Page 57 of Shameless Expectations

“Of course she is!” Fallon yelled. “She gave birth to you. I was there! I was in the room with her when you were born.”

“Jesus Christ, Fallon. Everyone knows that damn story by now. Give it up already. You aren’t some saint who raised me after she died. You were a kid. Tia raised us.” Monti’s heart raced, and she glanced toward Athena’s office door, which creaked open. Of course she would be in there and not in the library waiting for Monti to arrive. Of course she would witness this disaster that was about to unfold.

“Because I’ve been there for every part of your life! I will be there for every part moving forward.”

“You don’t have to be!” Monti shouted back. Her cheeks reddened as embarrassment pulled through her. Athena was going to see everything unfold. The line of ethics was going to be broken even more. Monti should have known this was going to happen, that working with Athena who also worked with Fallon was going to come full circle in a pit of hell at some point. Well, today was the damn day.

“Yes! I do!” Fallon’s chest rose and fell sharply, her cheeks red with anger, her eyes wide with fury. “I’ll never let you down like they did.”

“For fuck’s sake, they didn’t let me down. It’s not like mom chose to die!”

“Fallon,” Athena’s voice was quiet.

Fallon didn’t even hear her as she bulldozed her way to the next point of her argument. “You can’t even bring yourself to visit her.”

“She’s not fucking there!” Monti flung her hands out at her sides, wincing when she saw Athena jerk back in surprise. Fuck, she hadn’t meant to trigger Athena in the same moment that she was fighting with her sister. Why couldn’t she have just left well enough alone and not taken the bait into an argument?

“How can you say that?” Fallon’s eyes teared up. She was about to snap. Monti had seen it happen so many times over the years that she knew exactly where this was headed.

“Fallon.” Athena stepped closer, standing right in the middle of them. There was no way Fallon could avoid seeing her now.

“Shit,” Fallon mumbled. She brought her hands up to her cheeks and brushed away the tears that freely fell.

Monti wanted to step in and give her a hug, give her the support Fallon needed, but she couldn’t bring herself to be that compassionate person right now. Not when all of her wires were crossed and telling her to fire insult after insult until they just blew up and didn’t talk for the next six months like normal.

“Take a walk if you need to,” Athena suggested. “We can talk when you get back.”

Fallon shook her head. “I should really get to—”

“Take a walk, Fallon.” Athena’s words were sharp and direct, but when she spoke, she was looking directly at Monti.

Fallon pursed her lips, her eyes wide as if Athena had never talked to her like that. Monti knew otherwise, though. Athena could be cruel to her sister, especially when she was stressed. Fallon had told her about it several times over the years.

Monti stayed put as Fallon snagged her jacket from the hook and shoved her arms into it. She was still pissed off. Monti could see that from a mile away, and she knew Athena was no idiot either. Perhaps a walk was exactly what Fallon needed right now. But that would leave Monti alone with Athena, which was exactly what she didn’t want right now.

Fallon stalked past Monti, bumping purposely into Monti’s shoulder as she headed for the door. Monti cringed but said nothing and barely even moved as she waited for the door to slam behind her. When it didn’t happen, she opened her eyes to look directly into Athena’s pale blue ones.

Her heart stuttered.

“I guess we all have it in us to be petty.”

Monti snorted loudly. She shook her head, her lips curling upward. Raising her hand to her mouth, she tried to hold back her laughter, but she couldn’t manage it. Laughing loudly, Monti did the only thing she could think of. She snagged Athena’s hand and squeezed it hard before letting go. “Fuck, yes.”

“I’ve never seen Fallon that upset before.”

“Clearly you don’t know what buttons to push.” Monti winked. “Little sisters are the best for that.”

“Hmmm.” Athena glanced toward Fallon’s desk as if she was still sitting there. “I’ll have to take your word for that. I don’t have a sibling, and since Simon is an only child…” Athena trailed off with a small shrug of her shoulder. “What were you two arguing about?”

Monti sighed heavily. She really didn’t want to talk about it, especially not here. Besides, how much of it was her story to tell and how much of it was Fallon’s? If Fallon hadn’t told her, then Monti didn’t want to be the one to break that silence. It would change Athena’s view of both of them. And if Monti were the one to share? It would break even more ethical boundaries that really needed to be in place right now.

“It’s not important.”

“I’m pretty sure you would tell me otherwise if positions were reversed.”

Positions.

Athena naked on the bed, staring up at her with complete vulnerability in her eyes before she writhed to orgasm flashed through Monti’s mind. She really didn’t need that memory to pop back up now. She needed to end this relationship—quickly. Monti needed to move on and find somewhere else to explore immediately.

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