Page 536 of Lodestar

“Sure. Whatever.”

“We aresonot brats! You hurt our feelings,” Aspen declared, sounding exactly like Vana—I’d tell her that later. It was sure to piss her off.

“How could we do that?” Camden retorted. “We didn’t invite cameras to the get-together, Paris. You didn’t miss out on a scoop for your stupid reality TV show which is all you care about now anyway.”

“No one takes us seriously in this family,” Aspen spat.

“For good reason,” Savannah drawled. “Allyourwins are achieved onourbacks.”

Paris hissed under her breath. “That’s not fair, Savannah.”

“Did you, or did you not, ask me to write about the show in my column?”

“You’re our sister! It’s the least you can do!”

“Paris, I didn’t ask Camden or Dad for scoops when I was starting out,” Savannah ground out. “I worked my way up on my own. Sometimes, being a nepotism baby is the hardest thing you can be because you expect everyone else to do you a favor.”

“Savannah,” Lorelei chided.

“What? It’s true,” Savannah retorted. I noticed her cheeks turn pink when Aidan…

Aidan didsomethingwith his hand on her knee.

I didn’t think even Savannah was kinky enough to want to be fingered at her family dinner table though, so I assumed he was trying to calm her down.

Savannah didn’t get along great with her sisters at the best of times, but something was definitely going on here…

Bubbling away beneath the surface.

“Your sisters are trying to find their way. Not everyone is as focused as you and your brother,” Lorelei said with a sigh, clearly trying to play the role of peacemaker.

“We’re plenty focused,” Aspen reasoned. “Just because we’re not trying to bring down a secret society or have won more Grammys than anyone else in the universe doesn’t mean our project isn’t worthwhile.”

Because I’d heard this argument when they were kids and were trying to use Dagger’s name to sell Girl Scout cookies, I didn’t take much notice, just shot Conor a glance to see how he was taking this.

Meals with his family were a lot less fraught with sibling rivalry…

That was when I saw he was blindly eating his appetizer, his gaze flickering between the ‘kids’ as if this were a sitcom and he was glued to the screen.

My lips twitched—trust him to be fascinated.

I didn’t know if it was because this was Dagger’s family and he was eating at one of his idols’ tables or if it was because this was new territory for him.

Knowing Conor, it was probably both.

“Your project is important, but maybe Savannah’s right, Aspen. I can’t keep going on that damn show.”

“But Daddy!” Paris whined. “You promised!”

He heaved a sigh. “I did promise.”

I chuckled. “You haven’t changed, Dagger.”

He cut me a look. “We’ve all changed, Star.”

As our gazes tangled and held, I tipped up my chin while he pursed his lips.

That the first ‘reprimand’ came from him was a surprise.

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