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“Mackenzie?”
“Yeah?” He stopped walking, totally focused on her.
“Is Liam still with you?”
“He’s staying the week. Why?”
“Oh. I thought I’d bring my overnight bag but—”
“Bring it.”
“But—”
“Bring the damn bag, Lily, unless you want to go home in my boxers.”
There was a pause.
“Okay,” she said softly, and he could hear the grin through his phone.
Jesus Christ, it was going to be a long day.
Chapter 21
Lily picked up her sister’s d
irty clothes from the bathroom floor and walked down the hall to the guest room at the back of the house. Maddison was flopped on the bed like a limp Raggedy Ann doll, wrapped in a towel as she flipped through a magazine. It was nearly three in the afternoon, but her sister had slept until two—not surprising, considering she’d been up tweaking until four in the morning, high on God knows what.
Lily had come back from Mac’s Sunday morning to find Maddison and a friend—some loser called Thorpe who’d flown in from New York—naked, high as kites, and eating their way through her kitchen. They’d pretty much trashed Lily’s living room, including three of her paintings as well as her easel.
It had been a mess, one that triggered something in Lily she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Maybe it was because she was already in a mood, confused about Mac and what had just happened, or maybe she just needed to let off steam. Or maybe it was because something had snapped inside her, and instead of pushing it away, she had let it take life and then ran with it.
She had grabbed Maddison by the hair and dragged her, kicking and clawing and hissing like an animal, all the way back to the guest room. She threw her inside, grabbed a chair, and shoved it under the doorknob so Maddison couldn’t escape.
Thorpe was so out of it he didn’t even notice, and he didn’t move until the police showed up and hauled his ass away.
It had been one stressful afternoon and the evening hadn’t been any better. Maddison coming down from a high wasn’t something Lily would wish on her worst enemy. She was bitchy, whiny, and mean-spirited, with a viper tongue and a right hook that you would do good to miss.
Lily had a big bruise on her arm to prove it.
Maddison glanced up from the bed as Lily leaned against the door frame. Her sister’s eyes were puffy because she’d spent a good portion of the early morning sobbing like a baby. Whatever. Lily was over the emotional blackmail. God, was she over it.
“I’m leaving,” Lily said, tossing Maddison’s clothes onto the edge of the bed. “You’ve got less than an hour.”
Maddison’s head jerked up, and she rolled over until she was on her knees. “You can’t be serious.” Gone were the big eyes and pouty mouth. Maddison was all business now.
“I am.”
Maddison glared at her. “What the hell is your problem anyway? It was one mistake, and I told you that I’d pay you back for any damages Thorpe caused.”
“You don’t have any money.”
Maddison’s eyes slide away. Score one for Lily.
“I’m sorry,” she said, eyes on the floor.
“I don’t care.”
Maddison glanced up sharply.
