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I stared at my phone for a moment. My life was getting weirder and weirder.
***
“It’s so good to see you!” Fergus wrapped his muscular arms around me and squeezed me tightly. “You look amazing, of course. That haircut is outstanding.”
“Good to see you, too, Ferg, but you’re laying it on a bit thick, don’tcha think?” I squeaked, wriggling to extract myself from his tight hold.
“Ugh. I know. I’m so obvious.” He sighed dramatically, flipping his hair back from his face. “Here’s the deal, darling. My boss is inside there and she wants to talk to talk to you. I’m afraid I got you here by quite nefarious means.”
“So, you lied?” I simplified it for him. “What does your boss want with me? Wait—who is your boss these days?”
He puffed out a breath. “I’m not getting dragged any further into this. I promise she won’t hurt you. Can you speak with her? For me?”
I blinked at him. We hadn’t spoken in years, but now he was calling in a favor? What the hell was up with that?
I wavered. I couldn’t even make sense of his phonecall, never mind why his boss wanted to speak with me. Who was his boss? Why did she want me?
Why the hell hadn’t I told him where to stick it and gone yet?
“I suppose I’m here now,” was what my mouth said. “Fine. But I’m not happy you lied to me.”
“Spoken like a true Fox.”
“Of which I am not,” I reminded him.
He shrugged and opened the door. The whole adopted thing had never bothered him, and he’d never bothered to make the distinction that I was only a Fox because my mom had married into them before I was even born.
“She’s at the back. Oh—you should know, she wants to discuss your brother, and I am wholly responsible for this.”
“Damien? What the—Fergus!”
“Whoopsie. Shouldn’t have said that. Onward!”
A nervous giggle escaped me. My stomach twisted, and I pressed my hand against my chest. My brother? What could possibly be the point of this conversation?
Fergus led me right to the back where the booths were, and then even further into the corner. He motioned for me to wait back behind him.
I could barely see the profile of a young woman sitting in the booth. Fergus approached her, and with a hand to her shoulder, said, “Dahlia?”
She turned her head toward him with a smile.
“Dahlia, this is Perrie. Perrie, Dahlia.” He did an awkward hand wave between us as he stepped back.
The woman—Dahlia—stood up. I was first struck by her height—she was a good inch or two taller than I was. Second, it was how beautiful she was. Not just in her looks, not that her long, dark hair, warm face, and dark blue eyes weren’t beautiful, because they were, but because of the aura she gave off.
Kind. Caring. The kind of person you could trust instantly.
If you weren’t me.
Her eyes flitted across my body, looking me over head to toe. Uncomfortable with both her scrutiny and the silence, I decided to break it.
“Dahlia. It’s lovely to meet you,” I said softly, offering her my hand.
She took it. “You, too.” Her smile was just as warm as her eyes were, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile.
I wasn’t fucking happy about this, and I didn’t understand what the hell was happening or why I was here.
I let go of her hand and moved to sit opposite her, but not without shooting Fergus a death glare. The look obviously jerked him into motion, because he clapped his hands with a, “Bye, now,” and disappeared like the jerk he was.
“You want to talk about my brother.” Folding my hands on the table in front of me, I cut right to the point.
“I’m sorry for the deception.” She shifted uncomfortably.
“Fergus already assured me it was all his doing.” My lips twitched despite my unwillingness to smile. “If he hasn’t changed in the past few years, I have no reason to doubt it.”
“I’m almost entirely certain he’ll never change.”
“We’re already finding something we agree on, so that’s a good start.” I paused for a moment. “What about my brother?”
She balked a little at the coldness of my tone, but discussing Damien Fox had never been a favorite pastime of mine as an adult.
Or as a child. As a teen, he’d been everything to me. That had changed.
She tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed. “I’m sorry. I have no idea what to say. This was a good idea in theory, but now, not so much.” She reached for her water and sipped.
No shit, lady. “Discussing my family is never a good idea, theoretically or otherwise.” I pulled my clutch purse onto my lap and looked her in the eye. “If all we’re discovering is that this is a waste of both our time, then you’ll excuse me. I have to get my daughter from school soon, and I’d rather change if I have the time.” I stood, gripping the end of the table.
