"So? Lola didn't know what to do, so we were going to go to the doctor, but I haven't made an appointment yet. It's early days."
"This is important shit, Lyndall. Don't you think I deserved to know?"
"I don't know. Do you?"
I stare at her, recoiling a little inside. "I'm your brother."
She looks at her feet. "I know, and I'm sorry, but it wasn't my news to share. I forgot I had it, and since the cleaner came, I threw it out. How was I to know you'd paw through the trash?"
I frown. "I didn't. I opened it to throw something out, and it was staring at me. And you let me think it was yours."
She rolls her eyes. "You didn't even think of Lola!"
"I thought you were knocked up."
"Serves you right."
"Excuse me?"
"I said, it serves you right for thinking I'm sexually active at my age." She puts her hands on her hips.
"You told me you had a boyfriend."
"Whether I have a boyfriend or not isn't the point. I want a career, I want to get into Juilliard, and if,ifI was going to have sex, I'd do more than you did." She ticks things off on her fingers. "Be committed, not stalk them, condoms, the pill, you know. Like an adult."
"You—"
"I haven't even had sex, you moron. All I've done is?—"
"Nope. No fucking way. I do not need any information, any details. Pristine like a kid should be. In fact, I'll let you hold hands with a guy when you're forty."
She shrugs. "Like you can stop me from doing things I want to do. And in a few years, I'll be eighteen."
"Three."
"Two and a bit, Enzo." She stops. "The violin's important. And yeah, I have a small crush on one of Dad's men, one he probably killed. He thought we were having sex, too. What the hell is wrong with the men in this family? He held me when I was upset, and in my room. And I tried to kiss him. Once. Maybe twice. That's it."
"Too much. No. And no. I don't need to hear it." And I hate that she just shoved me in the same box as Dad.
"You asked."
"I didn't."
"But, Enzo, you did. By asking me about the test. And let's face it, who has the most likelihood of being pregnant in this house?"
Now I'm getting uncomfortable with the conversation. I shove a hand through my hair and sit. "Shit, kid. Wherewould she get it from? Women don't seem to just carry them around."
"No. But I can place orders, you know."
Fuck. This isn't going how I wanted it to. In actual fact, I don't want this part of the conversation at all. It seems everything I do, I fuck something up. "I just wish you'd have been open with me."
"And betray her? Also, open like how? Tell you when I have my period, or if I want to hook up with a guy down the road?"
"Don't say hook up and guy. In fact, don't talk about sex." But I know that's unfair. "Sorry...if you ever need to talk, I'll try not to get protective."
"Yeah, well, give you a few moments, and you always calm down. It's why I love you, Enzo."
I rise and hug her. "Love you, too, Lyndall. And I am here for you. If you're really into this guy, I hope you wait until you're a few years older. He's...he's eighteen, and that's a little too old. It's in the realm, but in a few years, who knows."
