Page 27 of Trade It All (The Barrington Billionaires 3)
I’m not saying anything. I’ve already said too much. “Sure,” Willa answered.
“Kenzi told me you were reading her aunt’s journal. I wanted to ask you what you thought.”
Journal? Oh, yes. “I was supposed to, but it never happened. Why?”
Emily placed her hand on her stomach. “I could be paranoid because I have baby on the brain, but I still get goosebumps every time I think about how obsessed their aunt was with Sophie’s last pregnancy. She hated her so much for having a girl when she’d never had one herself. Then all those numbers. They have to mean something.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “To have a nasty woman like that fixated on your babies and then for one of them to die—” She shuddered. “What if she did something to the baby?”
“Kenzi’s twin died in the hospital from premature complications.” Even as Willa said it, her stomach lurched. She didn’t want to think about babies, not having them, not losing them.
“Asher doesn’t want to talk about it. Do you know if they were given the body?” Emily’s eyes were large and round.
Whoa, that came out of nowhere. “I think Kenzi said he was buried with Dale’s family.” Willa said softly. The last thing she wanted to do was be caught talking about Kent during what was already an awkward evening.
Emily let out a relieved breath. “Oh, good. That puts my mind at ease. I know how taboo this subject is, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That journal could be used in psychology courses as an example of how a sociopath thinks. She was a nasty woman. I’m glad I never met her.”
“I don’t know that Kenzi or her brothers ever did, either. Sophie distanced her children from her sister’s family.”
“She was smart to.” Emily laughed nervously. “I’m sorry I even brought it up, but I didn’t want to say anything in front of Lance. I don’t want anyone to think I’m looking for trouble. They’ve all warmly accepted me, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ll drop this now. If the past holds any secrets, maybe they’re better left alone.”
Willa smiled weakly. Her eyes darted from Dax to Lance. I couldn’t agree more.
From across the room, Lance frowned as he watched Emily and Willa have a private conversation. He didn’t know what they were talking about, but it was something that looked like it was making Willa uncomfortable. Lance didn’t like confrontation, but he liked secrets even less.
In an amused voice, Kenzi said, “You and Willa make a cute couple.”
“We’re not yet a couple. Not officially.”
“But you brought her here.”
“I did,” Lance said. He was a planner who always factored the worst-case scenario into his strategy. When it came to being with Willa, that side of him seemed to turn off. He went from one misstep to the next. “It doesn’t mean what everyone seems to think it does.”
Kenzi’s eyes darted to his. “What does it mean?”
“That I like her, and I don’t care who knows. That I want to date her and see where it goes. Does it have to be more than that?”
Kenzi leaned against Lance and hugged him. “No, it doesn’t. That sounds like a nice place to start.”
Dax looked over at them then looked away. The way Kenzi tensed beside Lance told him she was aware that there was a problem. Might as well address it. “Your fiancé keeps looking at me like he’d enjoy wringing my neck. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Kenzi chewed her bottom lip. “Willa said something to Dax last week. I don’t know the details because she asked him not to say anything to me. He almost didn’t, but he was worried and wanted to make sure I knew to check in on her. He wouldn’t tell me why she was upset, but it has something to do with you. I know he doesn’t always show it the way we would, but Dax cares about us. All of us. He’s also very protective, especially after I shared what happened to me. Did you and Willa have an argument?”
“No. We’ve actually been getting on really well.” Lance’s thoughts did a tailspin. He went over the past couple of days with her. Was it possible that she wasn’t enjoying their time together as much as he was? It was a question he’d never had to ask himself with other women, but with Willa he wasn’t sure.
Confused, Kenzi shook her head. “He might have misunderstood something she said. I haven’t had the chance to talk to her about it yet, and as she had asked Dax not to tell me, I don’t feel I can ask her yet. She’s a private person, Lance.”
But she opens up to Dax? “I don’t understand Willa.”
Kenzi’s expression turned sympathetic. “Give yourself time. Give her time. When she’s ready, she’ll open up and let you in.” She looked across to Dax. “And I’ll talk to Dax.”
Lance wanted to storm over and demand that Willa tell him what she’d said to Dax, but he didn’t. He’d repeatedly asked Willa why she was still upset with him. They could go around and around that subject a hundred more times, and he was sure she wouldn’t tell him.
But apparently she told Dax.
He looked down at Kenzi and remembered how he’d felt the day he’d heard what had happened to her in high school. She’d hidden that pain from everyone, and it had nearly destroyed her.
Willa had said her feelings ten years ago had been real. Was that the pain festering within her? Had he hurt her that badly?
She came to me that night. I didn’t pursue her. Maybe I wasn’t ready to jump out of bed and into a relationship, but how long do I have to fucking apologize for being twenty and stupid?
I don’t need this. Let her keep her secrets and her grudges.
Things were a hell of a lot simpler without her.
His eyes were drawn to where Willa was talking to Grant and his parents. She said something that made them laugh. Emily walked over with Asher, and it looked like Willa was asked to start the story over. He could watch her forever and never get bored. The way she tipped her head to listen. The huge smile that came easily to her sweet lips. Images of how she’d look, freshly fucked, spread across his bed surged through his mind.
No other woman had ever compared to her.
He doubted any ever would.
I’m going to fucking end up like Neil. He made a frustrated growl
deep in his chest. I need to slow down before we crash and burn again.
“I hope I didn’t make the situation worse.” Kenzi hugged his arm.
Lance laid his hand on his sister’s. “You didn’t.” He noticed Dax watching them and asked, “I need to talk to Dax, though.”
Kenzi looked across at Dax with love in her eyes. “I think that’s a good idea, but don’t sugarcoat anything. He’d rather know the truth, even if it’s not pretty.”
Finally, something Dax and I are in complete agreement over.
Before Lance had a chance to do anything, though, Willa came over to join him. Her cheeks were flushed from laughing with his family, and it was difficult to think about anything past how he felt when she smiled and laced her fingers through his. “I was telling your parents about the first apartment Lexi and I rented together. Do you remember it, Kenzi?”
Kenzi smiled and made a small square with both of her hands. “It was so tiny you used to joke that people had to take numbers if more than one wanted to visit.”
Willa chuckled. “I had this old trunk I’d bought at a yard sale. I thought it would be the perfect post-college storage solution until we couldn’t find a place for it in the apartment.”
“So you tried to wedge it in the closet,” Kenzi said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
Laughing harder, Willa met Lance’s eyes. “And I got my arms stuck between it and the wall.”
Drawn into the fun of the memory, Lance let everything else fall away. “What did you do?”
“My cell phone was in my back pocket.”
“So, she hopped up and down until it fell out,” Kenzi added.
“Which was not an easy feat, but I did it,” Willa said with pride. “Then I kicked off my shoes and socks—”
“And called me,” Kenzi finished, laughing so hard she was gasping for air. “I think I still have that photo saved somewhere.”
Waving a finger in warning, Willa warned, “What kind of friend takes a picture before they rescue you? Your sister, Lance, that’s who. Bring it on, Kenzi. Payback will be fun. I have quite a collection of blackmail photos of you.”
