“May I come in?”
I shrugged. I honestly didn’t care what he did.
“Thank you.”
He stepped back and motioned to someone behind him. A moment later, a man dressed in a uniform pushed a large cart into the room.
“I thought you might be hungry.”
“Not really.”
“Then how about coffee?”
“I don’t drink coffee.”
His eyebrow quirked, but my surliness didn’t thwart him. “Juice?”
I shrugged again and watched as the man with the food placed everything on the dining room table.
While we waited for him to finish, we stood there in awkward silence. I was relieved when Knox finally turned to the guy and handed him a bill.
“Thank you, Phillip.”
I couldn’t see the denomination, but considering who Knox was, I was sure it was more than enough to keep that smile on Phillip’s face for the rest of the day.
“You’re very welcome, Mr. Montgomery.” Phillip looked at me. “Ms. Montgomery.”
“I’m—”
Before I could tell him I wasn’t who he thought I was, Knox touched my wrist. “Merely a pleasantry. I informed the staff you’re my sister. Evidently, I wasn’t clear we had different last names.”
“Whatever,” I said, unable to conjure up an ounce of politeness. It was petty, but my heart hurt too much to worry who other people thought I was.
“Join me, please,” Knox said, gesturing toward the dining table where Phillip set up what appeared to be a five-course breakfast.
I didn’t want to, but I took a seat, figuring that would be the fastest way to get this over with.
“I realize you’ve got some things to deal with at home,” Knox said as he took a seat after I did.
I shrugged.
Knox chuckled, but I couldn’t figure out what he found amusing.
“Okay, clearly, you have nothing to say, so I’ll do the talking.”
I waited, but he took his time getting around to the conversation. I watched as he poured juice into my glass, then his, as he took the linen napkin from under the silverware and placed it in his lap, as he removed the silver dome from the plate in front of him.
As soon as he did that, my stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning before we left the house. I was starving, and the food smelled divine.
“Eat,” he said. “I won’t tell anyone. I’m good at keeping up appearances. All anyone else knows is you’re on a hunger strike.”
I couldn’t keep from smiling as I relaxed and grabbed my silverware. Knox removed the lid from my plate, depositing them both on the other end of the table.
For the next few minutes, we ate while Knox took care of the small talk. He explained how he lived in New York, but the Monolith Casino was their home away from home. He told me that they traveled here at least once a month and had a residence on the top floor of the hotel. I listened, pretending not to be interested in the tidbits he gave me about his wife and husband. I was curious. About all of it. Him. Them. I wanted to know everything there was to know about my brother, even if I wasn’t quite ready to admit we were related.
When he finally ran out of things to say, I turned to him. “Why are you telling me all this?”
He paused, placing his fork down and wiping his mouth with his napkin. His patience was unnerving because I had to wait some more while he sipped his coffee.
