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Luke
“Skye,we’vebeenoverthis.Youcan’tjustgotorandompartieswithouttellingmeorJordy.Ican’tkeepyousafeifyouwon’tletme.”
She crosses her arms and glares at Jordy. “You just had to rat me out, didn’t you?”
His lips thin. “I warned you what would happen if you kept breaking protocol.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m 21. I can make my own decisions.”
“Yes, you can. And you can decide to tell us where you’re going, like a reasonable adult in your situation,” I say.
She huffs. “I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”
“Watch your fucking mouth. And if you’re going to act like this, then yes you do.”
“Fuck you, Luke. You didn’t have constant supervision at my age.”
“That’s because I was in the Marines, learning how to take care of myself.” I raise my eyebrow and she looks to the side. She knows I’m right, she’s just being stubborn.
Our mom died when I was a teenager, so when our dad died in a car accident on the coast while I was deployed, I became Skye’s legal guardian. That was almost six years ago. I was more terrified of being her provider than facing insurgents in Afghanistan. Bad guys are easy. Their motives are clear. But the idea of a jarhead raising a 15-year-old girl was ludicrous. I tried not to spoil her, but not having both our parents made me cling to her just as much as she clung to me. We got through it somehow. She’s strong willed and crazy smart like our father, who started a tech company from the ground up.
When he died I inherited it, along with the billions of dollars that it came with. Growing up, our parents never treated us like spoiled rich kids. They instilled in us a sense of honor and a strong work ethic. If we wanted something, we had to earn it. So when Dad died, and I became a billionaire overnight, it was hard to adjust. I’m still trying to figure it out.
I sigh and soften my tone. “Look, bug. I know it sucks. I get it. But you don’t have the luxury of living a normal life. You were born into this one, where bad people will hurt you to take the things you have.”
“But I don’t have those things! I won’t for another four years," she says, throwing her hands in the air.
“They don’t know that.” People think billionaires just have piles of money lying around. It’s a giant beacon to all the criminals who think they’re smart enough to take it. The money, I could not care less about. But Skye’s safety has always been my priority. I’ll die before anyone comes close to hurting her to get to our fortune, half of which she’ll inherit when she turns twenty five.
She sighs, relenting when she can’t argue with the facts. “Fine.” She turns to Jordy and gets in his face. “I’m going to a party tonight. And I’m going to have hot, dirty sex with a random stranger.”
She turns to me. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring condoms.” I wince and she turns back to Jordy and smirks, satisfied with our reactions, then storms down the hall of her apartment and slams her bedroom door shut behind her.
Jordy has the best poker face I’ve ever seen. But now his face is red and the veins on his forearms bulge as he clenches his fists. I’m angry too, but I know she’s just trying to get a rise out of us. At least I hope. I close my eyes and sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. I know she wants the freedom everyone wants at her age, but I can’t risk losing her, too.
Jordy composes himself with a sigh and turns to me. “You owe me a fucking raise.”
I chuckle. “Consider it done.”
Jordy and I were in the Marines together. When Dad died, they gave me an honorable discharge a year before my contract was up because I became head of our two-person household. Jordy was my boot, what we call new Marines, and I was his mentor for a few years. He’s quiet and hyper observant, but anyone who mistakes his calm demeanor for weakness is in for a surprise. He’s who I want by my side when we’re in the shit.
“No, it’s fine. She just frustrates the hell out of me. I do my best to give her space, but she keeps pushing,” he says.
I nod. “Yea, that’s a Reilly trait, I’m afraid.”
He smirks and sinks onto the sofa. I take the seat in the armchair across from him. Jordy isn’t with Skye twenty four seven. But he lives in the apartment next door so he’s close if she needs him. He left the Marines when his contract ended to come work for me. For the past four years, he’s been watching over Skye. It was a win-win for him. He gets to live rent free in his hometown, and I pay him a substantial salary to be on call for Skye whenever she needs him.
It was my way of giving her freedom and giving me peace of mind. But she’s been avoiding him and going out without telling us. I guess I should have seen it coming. Skye inherited my dad’s genius. She received her Bachelor’s in computer science when she was 19. She’s working on a joint master’s and doctoral program for business and computer engineering. I’m proud of her. She has plans to take over Reilly Tech and I know she’ll change the world someday, just like dad did.
At eighteen, I was terrified to tell my dad that I was joining the Marines instead of taking over for him as the head of Reilly Tech. Mom’s death was my fault. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. My mom paid for the mistake I made when I was fifteen. When it happened, everything changed. The guilt was eating me alive, and I needed to atone. My grandfather was a Marine and though he died when I was young, I remember admiring him. But it meant disappointing my dad by not taking over Reilly Tech.
I should have known he would be supportive. He told me he was proud of me for forging my own path. He wanted to keep the company in the family, so when he asked my older cousin Emilia to take over, she jumped at the chance. I own the company, but she runs it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
A few minutes later Skye comes strutting out carrying a gym bag. She’s wearing a poor excuse for a mini skirt and a sports bra thing that is two sizes too small with a loose fishnet crop top. Why even bother? She finishes the look with sky high ankle boots.
I know what she’s doing. She’s been doing it since she was 15. She might be book smart, but she still has a lot to learn when it comes to maturity. I school my features and stand. “Wow, bug. That’s some outfit.”
She adjusts the stupid fishnet thing and recovers from my unexpected comment, plastering on her fakest smile. “Thanks, you don’t think it’s too much?” She turns her attention to Jordy, who is doing a terrible job at hiding his reaction again. He glues his eyes to her face and frowns.
