Page 16 of Riordan's Revenge

“He’s listening?”

She winced. “My bad. Shocking video call etiquette. I should have mentioned he’s here on security duty, though he’s mostly ignoring me.”

For fuck’s sake. I left my post and rounded the sofa to sit next to her, then raised a hand for my sisters.

“No comment from the bodyguard,” I told them both.

Cassie snickered and huddled in closer, her shoulder brushing mine. Her pretty scent surrounded me, and need surged at the light touch. Her bare skin to mine, just below thesleeve of my black skeleton crew t-shirt. Soft and smooth to bulky and hard. There was no reason it should take effort to keep a neutral expression, yet there I was, inching away, gritting my jaw, and forcing my attention to stay on the screen.

Genevieve peered at me. “I called Dad earlier and asked him to pack a bag for you, since you’re staying away. Want to guess what he told me?”

“I can imagine.”

“Should we talk in private?”

Cassie already knew about that shitshow. Everly and I were brand-new to being siblings, and it was better for both of us to share our lives if we were ever going to make up for lost time.

“No need,” I said. “He kicked me out.”

Genevieve clasped her hands to her mouth. “That isn’t what he said. He claimed you left after a fight. He kicked you out? God. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Because I’d been hurting. Because I hadn’t wanted her to lose faith in the single parent she had left. A man who was a terrible person in most other ways but whose one saving grace was that he loved her. Almost as much as he hated me, the cuckoo in his nest. Another man’s child he’d been forced to tolerate.

I heaved a sigh. “What good would it have done? I only stayed in that flat because you were there. Now you live in the warehouse with Arran, I can look for someplace else.”

Her gaze flickered with acceptance. “I found your car in the warehouse’s car park. There’s a tarp over the back seats. All your stuff’s in there, isn’t it?”

I shrugged, accidentally touching Cassie again. “I haven’t found anywhere yet. It doesn’t matter. I’m pulling long hours, so paying for a room somewhere would be a waste of money when I’m out most of the time. I shower and do laundry in the club. I sleep in my car. It’s fine for now.”

Genevieve sighed then groused about me keeping everything inside.

Everly shook her head. “I can’t help feeling this is my fault. You told me we shared a father only because you were trying to protect me from an abduction attempt. You can’t say it’s a coincidence that your stepdad kicks you out straight after.”

“It’s not a coincidence,” I conceded. “I challenged him and brought an end to the pretence of our relationship. It had to happen at some point.”

Everly asked Genevieve something about her dad, and I exhaled, sitting with my thoughts for a moment. My biological father, Everly’s dad, was far worse than the stand-in who I’d believed had fathered me right up until my mother had made her confession. Days before she died.

The mayor of Deadwater might have produced two children in Everly and me, but that was the only good thing the man had ever contributed to the world. The more I learned about him the angrier I got. He was corrupt. Abusive. The unknown bane of my life. He’d rejected my pregnant mother and told her to get rid of me.

Maybe being raised by a parent who never wanted me was the lesser of two evils.

Hurt added to my upset, unwanted but real.

The mayor was the reason I’d pushed Cassie away. I planned to get my own back on him, which had consequences. Falling in love with someone was out of the question when I’d very likely end up dead.

A hitch of Cassie’s breath pulled my attention back to the moment. She held the phone in front of us then tapped something that switched us from being the small in-image picture to taking up the whole screen. Then she leaned in closer and took a screenshot. I stared at it. Her amused pout and my more serious expression. Her dark curls brushing up againstmy shorter brown hair. Something unidentifiable in both of our expressions.

“Couldn’t resist,” she whispered. To herself, she added, “That one’s going straight in the spank bank.”

My sisters were still talking. I twisted to stare at Cassie.

The pink on her cheeks returned, and she gave an embarrassed little shrug. “What? We look good together.”

I didn’t deny it.

Her grin shifted to something devilish. It sent another rush of desire straight through me. The image of her gazing at a picture of me and sliding her hands down her body. Holy fuck.

“Oops. Should’ve asked permission. If ye don’t like it, tell me to delete it.”

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