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Khloë’s twin brother raised a brow. “Where would be the fun in that?”
Jolene glanced around. “No Tanner? I told him to meet us here at exactly eight—” She cut off at the knock on the door. “Ah, good.” The Prime disappeared down the hallway. Moments later, she returned with the pooch in tow.
The moment his golden eyes landed on Devon, all her hormones sighed in feminine appreciation. Her stomach twisted as he gave her a slow, intense perusal that was nothing short of an eye-fuck.
He flashed her a crooked smile. “Here, kitty, kitty.”
Her inner demon rolled its eyes and huffed in annoyance. Devon bared her teeth at him and sniped, “Clearly the lifeguard wasn’t looking when you dived in the gene pool.”
He chuckled. “Such a cranky kitten.”
“Such a mangy mutt.”
Ciaran chuckled. “You two argue like … well, cat and dog.”
“Funny.” Devon put her hands on her hips. “Where are we meeting Finn?”
“At his home,” replied Jolene. “You ready to leave?”
Devon nodded. “Whenever you are.”
And so, mere minutes later, her father’s butler was showing them into Finn’s parlor. Like the rest of the oversized house, it was spacious and immaculately clean. Sure, it was beautiful with the crown molding, expensive chandelier, and baby piano, but the parlor made her think of a showroom. It just didn’t have any personality.
Devon sank into the sofa, frowning when Tanner took up a position behind her … like a sentry or something. Jolene and Ciaran, however, took a turn about the room. Devon was just about to ask them not to steal anything when two people elegantly strode inside.
Tall, lean, and well-groomed, Finn wore his usual imperious frown. The beautiful, curvy woman at his side—his adviser as well as his partner—always wore the ghost of a smile … but that smile never failed to slip from Leticia’s face when she was in the company of Devon. Really, given that Devon’s mom had the one-night stand with Finn while he was in a relationship with Leticia, who could blame the woman for resenting the sight of the child who came from that one-night stand?
She wasn’t a bitch to Devon, though. Never took out her hurt on her or tried cutting her from Finn’s life, which was more than Devon would have expected.
Finn’s pace faltered slightly when he saw her, and his frown briefly smoothed out. “Devon? I didn’t realize you were coming.” He took in the other people in the parlor, and his questioning gaze danced back to her.
It probably should have been sad that he hadn’t given her a hug, a smile, or even a hello. But she and Finn had never had a father-daughter relationship. He was more like a distant uncle who’d do something for her out of some sense of obligation, but not out of love or loyalty.
She’d never felt like she’d “missed out.” For one thing, Russell was fucking awesome. For another, Finn wasn’t exactly fatherly with his other kids. He was the cliché workaholic who had a corner office and never took a day off unless the circumstances were dire—as in someone was dying.
Jolene stepped forward, all smiles and grace. “Ah, Finn, Leticia, always a pleasure. You both remember my grandson, Ciaran, don’t you? And I’m sure you’ve already met Tanner Cole at some point or other.”
“Yes, I have.” Unfailingly polite no matter the circumstances, Finn greeted both males before looking down at Devon once more. “Is something wrong?”
Devon gave him a weak smile. “Kind of, yeah.”
Leticia narrowed her eyes on Jolene. “You said that you and Finn had something important that needed to be discussed.”
“We do.” Jolene lifted her chin. “It concerns Devon, and she should be here for this discussion.”
The door opened once more. Two of Finn’s sentinels, Eric and Reena, entered. The stunning redhead bore a very strong resemblance to her mother, Leticia. When she caught sight of Devon, her mouth thinned. “Devon,” she greeted.
“Reena.” As she’d told Tanner, Devon had a somewhat complicated relationship with her three half-siblings. It was less awkward with Spencer as he was so much older than her and completely focused on the family businesses. He didn’t resent her for being the product of their father’s betrayal, but Reena did. The youngest of the trio, Kaye—who was only two years older than Devon—wasn’t as bitchy, but she wasn’t exactly accepting of Devon either.
Reena had made it clear that she thought Devon disloyal for not joining their lair. Honestly, though, Devon had a hard time believing that Reena really wanted her there.
Spencer, Reena, and Kaye all considered her job to be an absolute joke, since they didn’t place much stock in tattoos or piercings. And she knew it embarrassed them that their half-sister was part of Jolene Wallis’s lair, since that lair had a bad reputation.
Like Finn and Leticia, they were all about “appearances” and placed a lot of importance on social status. They liked to be seen at the right places with the right people. Liked chic clothes, fast cars, fine wine, and posh restaurants. It wasn’t that they were shallow, they were just far too concerned with what others thought.
