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“I’m getting the same deal as you. Three hundred grand when I’m thirty if I’m married.”
I scoff. “Of course. Well, that’s easy enough for you to fulfill.” Dash is all set to marry the love of his life in two months. “Just don’t mess up with Paige and you’re smooth sailing.” The truth of my words hits me, and a small spark of…not happiness exactly, but something like it brings a smile to my face. “That’ll be nice, huh? No more wealth imbalance between you and her.”
His fiancée’s family has way more money than we’ve ever hoped to see.
Dash shrugs. “I got over that a long time ago.” He drags his fingers through his already messy hair. “I’d rather have Wai Po.”
The sober mood returns, and we fall silent, sitting together but working through our own grief.
“What are we going to tell Mom?” he asks after some time has passed.
Of course, Dash still considers her in all of this. His relationship with our mother was never as toxic as mine.
“When was the last time you talked to her?” I ask.
He fidgets. “It’s been a while.”
“What’s a while?”
“A year.”
My head jerks back. “Really?”
Dash nods. “It was soon after we found Wai Po. I wanted Mom to meet Paige. I thought if things went well, I could tell Mom about our visit. I invited her to lunch. Just her. But she brought Dad.”
Our father would ruin any meal.
“What did he do?”
The skin around Dash’s mouth turns white, and I start making plans to pay my father back for whatever wrongs I’m sure he committed.
“Tell me,” I push.
After a long exhale from his nose, Dash relents. “He talked about Paige like he does Mom. You know? Like she was a pretty object I brought with me. Then he started talking about Uncle Mike and how I should come to work for the family business. And all the while, Mom is smiling like she’s having the best time. Like it was a reunion. Neither one of them asked Paige a single question.” He shakes his head. “I told Dad to stop bringing up Mike. That I’m never working for him again and the lunch was about Mom getting to meet Paige, not some criminal recruitment. He flipped. You know the way he does. One second he’s trying to charm me, the next he’s making threats and claiming—” Dash’s clenched jaw cuts off his explanation. After a stretch, he forces the rest of the words out. “Claiming the uppity bitch I’m dating has me by the balls if she won’t let me do real work.”
That seals it. Bill Lamont will get served a dish of piping hot revenge.
“We walked out. Haven’t seen either of them since.” My brother’s fingers lace together, so tight his knuckles go white. “Mom doesn’t know about the wedding. Or the engagement.”
“Are you serious?”
Dash nods, untangling his fingers only to shove them into his hair again. “If it was just her, then I’d tell her. Yeah, she wasn’t a great mom. I know that. But it’s not like she ever hurt any of us.”
Oh, little prince.Sometimes I have a hard time remembering my brother is a grown man. Especially when he says anything in defense of the woman who gave birth to us.
Doesn’t he know? There are more ways to hurt a person than just by laying your hands on them.
Not that I’d ever want him to deal with that pain.
He continues to explain, unaware of my thoughts. “But it’s like she can’t do anything without Dad’s permission. Or presence. And can you imagine him showing up to anything with the Herberts? With Paige’s dad?”
“Judge Herbert, you mean?” The idea brings back a smile. If an evil one. Mr. Herbert is an intimidating man, but not in the way my father always tried to be. Bill Lamont relies on his fists to inspire fear. That works fine enough when the person you’re going against is weaker than you. But Paige’s dad has a presence that leaves you wondering what you’ve done wrong and if he can discover your fuck-up just by looking at you. After getting over my initial defensiveness toward him, I realized I liked the man. “You think Dad would have the balls to show up?”
Dash shrugs, and I reach over to rub a reassuring circle on his back, finding my own sense of comfort in taking on my classic role of big sister. Ever since we were kids, I’ve always been his protector.
Well, me and Leo.
Until my twin decided to join the dark side.
