My teeth ground against each other. Kian’s sister was a bitch. I forced myself to be nice. I had to try. “It’s nice to formally meet you.” I didn’t hold my hand out.
Her eyes flicked down, but she didn’t hold hers out either. “Yeah. You, too. I guess.”
“Guess?” A hard edge slipped out from me.
Her eyes shot to mine now. Oh, yes. She heard that from me.
She swallowed and nodded. “Let’s just cut the bullshit between us. I’m not trying to be hurtful here, but you’re a joke.”
Forced laughter spewed from me this time. “Really?”
“I’m not saying that to be a bitch, even though I know I can be.” Her eyes rolled upward, searching. “Like, eighty percent of the time, I’m an ungrateful and self-righteous pain in the ass. I’m spoiled. My parents pay for everything for me. I’m having an affair with a married guy, and I’m a closet alcoholic.”
“Closet?”
She lifted a shoulder, her head bobbing up and down. “I’ll give that to you. I’m pretty in-your-face about being an alcoholic, but I’m not any of those things right now. I’m being a good person when I say that you’re a joke.”
A hard boil began deep inside me.
Her hand flattened against her chest. “I’m to blame for most of this. Did Kian tell you about Justin?”
My neck was stiff, but my head clipped forward a little bit.
“Kian felt horrible about what happened to me. He wanted to rip Justin’s head off his shoulders. I wanted that, too. Our dad forbade it. It would’ve messed up a multimillion-dollar deal, and I hadn’t helped the matter at all. I cried to Kian every night for so long. I pleaded with him to go and kill Justin. I wasn’t thinking about Kian or about our dad. I was being selfish. I hurt, so I wanted everyone to hurt.”
My eyes glanced back to the floor. I murmured, “That is understandable. Justin raped you.”
“Yeah.” Her tone was wry. “Our family didn’t see it that way. I’m telling you this to help you understand Kian’s head. He saved you that day from Justin, but it was really me he was saving. All the aggression he had toward Justin came out on your foster father. I’m to blame for most of this shit. Me.” She mused to herself, “I almost wonder if it would’ve happened to any girl, and if you were just the lucky one?”
I lifted my head, feeling dislike and loathing for this person standing in front of me.
“You don’t use people. You don’t have hidden agendas. You don’t misuse your friendships.” I heard Kian’s voice again.
His sister was hateful. That was what was going on here. She was angry. She wanted to hurt him by hurting me. I wasn’t just some girl.
“That’s all I saw while growing up—until you. What you say, you mean. There is nothing hidden with you.”
I murmured, “You’re wrong.”
She stopped. “Oh, honey.” A genuine laugh barked from her.
That word again. It was condescending.
She added, “I’ll admit that I came here to be a pain in my brother’s ass. I saw your interview, and I had to come and congratulate him. Me being nice to him is how I piss him off. If he’s talked about me, I’m sure he’s told you that the two of us don’t get along, at all actually. He kicked me out of the hotel a couple of weeks ago. Well…” She paused, grinning to herself. “He kicked me out of the city, but he did the impossible, or I thought it was the impossible. I had to come and give him his dues.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The interview, how you went on TV and proclaimed to everyone how much of a hero he was. A job well done for Kian. He got you to do the interview, right?”
I shook my head. “I spoke the truth. That’s all I did.”
“Oh…” She was so damn sympathetic.
It was making me want to rip the hair out of her head.
Her entire demeanor changed. Her eyes were haughty. “He’s not said anything about the family business to you?” Her voice dropped to a quiet murmur, like she regretted to break the news to me. “The business, the same business that my father wouldn’t risk endangering when Justin raped me, is the same for Kian. My dad was furious when Kian killed that guy. My mom and I knew why he did it, but our dad didn’t. He kicked Kian out of the family—‘unofficially.’” She lifted her fingers to make air quotes.
“It’s been that way since Kian went to prison. Dad had such high hopes for him, and my brother flushed those hopes down the toilet, but time’s passed. Kian’s realized what a mistake he made, and since he got out of prison, he’s been trying to find a way back in. He’s still out of the family, though.”
Her eyes rolled to the ceiling. “Unofficially. What a joke, huh?” She winced. “Sorry about that word. I suppose that’s harsh. You’re not the joke. My brother is the joke. My brother was told that he had to change the investors’ minds about him. If he didn’t, no billion-dollar job for him.”
“What are you talking about?” My hands curled inside the robe’s sleeves. I tugged down on them as hard as I could. I hated hearing anything she was saying, but I had to wait. I wanted to hear everything before I clawed back at her.
“No convict is going to be the CEO of the Maston Empire.” Her lip curled up. “Could you imagine that? What would that do for the stocks? My dad’s company would crash the stock exchange all on its own if Kian took his place at the head of it, but that’s what he’s been angling for since he got out of prison.”
I didn’t believe her.
“But,” Felicia gave me a bright smile that looked hideous, “that’s all over now. The public loved Kian before, but the investors didn’t. All that’s changed now. I mean, he got you to go on national television and proclaim that all he did was save a girl. Is that how you put it? Damn. With an endorsement like yours, you just handed Kian the family jewels again.
“The investors met last night. I was coming to play with Kian a bit, tell him he needed to do better than that, but he should be hearing from our dad soon.” Her eyebrows pinched together. A speculative gleam formed in her eyes. “There might even be a message on Kian’s phone right now.” She nodded behind me, toward the bedroom. “Check his phone. The code to get in is two thousand twelve. Kian’s dark humor. That’s the year he went to prison. I bet you anything, once Daddy and the board members let him back in, he’s going to change his code to two thousand fifteen, the year he got back his life. That’s how he views it anyway.”
Her eyes flicked down, but she didn’t hold hers out either. “Yeah. You, too. I guess.”
“Guess?” A hard edge slipped out from me.
Her eyes shot to mine now. Oh, yes. She heard that from me.
She swallowed and nodded. “Let’s just cut the bullshit between us. I’m not trying to be hurtful here, but you’re a joke.”
Forced laughter spewed from me this time. “Really?”
“I’m not saying that to be a bitch, even though I know I can be.” Her eyes rolled upward, searching. “Like, eighty percent of the time, I’m an ungrateful and self-righteous pain in the ass. I’m spoiled. My parents pay for everything for me. I’m having an affair with a married guy, and I’m a closet alcoholic.”
“Closet?”
She lifted a shoulder, her head bobbing up and down. “I’ll give that to you. I’m pretty in-your-face about being an alcoholic, but I’m not any of those things right now. I’m being a good person when I say that you’re a joke.”
A hard boil began deep inside me.
Her hand flattened against her chest. “I’m to blame for most of this. Did Kian tell you about Justin?”
My neck was stiff, but my head clipped forward a little bit.
“Kian felt horrible about what happened to me. He wanted to rip Justin’s head off his shoulders. I wanted that, too. Our dad forbade it. It would’ve messed up a multimillion-dollar deal, and I hadn’t helped the matter at all. I cried to Kian every night for so long. I pleaded with him to go and kill Justin. I wasn’t thinking about Kian or about our dad. I was being selfish. I hurt, so I wanted everyone to hurt.”
My eyes glanced back to the floor. I murmured, “That is understandable. Justin raped you.”
“Yeah.” Her tone was wry. “Our family didn’t see it that way. I’m telling you this to help you understand Kian’s head. He saved you that day from Justin, but it was really me he was saving. All the aggression he had toward Justin came out on your foster father. I’m to blame for most of this shit. Me.” She mused to herself, “I almost wonder if it would’ve happened to any girl, and if you were just the lucky one?”
I lifted my head, feeling dislike and loathing for this person standing in front of me.
“You don’t use people. You don’t have hidden agendas. You don’t misuse your friendships.” I heard Kian’s voice again.
His sister was hateful. That was what was going on here. She was angry. She wanted to hurt him by hurting me. I wasn’t just some girl.
“That’s all I saw while growing up—until you. What you say, you mean. There is nothing hidden with you.”
I murmured, “You’re wrong.”
She stopped. “Oh, honey.” A genuine laugh barked from her.
That word again. It was condescending.
She added, “I’ll admit that I came here to be a pain in my brother’s ass. I saw your interview, and I had to come and congratulate him. Me being nice to him is how I piss him off. If he’s talked about me, I’m sure he’s told you that the two of us don’t get along, at all actually. He kicked me out of the hotel a couple of weeks ago. Well…” She paused, grinning to herself. “He kicked me out of the city, but he did the impossible, or I thought it was the impossible. I had to come and give him his dues.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The interview, how you went on TV and proclaimed to everyone how much of a hero he was. A job well done for Kian. He got you to do the interview, right?”
I shook my head. “I spoke the truth. That’s all I did.”
“Oh…” She was so damn sympathetic.
It was making me want to rip the hair out of her head.
Her entire demeanor changed. Her eyes were haughty. “He’s not said anything about the family business to you?” Her voice dropped to a quiet murmur, like she regretted to break the news to me. “The business, the same business that my father wouldn’t risk endangering when Justin raped me, is the same for Kian. My dad was furious when Kian killed that guy. My mom and I knew why he did it, but our dad didn’t. He kicked Kian out of the family—‘unofficially.’” She lifted her fingers to make air quotes.
“It’s been that way since Kian went to prison. Dad had such high hopes for him, and my brother flushed those hopes down the toilet, but time’s passed. Kian’s realized what a mistake he made, and since he got out of prison, he’s been trying to find a way back in. He’s still out of the family, though.”
Her eyes rolled to the ceiling. “Unofficially. What a joke, huh?” She winced. “Sorry about that word. I suppose that’s harsh. You’re not the joke. My brother is the joke. My brother was told that he had to change the investors’ minds about him. If he didn’t, no billion-dollar job for him.”
“What are you talking about?” My hands curled inside the robe’s sleeves. I tugged down on them as hard as I could. I hated hearing anything she was saying, but I had to wait. I wanted to hear everything before I clawed back at her.
“No convict is going to be the CEO of the Maston Empire.” Her lip curled up. “Could you imagine that? What would that do for the stocks? My dad’s company would crash the stock exchange all on its own if Kian took his place at the head of it, but that’s what he’s been angling for since he got out of prison.”
I didn’t believe her.
“But,” Felicia gave me a bright smile that looked hideous, “that’s all over now. The public loved Kian before, but the investors didn’t. All that’s changed now. I mean, he got you to go on national television and proclaim that all he did was save a girl. Is that how you put it? Damn. With an endorsement like yours, you just handed Kian the family jewels again.
“The investors met last night. I was coming to play with Kian a bit, tell him he needed to do better than that, but he should be hearing from our dad soon.” Her eyebrows pinched together. A speculative gleam formed in her eyes. “There might even be a message on Kian’s phone right now.” She nodded behind me, toward the bedroom. “Check his phone. The code to get in is two thousand twelve. Kian’s dark humor. That’s the year he went to prison. I bet you anything, once Daddy and the board members let him back in, he’s going to change his code to two thousand fifteen, the year he got back his life. That’s how he views it anyway.”
