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Several expressions washedover their faces. For Dad it was shock followed by shame, fury, and then disappointment. For Jackson it was surprise, incredulity, and finally disgust.

I licked my lips, kicked my panties below the couch with as much dignity as I could muster and shook out my hair. “Maybe a little notice next time.”

“Dr. Meadows,” Mason said. “Nice to see you again.”

I’d never seen my father so primed to explode. “Mr. Bennet, you will leave right now if you plan on surviving the next five minutes.”

“Dad! You’re one to talk. Stay right where you are, Mason.”

“We have work to do,” Dad said through gritted teeth.

“Mason can help.”

Dad took a long, slow breath, staring up at the ceiling. “He can help best by putting some clothes on and talking some sense into his mother.”

“He’s right.” Mason’s touch grounded me. “My time is best spent trying to get my clearance back and talking down the Queen B.” He leaned down and kissed me softly on the cheek, tucking my hair behind my ear.

With a grunt of exasperation, I stormed into the bedroom, dressed as fast as humanly possible before anyone could kill anyone, and marched back out, tossing Mason his shirt.

He spared one fleeting smile before pushing between my father and brother on his way out the door.

I cleared my throat. “So, opening doors…”

“Jackson used Alyssa’s wristband to reprogram mine so the computer thinks I’m her. You and Jackson head down to Engineering. See what you can do to assist Alyssa, and I’ll work on releasing others.” Dad held up his arm with the wristband. “We’ve only got one programmed as a clone, so there’s no sense in all of us doing this.”

I nodded, but he caught my arm on my way out. “We should talk about this later.” Far from stern, he sounded sad.

“I’m my own person, and I make my own decisions. It’s time you realize that.”

I relaxed the moment I made it into the hall. Jackson fell into step beside me as I headed toward the stairs. Dad turned the other direction, headed for the room next door.

“I’m an ass,” Jackson said the moment the door clicked shut behind us.

“This is news to you?”

“Seriously. I pushed him right into your…hands. I didn’t like the way he was looking at Tasha last night, so when he asked about you, I told him what to do.”

“You really think he ended up in my room because you told him I like sushi?” I laughed, and it echoed down the empty stairwell.

“I guess I thought you’d be stronger than that. I mean, you were always so pissed off at Dad.”

I stopped at the last landing, spinning on my brother. “Do not EVER compare me to Dad. He cheated on Mom. What I did or didn’t do with Mason wasn’t hurting anyone.”

It hit me just before I shoved him in the chest. I did hurt someone. It wasn’t really cheating— I mean, Travis and I didn’t have a relationship or anything. No one ever declared love. But that didn’t stop me from feeling sick to my stomach.

Jackson tilted his head, and his coffee-colored bangs fell in his face. “You okay? You just stopped mid-tirade. That’s not like you.”

“I screwed up,” I admitted and felt my lower lip quiver.

“Shit, Sam, if you needed a condom—”

I smacked him hard on the arm. “You are such a prick.” Then I leaned back on the railing. “I don’t want to hurt either of them, Jackson. How do you do it?”

“How do I do what?”

“How do you go from one girl to another so smoothly?”