Violet nods again.“Sounds perfect.”
“Good,” Lexie interjects.“Now, can we turn on the show or what?”
4
FORD
“Hey, Ford!”my baby sister greets me from the couch.
I stop short and take her in.Her honey-brown hair is piled on her head, and her outfit choice is the same one from yesterday.A pair of baggy Nike sweatpants and a white crop-top.Add in the still-open bag of barbecue chips, can of Diet Coke, and rumpled My Little Pony blanket across her lap, and I’m convinced I walked into a sorority house instead of my own home.
It’s not that I don’t like Cobie being here.I love it, actually.It’s just different.She hasn’t been back for long, and I’m still getting used to a woman in the house.Or at least, one who isn’t Violet, one of Roman’s or Jagger’s prior conquests, or Doris.Doris is our childhood nanny, current cleaning lady, and cook when she feels like it.But I digress.Tossing my keys into the bowl on a small table beside the front door, I return, “Hey, Cobes.”
After some much-needed coffee, I spent the day working.There’s a hockey game tonight, and I figured dropping in on a few clients to see if they’d like to place a bet or two would be a solid distraction from the impending shit-storm our business is in, thanks to Jagger’s fight.Unfortunately, I might’ve given a few of the regulars a little too good odds now that the game is underway and I’ve run the numbers.
Welp.There goes my good mood.
Fuck.
I stride into the family room, heading for the stairs so I can wallow in my room when Cobie reaches for the remote.With a click, she turns off the television and faces me fully.It’s like she was waiting for me to walk through the front door.
Okay.So much for going to my room.
She looks nervous.Anxious, maybe.After our mom died, Daddy Dearest shipped her off under the guise of needing a feminine touch.One she couldn’t get while living under our roof, once mom was six feet under.Since she’s the baby of the family and the only girl, he was convinced she’d be better off anywhere else.Pimpton Preparatory Academy.An all-girls school.It seemed to fit the bill, while simultaneously benefiting my sperm donor in another way.To keep us boys in line, he’d dangle my sister’s visits in front of us like they were carrots in front of a herd of horses.And it worked.Fuck, we’d do anything to see Cobie for a long weekend or over the holidays, until he began expecting perfection.When we’d inevitably fall short, Cobie would pay for it.Fast forward a handful of years to the time my sister accidentally burned down her dorm, was kicked out of school with nowhere else to go, and voila, here she is.
Honestly, I still can’t figure out his reason for letting her stay instead of shipping her off somewhere else.But I’m not about to draw attention to it.Her presence.Let her fly under the radar for as long as possible.Maybe he’ll forget about her existence entirely.If only we were so lucky.
As she watches me with her lips pressed together, I ask, “Can I help you?”
“I mean, only if you’re not busy.”
My mouth quirks, despite my exhaustion.“Spit it out, Cobes.You’re making me nervous.”
She fiddles with her fingers in her lap.“So…you’re the money guy.”
“The money guy?”
Thanks to her long-time absence and our need to keep our less-than-legitimate extracurricular activities off the average person’s radar, I can’t help my curiosity.Anything she knows would be by word of mouth or eavesdropping.Not that we’ve actively tried to keep her in the dark, but we haven’t laid out every detail, either.
What does this girl know?
“You know, the money guy,” she repeats, peeking up at me.“The one who handles the money.”
“Figured that’s what you meant when you called me the money guy,” I reply.I take a seat on the arm of the couch and fold my arms.“So?”
“So, I thought I could maybe…pick your brain,” she continues.
About what?I want to ask as she twists the blanket in her lap like it’s a dirty dishrag.“Go on,” I encourage her.
“Well.”Realizing she’s fidgeting, Cobie smooths out the blanket.“Dad called me and mentioned how it might be a good idea for me to…to kind of host a charity event.”
What is it with Titas’s obsession with charity events?He’s the most selfish asshole I know.The man wouldn’t give a dime unless there were a hundred cameras and reporters to document it.Now, he’s wrangling Cobie into doing his dirty work all for the family name?What a dick.And what’s worse is the way Cobie rolls over and takes it.
Maybe it’s a compilation of everything that’s happened today, but now that Cobie’s mentioned Daddy Dearest, my patience is paper-thin.
Ignoring the twitch beneath my right eye, I ask, “And what do you think?”
“I mean, it’s for charity.How can I say no?”
