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“I’m afraid Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes have advised me that no one is to have access to the property without their prior consent,” the female voice replies.
“Could I recommend you turn on the TV to channel thirty-two? The Rhodeses are missing, presumed dead, and their children would like access to their home while they coordinate the search and rescue teams.”
For a moment, only fuzzy static fills the silence as we wait for the housekeeper to say something. “Please wait,” she eventually says, her voice shaky. The familiar beeping sound of the gates being opened echoes around us, and the imposing entrance slowly creeps open.
My breathing becomes ragged as I stare up at the house I grew up in, and before I know it, I’m reaching for my sister and asking her for comfort as we confront the home we’ve both run from so recently.
She takes my hand, and for the very first time, possibly ever, we’re there for each other, and I feel her strength, her pain, her sorrow, and her anger, and it buoys me. Nodding at me, she smiles and then tips her head to the house. “It’s our home, not theirs. They might own it, they might have lived there for the last few years, but it’s ours, and so is the stuff inside. You ready?”
“Yes,” I say, nodding back at her.
Izabella is my sister, my twin. I’ve spent most of my life being jealous of her, then four years being truly awful to her. But even though I don’t deserve it, I think she loves me, and I think I love her, and I literally have no idea why it’s taken me until I’m eighteen to realize it.
The driver opens the door, and she climbs out first, not an ounce of fear on her beautiful face, and I follow behind her, stepping out into the bright sunshine as the guys all crowd around us.
I’ve lived in this house my entire life. Until four years ago, it was my home, but I’m not sure it has been since the day the will was read and I became a different person. This place has been my salvation, my cage, my torture chamber, and now it’s just a house. So many of my demons live inside the walls, but I want my things, I want my revenge, and I want to piss my parents off. So when the housekeeper rushes out of the front door, her hands clasped together at her chest, I step forward to greet her.
“Miss Rhodes, I’m Geraldine, I’m so incredibly sorry to hear about your parents. Please let me know what I can do?—”
“You can go,” I say, interrupting her, using my best Penelope voice.
“Excuse me?”
“My sister and I don’t know you. We would prefer to keep our grief private so you can go. Your wages will continue to be paid for the next two months, but your services won’t be required while we try to process everything that’s happening,” I state coldly, keeping my voice level and emotionless. My mom would be proud, it’s probably the best impression of her I’ve ever done.
“I…” The woman falters, looking from me to Izzy beside me, then to the guys, who I know must make an imposing picture lined up like sentinels behind us.
“The limo can take you anywhere you need to go. Me or my sister will be happy to provide you with a reference if you need one for your next position,” I say coldly, dismissing her with a stern look as I lift my chin and walk past her into the house.
Inhaling slowly, I step through the front door and into the foyer. The familiar scent of my childhood home fills my nose, making my stomach drop with displeasure. There’s no comfort for me here, not like there is on the boat with Hawthorn.
The others follow me into the foyer, and I turn and stare at the bewildered housekeeper, who rushes to the kitchen and comes back a moment later with a purse and jacket.
“I…” She falters again, obviously unsure of what she should do.
“Goodbye Geraldine,” I say, crossing to the front door and holding it open, blatantly gesturing for her to leave.
“Oh, well, er, okay. I’m so sorry about your parents,” she blurts.
“Thank you,” Izzy says, moving behind her and guiding her toward the door with a gentle hand on her back. “It was nice to meet you,” my twin says as she all but pushes her out the door, and with a fake smile, I close it on the poor housekeeper’s shocked face.
Silence fills the room as we watch Geraldine scurry down the steps and toward the limo, where the driver guides her into the back seat and closes the door. Only then do I turn to the others and slap my hand over my mouth as a half laugh, half gasp falls from my lips.
“Jesus, Pen, that was so harsh it was amazing,” Davis cries, his lips tipped up into a wide grin.
Prowling toward me, Hawthorn lifts me off the floor and spins us in a circle. “My girl is a serious badass,” he announces loudly before pressing his lips to mine in a hard kiss that makes my knees weak and my panties damp.
“Time for that later. Let’s get sorted in case your parents come back from the dead sooner than we planned,” Kip says. “Girls, go get whatever you want from your rooms while we head for your dad’s office and see if we can find anything interesting.”
“His safe is behind the mirror, his combination is twenty-six, thirty-two, ninety-five,” Izzy announces, kicking off her shoes and turning to pad barefoot up the stairs.
“How do you know that?” I ask as I push out of Hawthorn’s hold and follow her.
“It’s his locker combination from GAA, I overheard him telling Mom one time. There were some advantages to them pretending I didn’t exist.” She shrugs.
The stairs seem endless as I climb up to the first floor and toward my bedroom. The door is closed as I approach, and I pause at the threshold, mentally preparing myself for the room to be empty, for them to have destroyed all evidence of their disappointment of a daughter. Grabbing the handle, I turn it and push the door inward, shocked to find that my room is exactly the way it was the last time I was here.
Brow furrowed, I step inside, turning in a circle before I cross to my closet and throw the doors wide, finding it packed full of my clothes and shoes, just like it was before I left.
