“And I didn’t listen. It looked like a good deal at the time. No one saw this coming, and now with everything going to shit, he’s coming in for the kill. Where’s my phone?”
Margot lunges for it first, holding it against her chest.
“Hey, hey… take a second and breathe,” she says sternly. “Don’t just leap into this headfirst like a moron. Sit down.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“Then don’t act like an idiot and sit down.” Her eyes spark as she glares at me. I might have a temper, but Margot’s can match mine on my worst day.
We waste a few more seconds on a staring contest.
Yeah, there’s no way in hell I want to sit down and have a talk about my shitty decisions with my little sister.
Right now, the only thing I have any intention of doing is finding a way to put it right.
But Margot’s stubbornness matches mine, and she pins her mouth together in a way that means trouble.
“Sit down,” she repeats. “And get a freaking grip.”
I pace away from her, every breath burning my lungs.
This is the first time I’ve felt anything besides disgust in a good, long while. I let myself embrace the anger.
“I’ll make him pay,” I say as I pace back toward her. “That slimy fuck. He can’t get away with swindling us.”
“Ethan, come on.” She puts her hands on her hips. “Sit the fuck down.”
“Why? What else is there to discuss?” I wave the sheaf of papers at her. “You came to me because he’s pulling this shit. So I’m going to fix it. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Not quite. We need to talk about Hattie.”
Her words crackle around us, cutting through the night with that special kind of light only Hattie brings.
She’s not even here in person.
“Now will you sit?” she says, narrowing her eyes. “Let’s talk about whyyou’rehere.”
Oh fuck.
I already know how much I fucked up.
I know I strangled her heart.
I don’t need to hear it from Margot.
“What’s your point?” I snarl. “You’re fiending to lecture me that bad?”
“Have you never heard oftalking?” She shakes her head.
“I’m not stupid, Margot. I never meant to blow her off like that, but she caught me at a bad time. I even left her the money! What else can I say? It’s done. Harsh or not, I did the humane thing, sending her off with the means to reboot her life.”
My sister snorts so loud I think the roof shakes.
“Humane? Are you joking?”
“She got a goddamned bookstore out of it and six figures. Full compensation. I ended the deal, so I paid her fairly.”
“And that makes up for breaking her heart?” She punches me in the arm, hard. “Why are you sostupid?”
