Page 84 of Lost Kingdom

“I owe,” he mutters under the pressure of my hand. “I messed up, but I?—”

“Stop speaking now.” I release his face and push him back until he lands against his pillows. “I’m done watching this train wreck. So I’m calling it.”

His eyes widen in panic.

“You remember Courtney, don’t you? My best friend all through high school, right up until college when sheclaimedshe and Malcolm hooked up, all because she and Amelia got into an argument and Courtney wanted to break up the happy couple.”

His eyes water in the dim light. He already knows where I’m going with this.

“You remember Carter? We briefly dated in my second year of college, but then he thought, ‘I’ve done my time. Aubs can pay the piper. I deserve a BJ and lifelong servitude.’”

Tim growls at my back. “Carter who?”

I focus only on my brother. “You know what these people have in common, don’t you, Duane?”

He gulps. Then nods. “Dead To You list.”

“They’re on the Dead To Me list.”

“Dead To You list?” Tim repeats. “What are you?—”

“The Dead To Me list is a cold, lonely, horrible place to be,” I push on. “Worse than Hades, and colder than the tip of the most secluded, body-strewn mountain. Because being dead to me is not a status anyone wishes to be crowned with. It’s the pits of hell, and is one-way only. There’s no coming back, and there’s no forgiveness. A college boyfriend who could have been someone special in my life, dead to me the second he thought he was owed something he wasn’t. My best friend in the whole world? Dead to me, because she messed with my family. Mycurrentbest friend felt the icy fingers of dead to me when she chewed me out unfairly and buckled under the strain of being in love with Archer Malone. She felt the shift, and she made things better.”

“Aubree, you’re being?—”

“You will have a place on the list, Duane, brother or not. And you know that’s the end of us. There’s no coming back. Because you’re messing with my family, and we’ve already established that’s a line I will gleefully strangle lesser people for.” I slap his forehead when he attempts to sit up again. But when my skin touches his, fear slides across and prickles my pores. Regret. His aching anxiety. “You’re better than this. Mom and Daddy raised you better than to gamble money you don’t have and treat people so poorly.” I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “Attempting to blackmail him, all so he’d continue to pay your debt?”

Tim bristles at my back. “I didn’t tell her that. I didn’t say shit.”

But of course, Duane gulps. “I know.”

“So I’m only going to say this once. If you step foot across the thresholdof any establishment ever again with the intention to gamble, I invite you to bring your own pen to add your name to my list. If you gamble, ever again, we’re done. If you treat Tim, or anyone else I love, the way you have these past few months, then we’re over.”

“I’m sorr?—”

“You know how to be a decent person, and I take responsibility for the part I played in robbing you of valuable learning opportunities. This is why I’m giving you this warning. But if you don’t heed it, then I’ll consider that a conscious choice where you value cheap vices over a relationship with your sister.” I lean in and smack a kiss to the center of his forehead. “You’d think the first set of bruises on your face would have made you smarter. But here we are, and now you’ll learn.”

“I’m sorry, Aubree.” His eyes swim with emotion. “I really am.”

“I know you are. Get up, shower, and get dressed. Then I’ll be at the house for dinner on the weekend. You’ll be there too, and you’ll tell me all about your new job. I trust you’ll put your best foot forward and start looking today.”

I push up to stand and turn to a bewildered Tim. “We can go.”

“We can…” He looks past me to my brother. Then me. Then Duane again. “That’s it? Kid has been shaking me down for months, and he got theI’m disappointed in youtalk?”

“Would you prefer I add him to the list now and call it a day?”

“No.” He follows me into the hall when I pass. “I don’t know what I want. But threatening him with a made-up list and?—”

“It’s not made up,” Duane calls from the room. “It’s real. The fact you’ve never experienced it means she really likes you.”

“See?” I stop at the apartment door and turn back to grab Tim’s lapels. Stepping onto my toes, I press a kiss to the underside of his jaw and tremble when his hands cup my face. “Your family deals with things one way, and mine deals with things another way. I’m not so obnoxious as to claim ours is better than yours, but if I ever find myself in a position where I might be tempted to use your methods, then my target is already on the list anyway. Come on.” I turn on my heels and pull the apartment door open to reveal a blissfully empty hallway. Because Tim’s driver is watching the only building entrance, and he’ll keep his Malone safe, even at the expense of his own life. “I need to get to work. And though I know you’ll continue your search into the Booth stuff today, even against my well-thought-out advice, I’m certain you’ll be safe and update me when I’m done for the day.”

“You’re way too fuckin’ comfortable telling people what to do.” He pullsthe door shut after we pass through and wraps his arm perilously tight around my neck as we maneuver the stairs. “Since when did you get so brave?”

“I’ve always been brave when it comes to my family’s safety. The fear of not having you around is worse than the fear of being threatened by some mid-level wanker.”

“You’re late.” Minka glances up from her computer when I stride into her office a mere three minutes after nine. But her lips curl into a playful smile when I set a fresh coffee by her hand. “I struggle to understand where you disappeared to, considering we had breakfast together.”

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