Page 34 of Professional Liar
He glanced up at me and quickly away while he hunted for his shirt.
“Then you tell me who he is,” I asked Bianca.
She didn’t answer, only went into her kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. Her damp hair hung over her shoulders, and I looked back at the kid, finally clothed. “Are you going to tell me who you are now?
“Rodrigo,” he supplied, holding out his hand to shake mine.
“Don’t shake hands with her. My sister is currently enemy number one around here.”
He dropped his hand. An interesting development. My sister didn’t often date, and when she did, it was never casual. “You can leave now, Rodrigo,” I told him.
He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze. My sister laughed and climbed up on her counter to sit on the edge. “You’re the one who sent him here. He’s the bodyguard supplied by the Cambio family.”
I caught Patton stiffen out of the corner of my eye. No doubt he didn’t approve of the kid cavorting with his charges. Neither did I. “Fine, go stand over there until I can call someone about this.”
He took up space near Patton who glared. I rolled my eyes at them before stepping around dirty clothes and stacks of books to join Bianca. “Can we please talk about this?”
“If you think unenrolling me from school will mean I’ll move in with you and Pierce, you’re an idiot. I’m staying right here whether in school or not.”
“And food, how did you plan to pay that? Last I heard, your inheritance is still locked up.”
She shrugged and pulled the edge of a cardigan up one shoulder. “Like the rest of the world, I guess. I’ll find a job.”
“Doing what exactly? You don’t have a lot of work experience.”
My phone chimed. Pierce. I clicked the text.
Did you find her? Work things out?
I jabbed the reply button and typed out a quick response.
Found her. Not exactly. Will text you when I’m headed home.
“You should probably run back to your little puppy now. I think he misses you.”
Anger bubbled up too fast for me to moderate my response. “Hey, he saved your life. Show some respect,” I snapped.
My sister’s eyes flew wide and guilt chased the anger down. I’d yell at everyone except her. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s been a crazy week, and I’m stressed and…” I stepped forward so the guys couldn’t hear me. “I’m scared.”
Something softened in her face. “Do you promise to put me back in school the second everything is cleared up? I’m supposed to graduate in a couple of weeks. I will not retake any of those science classes because you screwed up.”
“I promise.”
She nodded, picked up an envelope from the counter near her butt, and tossed it to me. I dropped my bag and caught it before it veered off at a strange angle across the room. The cardstock felt thick and heavy. I checked the address.
No. It couldn’t be.
Peeling back layers of paper and vellum, I caught the familiar gold script. It was an invitation to a party. The traditional one which accompanied a change in leadership in any of the five families. Except this one had my name on the bottom. “Why haven’t I seen this yet?” I asked her.
She shrugged, and I dug into my bag again to call Pierce. “Did you get a heavy invitation today, addressed to me?”
Papers shuffling came through the line, and then he answered. “Yes, it’s addressed to Katherine Minola, but I guess I can overlook the error, since they probably had these made before we married.”
“Thanks.”
“Wh— “ I hung up and placed my sister’s invite on the countertop. “This isn’t good.”
She sipped her coffee, and I finagled myself up to sit beside her, my bag abandoned on the floor near our feet. Once I settled and my dress didn’t pull anywhere, I took her mug. “Got anything stronger?”
