"Well, I'm not planning on leading a life as a hacker criminal, so I should be good. If this is me helping you test the security, then I would suggest beefing it up since some of those were easy."
His smile appears. Then he glances at his phone. "Shit, it is late."
As much as I hate to admit it, the ease of the jobs and relative ease between us are one thing, but the amount of jobs I did is another, and yeah, it is nearing seven. I don't even know how that happened.
"It's not midnight, so I won't turn into a pumpkin. Or a Gremlin."
"But I have kept you through dinnertime. How about I order some Thai?"
I narrow my eyes. "Shouldn't you be getting home to your sister?"
"I would, and I'd make her eat Thai food. She is probably scarfing down pizza. Damn teenagers." He turns his phone to show me the message.
Lyndall
Don't haaate meee.... Gretchen from school's in Manhattan so I'm gonna catch up with her. Don't tell dumbass Dad! Love ya! xxxxxxxxx
"There's another one about me not waiting up, which I won't because she gets until eleven PM before I go get her ass."
As if on cue, my traitorous stomach rumbles.
He gives me a triumphant look. "What do you want to eat, Lola?"
"Whatever."
"You used to like green curry. Chicken or tofu?"
I know most places have more than those options, so I say, "Tofu."
But he doesn't react, he just places an order through the app and then shuts down both laptops, putting them away.
I excuse myself and go to the restroom, and I'm horrified by the high color staining my cheeks and the way my eyes sparkle and my lips are redder with heightened blood flow.
"As if I'm trying to give him signs I want him." I glare at my reflection. "Traitor."
When I come out, he is in the middle of an argument on the phone, and if I didn't know better, I would say it was his daughter instead of his sister, and it makes my stomach wobble.
"...I don't care... No, because I say so... There's always— Eleven, and that's final..."
I edge away from his office and sit behind my computer, making a few inroads into next week's work. There is always an ongoing project, so I can do that.
Because of course, it isn't over with his sister, and I'm not sure who my money is on for him getting the last word, but itmakes me feel a little funny inside because he didn't sound like a brother.
Enzo sounded like a loving father, at least that is how my brain heard it. Would he be that way with his own kids?
When he comes out, he looks annoyed in a way that makes my heart hurt, like he is a good guy.
Like he was always a good guy when I was a kid.
"Getting the food," he mutters, pressing the button for the elevator.
When he comes back, the aroma of the food really makes my stomach rumble.
"Louie has actual knives and forks and plates in the room off yours."
I give him a dark look. "The kitchenette?"
"Yeah. And don't give me shit, Lola. You're not that much older than my sister, and I will discipline you as well as her."
