Page 26 of The Rebel Billionaire

Though maybe it was time to buy better locks. Or have the Sinclairs install some basicsecurity.

Justincase.

At that thought, I relaxed enough to fall into my book, if not tosleep.

CHAPTERSEVEN

CHARLIE

Finally,dawn pearled the overcast sky a luminous gray. The soft light chased away the last of my fear and I pushed my tablet aside. Closing my eyes, I drifted into an uneasysleep.

It didn't last long. I'm one of those people who wakes up at the same time every day, no matter when I go to sleep. Even missing half a night’s rest, my eyes popped open beforeeighta.m.

That was about the best I could do when it came to sleeping in, but it was better thannothing.

I dragged myself off the futon and pulled up the sheet and blanket, folding them over neatly. I'd grown up with a housekeeper, but the Winters children made their own beds.Everyday.

My mother always said it was enough of a job to beat back the dirt, fingerprints, and crumbs we left all over the house. Mrs. Williamson didn't need to deal with making our beds or cleaning ourrooms.

Coffee. I needed a cup of coffee. Preferably many cups of coffee. Standing in my bathroom, I reached for a hairbrush, planning to tie my hair back in a messy ponytail when I caught sight of my face in themirror.

I grinned at my reflection. My new haircut looked pretty damn good first thing in the morning. Messy, wavy curls framed my face, needing only a swipe with wet fingers totamethem.

I pulled on a pair of jeans and another T-shirt before stumbling down the hall into the kitchen, headed straight for my newcoffeemaker.

In the light of day, my panic from the night before seemed childish. Sipping from my mug, I approached the back door, my shoulders tight. Boldly, I flipped the deadbolt, turned the handle, and swung thedooropen.

As I'd suspected, everything looked normal. There was no sign that anyone had been on the porch the night before. I stood in the open door, both hands wrapped around the warm mug, breathing in the fresh morning air and listening to the sounds of theneighborhood.

Voices. A car starting. The beep of a truck backing up. My little street was removed from the main drag, but all in all, it was a much livelier neighborhood than what I wasusedto.

Ilikedit.

I let out a breath, the tension in my shoulders unknotting, when I saw it—a cigarette butt crushed into the grass at the bottom of thesteps.

It doesn't mean anything, I reassuredmyself.

Just because I hadn't seen it the day before, just because I didn't smoke and Lucas didn't smoke, didn't mean it wasn't from one of the contractors or workmen who'd been in and out of the house over the lastmonth.

Just because I hadn't seen it yet, didn't mean it had been dropped the night before by the mysterious shadow at thebackdoor.

I wasn't going to jump to conclusions. The last thing I needed was to go rushing off to my brothers or my cousins, panicking about someone trying tobreakin.

Before I could insist I was fine, they'd bundle me up and drag me home. Or worse, move inwithme.

I stared at that cigarette butt for a very longminute.

Refusing to consider the reasoning behind my actions, I picked it up by the charred end, carried it into the kitchen, wrapped it in a paper towel, and carefully placed it in an envelope of papers I had propped up against the wall of thekitchen.

Checking my phone for the time, I decided it wasn't too early to call Sinclair Security. I dialed Evers's direct line, hoping he was in theoffice.

He wasn't. I left a message explaining that I needed an upgrade on the security at my new house and asked him to callmeback.

I'd get faster service if I went through the front desk, but then everyone—everyone meaning both my family and the Sinclairs—would know I needed fast service and they'd want to know why, what was wrong, and try to talk me intomovinghome.

It was easier to play itcasual.

Fatigue weighed on me. My early morning nap didn't make up for the hours I'd missed when I should've been sleeping. I longed for my bed, but just like I couldn't sleep in, I was not a goodnapper.