Page 113 of Icy Cold Death

Lianna, peeked her head into the room. Her black and blue swollen eyes had healed, and she looked normal. Only, Julian could see the difference in her.

This was an abused woman who was now afraid of everyone, even her own brothers.

Yeah, she was gun shy.

“Hey,” she said softly. In her voice, Julian heard a myriad of things.

It was clear that she knew this wasn’t going to be a fun meeting on a Saturday for anyone.

“Come on in and have a seat, Li.”

At his words, she came in, sat down, and didn’t say a peep.

Julian could see the tremor in her body as she braced for it.

God.

This sucked.

What he wanted to do was be her brother. What he had to do was be the boss. So many of their livelihoods rode on this business.

The Littlemoons weren’t wealthy.

They were hard workers who earned every penny they made.

“We have to discuss the job here, and the situation that’s been going on with your twin,” he said, warning her the best he could.

This would be the most important meeting of her life with this company.

She said nothing.

That was likely for the best.

Julian pushed on.

“Over the last few weeks, just being here has caused a shitstorm,” he said.

Lianna stared into his gold-flecked brown eyes and was honest.

“That wasn’t my intent, Jules. Really. I apologized to Claire. Well, I tried to. I feel horrible about what I did to her all those years ago. I was blinded by love, and I didn’t see the monster behind that.”

He understood, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t an issue. His sister burned his other sister in the worst possible way.

Betrayal.

As a victim of it, he knew how Claire felt, and he also knew that he’d never forgiven his ex. This didn’t bode well for Lianna.

“We have to work out a solution, Li. This is disrupting the whole company. Claire is hella pissed about this. She’s on the warpath.”

Before they could continue, there was an interruption.

Julian was surprised when heard another knock, and he prayed it wasn’t Claire showing up early.

Jesus.

That would be bad.

“Who is it?” he asked.

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