Page 68 of Pretty Lies

“Well—”

J didn’t give her time to talk before he said, “I noticed he didn’t look happy. Also, when you texted, you did finish it off with I just suck at men.”

“Could you say it with less … judgment?”

“No judgment here, sis.”

Right.

Just a brother who loved her.

Della sighed. “We can talk about it later.”

“Summarize. Maybe you’ll feel better.”

Would she?

That was the real question.

Folding her arms over the tweed coat she’d thrown on, Della steeled her spine. Better to just get it out. “He heard what I said about him to you—you know, that he’s not any better than Luis, basically. I think I hurt his feelings. We had a fight. I feel bad. Also confused. Seems like him and I have managed to make something out of nothing. So it’s nothing, really. Just my usual nonsense. We can talk about it later.”

J would tell her she was being ridiculous.

Or something.

But later.

“Okay, we’ll get back to this later,” J said. “But that’s usually how great things start—from nothing.”

Della’s head popped up. The floor had been interesting to stare at for a moment, but now her gaze was drawn to her brother behind the desk. “What?”

“I know I told you to look after yourself where he’s concerned, but I meant that for you. Because maybe you need some time after everything. Not because Cory isn’t a decent guy, all right.”

Huh.

Well, then …

“So, it’s just me?” she asked.

J gave her a look. “I didn’t say that, either. Our past shapes everything. Until people prove otherwise, why should you give them a chance?”

Della dropped his stare. It was easier. “That’s a fact if I ever heard one. Not that it matters. Cory probably thinks I’m fucking crazy with the way I’ve whipped back and forth the past few weeks. I sound crazy, J. Like, I can hear it myself. I’m not that out of touch.”

That earned her a laugh from across the room.

Her brother grinned. “I hear that’s Cory’s type, actually. His brother told me once he liked chicks as crazy as him on his best days. Doesn’t mean you gotta be crazy like him. Just your own special brand. Maybe you’re making something out of nothing after all and that’s entirely the point. Maybe something in you likes something that it found in him. Or vice versa. Like I said, lots of great things come from nothing, Della.”

When had her brother become so wise?

It was like everything in her life was changing from one day to the next. This was why she came here, though. She needed her brother to tell her the truth. Look at her crazy, make sense of it, and lay it out on the table for her point-blank-period.

J flipped his palms up, still looking like the cat that ate the cream. “I’m just saying. Plus, what are the chances you might be in a state over all of this because of what’s happening with the business side of things?”

That had Della thinking. “What do you mean?”

“Cory’s here for work. At the end of it. Lately, work has been its own problem for you. If you’re not able to do your own job, you feel like people are stepping in on it over you—men. Are you mixing the two things instead of dealing with them separately? Everything that’s just business stays just as business. Private problems stay private. That kind of thing.”

He had a point.