“Then you can tell me when we get you out of trouble. Like on our first date. It’ll be a good icebreaker.” He grins, but it lacks his usual teasing. I get the sense he’s trying to downplay his concern, but is it for my sake or his own?
“I’m not sure how you can even joke about things like that when Sylvie is missing. That girl idolises you.”
Tom huffs. “I’m not joking. I can’t help how Sylvie feels about me. Trust me, I’ve done everything I can to be nothing but a good big brother to her. She doesn’t get it, but she will one day, and I don’t want her to feel stupid overreaching for something that will never happen.”
“I’m quite sure you could start with that. If she knows your answer is never, then I’d bet she’d stop trying. Girls have more pride than you think, and we rarely demean ourselves for someone who doesn’t want us.”
“Girls with entitlement don’t give up so easily. Their pride tells them they can have what they want even if they have to break everything to get it.”
Though the entitlement claim rings true, the destructive insinuation seems off with what I’ve seen so far. “Sylvie didn’t come across that way to me…”
“I’ve known her since we were kids. Trust me. Sylvie will be anyone she needs to be as long as she’s getting everything she wants too.”
I let Tom’s warning swim in my head while I wait for Aiden. It sheds a new spin on our shopping trip for sure because Sylvie made sure that day was as much about her as it was about helping me. Did that make me distrust her, or did it simply play into my suspicions about her loneliness? Was I used to get her a day out shopping and spending money? A day out of the compound? Some fun driving around and fending off the bodyguards?
Yes.
But I knew all that.
Does it hurt me for Sylvie to take what she can get out of my being here?
No.
Does she deserve to get picked up by Franz’s men in my place?
Absolutely not.
I still think Tom’s best course of action is honesty. She might hate him for a while, but she’d come around once she realised he would always be what he always was. A brother figure. Family. Still, it isn’t my place to get in the middle of their situation. I have enough on my plate with Aiden and Dax, and the newly discovered fact that Ben can make me blush.
Fuck. Life is such a shitshow.
My phone shudders in my palm and throws a twinge of pain through my wrist. The incoming beep sounds off a second after.
Meet me on basement parking level 2. Take the centre elevator straight down. I’ll wait for youat the bottom, Tiger.
“Looks like our time’s up, huh?” Tom nods to the phone in my hand is if he read the message for himself. “Got to admit, I’ll miss the company, but for once, I agree with my brother. It’s safer for you to be at the compound for a while.”
“I’ll check in on you again soon.”
“Promises, promises.”
“I’ll keep my word, but I’m going to need you to quit being an arsehole. I don’t pander to spoiled rich boys. If you hear from Sylvie or if she asks any more questions that seem out of place, call Aiden or Dax.”
“But not you?”
“Are you asking me for my number?”
“Would it bother you if I had it?”
“I guess not.”
“Good. I’ll get it from you now.” He holds out his hand, and I hesitantly pass my phone to him. He keys in his number and dials himself, then huffs in annoyance. “They’ve blocked your number. You’ll have to tell it to me instead.”
“I don’t actually know it.”
“What?”
“I never needed to…it’s new…I…”
