Page 130 of The Dollhouse

In fact, it was someone whose face was kind of familiar. A short, petite blond whose blue eyes twinkled up at me. Coupled with the smile she wore, she was pretty, and I knew instantly what kind of girl she was. The kind that was used to getting men tripping over themselves to reach her, someone who knew how to flash her smiles and flirt her way out of any traffic ticket.

The old me might’ve fallen for it, might’ve wanted Roman to pull someone like her into the back of the Dollhouse so I could fuck her long and hard, but not today. Not this me. I didn’t even picture what the girl might look like without clothes on; a definite sign of growth for me.

“Um, hi,” she spoke, reaching up and twirling a finger in her yellow hair. “My name is Willow, and I’m—”

“You’re Zoey’s sister,” I spoke with a frown, now knowing why the girl had a slight familiarity to her. I wanted to shut the door in her face, but at the same time, I was kind of curious as to why she was here, how she’d found us, and what the fuck she thought she was doing here without Zoey.

Doing some snooping? Some investigative work before the dinner on Sunday? In the end, it wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t like I was going to let her in and let her peek around the house.

“I am,” she spoke, still smiling at me. “I see she’s talked about me.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “She had lots to say about you and your parents. Why exactly are you here, Willow?” I tried not to come off sounding too grumpy, but it was a lot harder than it should’ve been. I was angry on Zoey’s behalf, and whatever this girl thought she’d get from me, she’d only leave this house sad and empty-handed.

“Could I come in?” she asked, blinking those big, blue eyes up at me.

I wondered what Zoey would want, what she’d want me to do in this situation. Refuse Willow and send her packing, or play her game and see what she hoped to accomplish here? Probably the latter, while the former was something I would do.

So, instead of doing that, I did what Zoey would hopefully want and stepped back, holding the door open for Willow and thereby letting her in the house.

Willow would not stop smiling at me, like she thought her nonstop grinning had made me relent. “Thank you,” she said. As she walked in, she took in the house, noted the pictures hanging on the walls, the furniture, everything. She was very perceptive, and as she studied the house, I examined her.

She walked like she owned the place, except unlike Zoey, her confidence had a cocky swagger that pushed her over the edge. It was too much. She acted haughty, much like most people did around here, I think, like they believed they were better than you.

Better than me, maybe, but she sure as shit wasn’t better than Zoey.

I brought her into a sitting room, and even though I didn’t tell her it was okay to sit, she took a seat anyway, right in the middle of an elegant couch whose pattern made my eyeballs want to bleed. She flipped her blond hair over to her other shoulder, the motion calling to attention her slender figure and the curve of her neck.

Neither one of us said anything for the first few moments, mostly because I didn’t know what to say and she was probably in her own head, wondering how to go about this. Whatever the fuck this was.

She was the one who broke the silence first, blue eyes on me as she asked, “How long have you and Zoey been together?”

Fuck if I knew. I didn’t keep track of time, nor did I care to start doing it. It felt like forever, but obviously forever it was not. Keeping a fucking calendar was not my favorite pastime.

So, in the end, all I did was shrug. “I’m not sure how long, but a while.”

“And what do you do…” She trailed off, and I could tell she was hoping I’d give her my name.

I didn’t. Instead, I said, “I make sure the streets are clean.” That could be taken a few different ways, and I doubted someone from this rich city would ever assume that meant I killed people. Then again, that family, the Scotts, were from Midpark—a city just like Hillcrest—so I supposed paid killers weren’t exactly a new idea around here.

Willow clearly did not know what I meant by that, for in the next few moments, she only blinked up at me, her eyebrows creasing slightly. “Interesting,” she eventually spoke, puckering her lips as she got to her feet. She walked to my side, standing less than a foot away from me. Very fucking close, and I instantly itched to get away from her.

I didn’t like the way she stared at me, as if I was a puzzle for her to piece together, something to figure out. Like she thought she could use me, turn me against Zoey. This bitch had no idea I could not be turned. Loyalty was everything when you were involved with families like the Lucianos, and it tended to seep into every other aspect of your life.

“Why are you here?” I asked, my patience growing thin. The only games I enjoyed playing were the ones you did when you and your partner were naked, and since Zoey wasn’t here… let’s just say I wasn’t in the mood for any fucking games.

I didn’t do the snobby, sneaky Hillcrest vibe. I didn’t have the rulebook on what to say and what to avoid. Thank fucking God Zoey wasn’t like this, that she was more straightforward when it came to everything.

If she’d been anything like her sister, I didn’t think we’d be together. Then again, if she was like Willow, I didn’t think she would’ve ever stepped foot in the Dollhouse to begin with. The two sisters were fundamentally different.

“Zoey has been gone for so long,” Willow said, running her eyes up along my arm, taking in my muscles. “I had to see where she was staying, if she was with anyone. No offense, but you’re not really like the guys she used to date.” She raised a hand, lightly running her fingers up the side of my arm. “How serious is it between you two, anyway?”

I knew I couldn’t trust a single word she said, and it took willpower to not inch away and pull myself from her touch. The only girl I wanted touching me was Zoey, and Willow was a poor man’s version of her.

“Pretty serious,” I grumbled out, half of me wishing Roman would come down and save the day, as he always seemed to do.

But then again, maybe it would be better if Willow didn’t see Roman right now, if she thought she only had to contend with me.

“A pity,” Willow said, dropping her hand off my arm and moving to stand before me. She craned her head back to gaze up at me. She was as short as her sister, with none of the alluring, entrancing fire Zoey had. And, as much as I used to hate the pink hair, I’d come to fucking adore it, so, yeah, this girl was nothing. And no matter what she tried, she would always be nothing. “You’re… a very attractive man. You could do so much better than my sister.”

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