Page 45 of Save Me

“Come on, Eve,” Stasi says after slamming the book closed. “We need to go check on dinner anyway.” She looks my way with the biggest smile on her face. “Mom let me cook everything tonight. Not just the dessert.”

She sounds so proud of herself.

I cup my little sister’s face and kiss both of her cheeks. “I know it’ll taste amazing.”

Her face, a few shades lighter than mine, reddens from the compliment.

“Of course it will,” Riley adds. “Stasi made brownies for us last week, and oh my god!” She groans while shaking her head. “I’m not even a huge chocolate fan. My sweet tooth has been overactive lately, though.” Her gaze moves toward the ceiling briefly before looking back at me.

“I’ll make some more if you want,” Stasi offers. “You too, Ken. Anything for my big sisters.” She hugs both me and Riley before breaking away. “Come on, Eve. You can finish explaining that trig problem to me while I teach you how I spatchcocked tonight’s chicken.”

“Those two,” Riley says sweetly as she watches them head up the hallway to the kitchen.

“They’re adorable,” I add.

“Hey, Mommy,” I greet as we enter the living room.

She pulls me into a hug, followed by my father’s strong arms. I inhale his familiar scent. The one that always made me feel safe and protected as a kid.

“Hi, Daddy,” I say into his shoulder.

“Baby,” he says, still holding me in a hug. He looks down at me. “When are you moving back home?”

I roll my eyes because this is the question he always asks when I come home for a visit, which is frequent. I live only about twenty minutes away in the city.

“I thought you couldn’t wait for all of us to move out,” I tease. “So you can have more alone time with Mom.”

His lips dip into a frown, but I know it just means he’s thinking.

“You wouldn’t move back into the main house.” He juts his head toward the back of the house. “I’ll build you a place out back. Right next to Stasi’s.”

He says it’s a viable solution.

“No, thank you,” I say.

His frown deepens. “I’ll get you to move back home eventually,” he says with authority.

I stop myself from rolling my eyes. “Speaking of …” I pull away from his hug and look around the living room. “Where’s Kyle?”

“Right here,” my twin responds from behind me.

“I need to ask you two something.” I look between my brother and father. Both of their gazes are so intense staring down at me. Their resemblance is uncanny sometimes. The only difference is my brother is noticeably younger, and his skin is a few shades darker than my father’s from our biracial heritage. Yet, they could be twins.

“My job,” I say, starting with a question I’ve needed to ask them for weeks. I pause and look between them to see if their expressions change.

Aside from curious looks, they remain the same.

“Did either of you have anything to do with my getting hired at The Regal?”

My father’s forehead wrinkles as he folds his arms. “Why are you asking this again?”

“That’s not a no.”

“You want an answer, you’ll give one first,” he insists.

I push out a breath, knowing he won’t answer until I do. That’s how my father works.

“I need to know … for me,” I answer honestly. “Because this is mine, and I want to ensure that I wasn’t hired because of some closed-door favor by one of your business associates.”

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