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“Would you believe a jealous lover?”
“Sweetie, you didn’t even know his last name.Iroll like that, but you don’t,” he drawled, taking a seat with me at the polished oval dining table and handing me an insulated cardboard cup of autumn goodness. “Who is he?”
“Mm.” I took a sip of coffee and closed my eyes in sheer bliss when it hit my soul. “His name is Ethan Echols. And my God, doesn’t this coffee taste like hayrides and corn mazes? Not that either of us would know anything about that, since Dad never took us to anything like that when we were kids. But still.”
“Usually because fun and wholesome things like that were church fundraisers, and he’d rather put out his own eyes than give a dime to any church, and you’re not answering me. Who just answered the door?”
“I told you. Ethan Echols. Echo to his friends, apparently.”
“I got that part, but that still doesn’t tell me who he is.”
I sighed, opened my eyes and gave him a wry look. “He’s a member of PSI. He’s got a team here putting in a bunch of high-tech security stuff. They’re upstairs now.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Kels gaped at me so deeply I could almost see his tonsils. “I thought you were supposed to get rid of them.”
My ears pricked up at the wording. “Supposed to? What does that mean?”
“It means that Tru told you to hit the eject button on these guys and get your ass back home. Don’t play dumb, I know you know this.”
“What surprises me is thatyouknow this. Why the hell are you two discussing the private conversation I had yesterday?”
“Excuse me, I thought I was part of the family,” Kels huffed in the saltiest tone the world had ever known. “The fact is, Tru was excited to share with me that you were coming back home where you fucking belong. He said you were going to kick the private security company to the curb.”
Honestly, the drama. “You are part of the family, Kels. You’re the brother of my heart, and that’s why I’m perfectly comfortable in saying that you should keep your big fat nose out of my fucking business. Dad should never have told you anything, least of all a bunch of crap that isn’t true.”
“So… wait. Tru didn’t tell you to get rid of the private security company?”
“No, he did tell me to do that.”
“And that he said you were to come home and take up a whole wing at the lake house, or whatever?”
Wow, they really did have quite the detailed conversation, didn’t they? “That happened, too.”
“Then how is that a bunch of crap?”
“I’m not doing anything he told me to do. I’m not Bobo the trained circus bear, jumping through his hoops and hoping I’ve earned myself a pat on the head for being such a good little performer for Daddy. I’m done with that life, Kels. Forever.”
“But…” He shook his frosted head, as if he couldn’t quite grasp the type of English I was using. “He seemed so sure you were coming home. I was going to throw a party.”
Aw. “Iamhome.” I gestured to the room around us, comfortable with every square inch of a place I’d made my own over the past three years. “I know my dad assumed that I would be the dutiful little girl I’d always been and do his bidding, but times have changed.I’vechanged. Once I got out on my own, I grew up a hell of a lot. No one can order me to do anything I don’t want to do. Not anymore.”
“Obviously.” Kels glanced toward the foyer when one of the workers moved through. “I mean, not only are you not coming home, you’re going all-in with these guys.”
“They’re the best in the business, Kels. Incredibly expensive, but worth it. If anyone can keep me safe, they can.”
“What about the one with the scary eyes? I take it he’s not part of this team?”
“You’re talking about Luke Keyes.” Who else could he mean? There was no one else in the same league as Luke when it came to scary eyes. “He’s not part of the tech team.”
“Thank God.”
“But he volunteered to be a part of my bodyguard detail.”
Again Kels gaped in a way that made me fear for the state of his jaw. “What the true and actualfuck.”
“I know.”
“That’s… I can’t…” Clearly flailing and caught between horror and amazement, Kels shook his head. “Get rid of him, Eden.”
