Page 486 of Face Off

“Now you’re trying to manipulate me.”

“It’s working.”

“It is.”

Her smile returns, but the tension beneath it does not disappear.

I lower the heat beneath the eggs. “That still isn’t the question.”

“No.”

“Then spit it out. The anticipation is pissing me off.”

“I want a guesthouse.”

I stare at her. “That’s it?”

She nods.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack over a guesthouse?”

“I wasn’t sure how you would feel.”

“I don’t care. Get a guesthouse.”

Her face stays serious.

I turn back to the eggs. “Put a library in that too if you want.”

“It would be for Briggs.”

The spatula falls from my hand and strikes the edge of the skillet before landing on the stove.

I slowly turn my head.

Charm watches me with the expression she uses when she knows she has stepped directly into something dangerous and plans to remain there.

“Oh, fuck, Charm.”

“He needs roots too.”

“No.”

“You said I could have the guesthouse.”

“Before you told me you intended to put Briggs in it.”

“We take care of him.”

“He lives six doors away from me in his own furnished apartment with his own seven figure income as a grown man. He will survive this uprooting.”

“If we move, he’ll be alone in.”

“He will survive.”

“He’s our pseudo-rich adopted child, babe.”

“He is a grown man who plays professional hockey.” I finally look at her. “He plays it very well. He doesn’t need to live in our guest house.”