Page 87 of Hired Help

The unlikelihood of that scenario makes me smile, even if nerves soon wipe the expression from my face. “And you brought your father because…?”

Daegan steps forward, cupping my shoulder and kissing my cheek in welcome. “Because you said you wanted both of us so both of us is what you get.”

Harrison doesn’t react quickly enough to hide his surprise, but he also doesn’t contradict him. I blink, moving my gaze from one to the other, then opt to take them at face value until they give me a reason not to.

“You’re going to visit your stepmother?” Daegan asks and I nod. “You don’t mind if I tag along, do you?”

“If we both tag along,” Harrison interjects, frowning.

My eyes choose him to rest on, trying to imagine the scene that brought about this unlikely family reunion. He meets my gaze, steady, calm, dependable. There’s a hint of a smile on his lips that makes him look identical to the Harrison of a few months ago.

I wonder where he found that boy, how hard he had to work to slip back into his old skin.

“Alicia always loved a party.”

My voice is light, but a river of emotion is dammed behind it. All my memories of Alicia—most of them happy—are in a vault, sealed up tight. Once I’ve confronted her, have her response, I’ll be able to take them out again, reexamine them in a new light.

Until then, I need to stay removed. Don my familiar armour to ensure any attack won’t do more damage than I can sustain.

If I start thinking of the ways she manipulated Harrison, hurt me, I’ll go screaming into a meltdown.

“Harrison showed me the video,” Daegan says and my core freezes over. Then he adds, “It’s fake, yeah?” and I thaw in relief.

I nod, fighting to keep my emotions in check as the gratitude flows through me. That he could trust in me rather than believe the evidence in front of his eyes.

But when his face pinches, ready to ask another question, I cut him off, derailing him along a tangent because I don’t think I’ll be able to talk through the implications of the video right now. “Are you two, okay?”

“Yes,” Harrison says firmly. “Although I’m not at all sure about this marriage business. That’s just weird.”

The mildness of his reaction tells me he’s trying. I try to match his energy as I tease, “Says the boy with an engagement ring stashed somewhere.”

“It’s not stashed anywhere,” he says sadly. “I threw it away.”

“Brooke Ellis?” a suited attendant calls from the front desk. “Your plane is ready.”

“Oh, shit. No, it’s not.” I hurry over, waiting for her to connect me to the pilot. “Change of plans. We have another two on board for the flight.” I wave the pair over to provide their weight to the pilot, then we move into the private lounge while they arrange for further fuel. “Where did you throw it?”

“Into a lake,” Harrison shamefacedly admits. “But I can get you another.”

“Not if I’m marrying her first, you can’t.”

Harrison whirls, pointing a finger in his father’s face. “You arenotmarrying my girlfriend. You’re far too old for her.”

“No, you’re far too young. Your poor mother will have a heart attack.”

“She won’t. She loves Brooke.”

“Not when she finds out she’s shagging her ex, she won’t.”

I relax into a chair, entranced by the display. Confused and bewildered, but also with a rising tide of joy.

“How about I decide who I’m marrying, and you can support whatever decision I make?”

Harrison snorts. “Sounds dangerous.” He throws himself into the next seat along, the fingers of his right hand curled near his mouth, the left splayed on the armrest, pinkie reaching out to touch mine. “Is it really not you on the video?”

Daegan falls silent, shifting uneasily before taking a seat to my left. For the moment, I ignore Harrison, already knowing where his belief lies. “You said you watched it?”

He picks up my hand, opening the top button of his shirt and resting my palm against the winged tattoo that covers his heart. “I saw a few seconds of it.”

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