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The words are barely out of his mouth when my feet slow to a stop, and time stands still. My breath stutters, and my pulse quickens.
A young woman, small but curvy, stands before me in a shapeless dress and boring shoes. Her hair, the color of burnished copper, is bundled at the nape, tendrils of it escaping and framing her round face.
Her pale green eyes, fringed by long, dark lashes, blink once, twice.
Desire thunders through me, catching me off-guard.
Who the hell is this beautiful woman, and what is she doing under my father’s roof?
My synapses fail to function properly because my mind empties. I stand there, staring stupidly at someone whose beauty demands attention.
So, I give her all the attention I have.
My eyes make a quick sweep of her body. She’s a foot shorter than me, with curves that beg to be explored. And despite the unflattering outfit, I know she has a body I want to worship.
“Oh, good. You’re here. Lila, meet your stepbrother, Luca.” Dad darts his eyes between us, jabbing a finger at each of us as if we can’t tell who’s who. “Luca, this is who I called you about. Lila.”
None of us respond to him. Unfortunately, he takes that as an invitation to continue talking. “Lila here doesn’t want to come with us because it will ‘derail her life plans’.” He scoffs and lifts his fingers to do those stupid air quotes.
The way he so clearly implies she’s wrong to refuse to drop everything pisses me off. “No shit, Dad. I would do the same.”
He’s oblivious to the anger rolling off me and lays a hand on her shoulder, making me clench my fists. “She’s a guidance counselor, and she doesn’t want to leave the kids.”
“Why the fuck are you even leaving?”
“Listen, my business has gone to shit, and I need to go somewhere to cool down. I’ll be back in a few months.”
At this, Lila turns to him, her eyebrows scrunching. “You said you’d be on vacation.”
He waves her off. “Semantics, semantics. The point is your stepbrother here does bodyguard work for celebrities. At least, that’s what he tells me. He’s here to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?” Lila’s earlier confusion morphs into fury similar to mine, and she folds her arms over her chest. “What did you do?”
“Business gone sideways, okay? Happens all the time.” Dad pats her shoulder, as blind to others’ feelings as ever, and faces me. “Do it for family, okay?”
“She’s not my family,” I growl, stepping forward because I’m getting a picture of what’s going on, and I don’t like it.
“She is now.”
“What did you do, Dad?” We’re face to face, and he has to tip his head back to look at me. “Who did you fucking piss this time?”
He’s not fazed, which is pretty much what makes him a great con man. He can be in a life-or-death situation, and he’ll try to talk his way out of it. Most of the time, he’s successful.
That’s what makes this whole bizarre situation more suspicious. He’s never run away before.
“I may have made some bad investments, and the investors are none too happy about losing money. Who does?” He backs up and continues packing. “Don’t worry about it. When I’m not here, no one will come after her.”
He clicks the suitcase shut and saunters toward the door, looking at us over his shoulder. “My wife’s waiting in the car. Take care of her, Luca. We’ll be back before you know it.”
The door closes behind me, and deafening silence hangs in the air. I’m usually quick at thinking on my feet, but for some reason, I’m rooted to the spot.
I mentally rifle through my current problems.
What has Dad done, and to whom?
