any details.
“I’m sure glad to be back in my own bed though.” Sage changes the subject smoothly. “I think I have a permanent kink in my neck from sleeping on some pretty rough beds.”
Gio frowns. “Our hotels don’t have comfortable beds? I seem to remember them being pretty fucking comfortable when I stayed in them in other states.”
I roll my eyes and stifle a sigh. “We didn’t stay at any of our holdings. We were doing incognito spot checks. It would have been counterproductive to let them know we were observing,” I reply vaguely.
“Oh, were you doing an undercover boss type thing?” Vienna asks, her eyes bright with excitement.
“Ah, yes, you could say that,” I confirm. I mean, she’s not wrong. We just weren’t at our hotels.
Sage laughs. “We had disguises and everything. Nobody knows that Tori Russo was in town, keeping an eye on her establishments.”
“And did you bust anyone doing anything wrong?” Casey catches on to Vienna’s excitement and looks at me with wide eyes.
I shrug. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.”
Gio nods. “Good, let’s get together tomorrow and go over your findings. I have classes in the morning, but my afternoon is free.”
I stare at my brother with confusion. What the fuck? Is he actually showing some interest in the family business again? My heart starts to pick up with excitement.
“Oh, we have that pottery class tomorrow afternoon.” Casey puts her hand on my brother’s arm, giving it a squeeze, and he grimaces before looking at me, and my heart sinks again. Of course he’s going to let me down. I don’t know why I dared to hope he was changing.
