Page 85 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

“Yo, sis, you want to introduce us to your stepdaughter?” Zach asked, his expression having changed from a concerned son to a cool guy with swagger the minute a beautiful girl his age entered the room.

I grinned and turned Emily to the side. She was all smiles, long blond hair, pretty eyes and a stunning face. This was going to be interesting.

Immediately her cheeks pinked up as she laid eyes on Zach.

“Zach, Maisie, this is Emily, Rhodes’ daughter.”

Maisie gave a tiny wave and then dipped her head, staring at her shoes and fiddling with her fingers nervously. Rhodes and I had already spoken last night about getting the kids into some therapy when we were back and settled in California. They’d been through so much and it showed, especially on Maisie.

“Hey,” Zach reached his hand out. “I’m Zach, and you’re beautiful.”

My mouth dropped open as Rhodes groaned loudly from behind us.

“Um, thank you. I’m Emily.” Her cheeks went from rosy to lobster red in an instant.

“Gorgeous name too. How old are you?” Zach smiled.

“I’m turning fourteen in a couple weeks. You?” she asked.

“Just turned fifteen.” He put his hands in his back pockets and puffed up his chest.

Oh, sweet baby Jesus…

“Okay, that’s enough, Romeo,” I clipped, pushing Em toward her father.

I looked at my mother for help, but she was sound asleep, little puffs of air leaving her mouth. The woman had been through hell and back and needed her rest.

“How about we all go get some lunch, get to know one another better?” Rhodes whispered.

“I’m game. I’ll sit next to Emily.” Zach suggested openly.

“You’ll sit between me and Rhodes is what you’ll do,” I grumbled, and he laughed.

Emily stayed quiet, which was shocking. The girl normally spoke a mile a minute. She was clearly smitten with my brotherflirting with her, still she went over to Maisie and held out her hand.

“Hi, I’m Emily.”

“Maisie,” my sister whispered, only glancing up from behind her overly long bangs for a moment.

“How old are you?”

“Um, I just turned thirteen.”

Emily perked up. “We’re the same age! This is so cool! We can have sleepovers every night if we want. I can introduce you to all my friends. They’ll love you! And you are so pretty, just like Maia.” She beamed.

Maisie finally lifted her head and looked deeply into Emily’s eyes. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

My heart cracked in half.

Her default setting was people being mean to her. My hands shook with the need to pull her against my chest and hold on tight so nothing bad could ever harm her again, but I couldn’t. She needed to see the world for what it really was. Filled with a lot of really good people. And Em was one of the best I knew.

“Well for one, you’re Maia’s sister, and I love Maia, so of course I’m happy to meet you. Plus, Dad says you three are coming to live with us. It’s been me, Dad, and Marisol for so long…”

“Who’s Marisol?” Maisie asked.

“Our house manager but she’s mostly a nosey, bossy grandma.”

“I heard that!” Marisol snapped from the door, carrying not only a backpack I recognized as Emily’s, but also her purse and jacket. She set her load on a nearby chair and came over to me. She hugged me and kissed my temple then scrutinized my face while making a tsking sound. “I will fix this with holistic herbal medicine.” She lightly grazed her fingers across my nose, black eyes, and cheekbone that was twice its size.

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