Page 17 of Protecting Gina

His spine stiffened, and Gina’s lips spread in a smile. No question, she could tell he was uncomfortable with Cass knowing they had slept together. Maybe that was too harsh a thought. He wasn’t embarrassed that they’d slept together, but he still saw Cassandra as a child and didn’t want her to know he’d slept with Gina, at least not yet.

If Gina stayed here overnight, it would be obvious what they were doing. He didn’t need to feel weird about this. He was an adult, and so was Gina. They had nothing to hide or be ashamed of.

Gina took another bite of her pizza as Cassandra stepped into the kitchen. “Nice, pizza. I’m starving.”

He wanted to tell her to back off, but this was her home. He was the outsider here. Of course, in a few months, this house would belong to another family. Cassandra had to be upset about leaving her home, even if she was looking forward to starting college.

“I got food, but we only ordered appetizers.” Cass grabbed a slice and began eating.

He turned and met Gina’s gaze. She winked, then turned to Cassandra and struck up a conversation. Wave grabbed his phone and checked his email, seeing a note from Tex. He’d found out more about this guy, Pete. Now there was information that he’d served time for assault after almost killing a woman. The dude was bad news.

Wave looked up and met Gina’s gaze. He didn’t like the idea of her being alone. It would be safer for her to stay here.

“Everything okay?” Cassandra asked.

“Um, well⁠—”

“Just spill it. It’s not like I’m a kid.”

She was and wasn’t. Legally, she was an adult. He’d joined the Navy when he’d been eighteen. He wasn’t going to treat her like a child. And he needed Gina to know that this Pete guy really was dangerous.

“My buddy got back to me with more information. The man Gina is being hounded by is very dangerous. He was arrested for assault and served time. He almost killed the woman he assaulted. He isn’t a good person.”

Cassandra raised her hands. “Whoa, wait a minute. Who is this guy?”

Gina blew out a breath. “I don’t really know him. He was assaulting a woman, and I helped her escape. Now the guy thinks I have something of his. Like, he thinks the woman handed something off to me. She didn’t. I don’t know what he thinks I have, but I’ve got nothing.”

Cassandra shook her head. “Shit. That sucks.”

“Yeah. He knows where I work. He came after me, and your brother stopped the attack.”

“Oh.” Cassandra raised her eyebrows as she stared at him. “You stopped the attack.”

“I just stepped in, and she was able to get away.”

“You did more than just step in. The man he sent after me was dangerous, and this Pete guy is unhinged. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t interrupted him.”

Cassandra grabbed another slice of pizza. He needed to grab more food, too, but he wasn’t going to tell Cassandra to slow down. He could fix himself a sandwich if he needed food.

“I knew my brother was good, but I didn’t know he was that kind of good.”

He chuckled as he moved to the refrigerator. He needed to go to the store and pick up more food. His sister was still young, and her metabolism was high. She ate a lot, which she needed, but he would have to really think about food and make sure they had enough.

“I know we need to clean out the house and get it ready to sell, but I think tomorrow we should do something fun. With Mom being sick, I had little time to do anything other than school and go to the hospital.”

“What would you like to do?” Wave asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe go to the adventure park and ride some rides.”

Wave nodded. “Sure. We can spend tomorrow having fun. We’ll ride everything you want to, eat some crazy food, and have a good time.”

Cassandra was right. They needed to spend time just having fun. His sister had been through too much lately. Their mother dying had been stressful for both of them.

Cassandra turned to Gina. “Do you want to come?”

“Um, I don’t know.”

“Come on. It will be fun,” Cassandra said.