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Sadie barked impatiently, which only added to the rightness of the moment.
“It is pretty damn special,” Pepper whispered.
She tucked her hand in the crook of my arm and we strolled to the rescue.
“Miss Adeline always says everything will work out fine,” she said as I put my hand on the door handle. “I used to have my doubts, but now I believe she’s right.”
And those words were almost better than anI love youback.
Almost.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Teague
“Dad wants to see you.”
Lincoln appeared in the mailroom. I checked my watch. It was nearly midnight.
“What the hell? He sent you to fetch me? At midnight?” I finished sorting the stack of envelopes in my hand.
He pressed his lips together, clearly unhappy about the situation. That made two of us.
I loosened my tie and moved toward my brother. We fell in step on the way to the elevator.
“Why do you do whatever he says?” I asked while we waited.
Lincoln stared straight ahead. “Because it’s easier.”
There were deep-set lines spidering out from the corners of his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept much lately, though he hadn’t ever needed much sleep anyway. My brother was generally stoic and hard to read, but even he had trouble disguising that he was worn out.
“I don’t see how.” And I would never fully understand being at our father’s beck and call. I loathed every second of giving in to him.
“Did the attorneys think you have a case?”
I’d filled him in on the bare basics earlier in the day. And I wouldn’t have gone to see a lawyer without talking to my brother about it. We hadn’t had time to get into the details.
The elevator doors opened, and we stepped inside.
“They do.” I leaned against the back wall. “I’m not sure why I’m pursuing it when I’m stuck here until Dad decides I’m done.”
Lincoln flicked his eyes toward the camera in the corner in warning. The longer our father didn’t know about my legal suit, the better, but he already knew I wasn’t going anywhere until I was sure he’d leave Pepper alone.
We stopped on the lobby level, and Beau breezed in. She stumbled, startled, and put her hand over her heart. “What are you doing here?”
She stepped forward and the doors closed.
“I work the late shift, remember?”
She glared and straightened her wrinkled dress.
“Where have you been?” Lincoln lifted a brow, intimidating in a way only he could be.
“Nowhere.” Her answer was quick and sharp. “Have you been promoted?”
I hesitated a moment. She was deflecting. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to let her get away with it. “I’ve been summoned,” I finally said.
Worry turned her lips down. “Lucky you.”
