Page 27 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

“Back to more important topics,”Whitneysaid while rubbing her hands together no doubt plotting evil things. “Ilike her.Ellie,Imean.Sheseems to be good for you.”

I sighed, not wanting to entertain this topic at all.Ipractically growled her name low to send a warning to drop it.

“Your growls don’t scare me, little brother,”Willasaid, waving me off. “Look,Iknow that woman you dated, andIuse that term loosely, messed you up.”Hermouth looked like she’d bitten into a lemon. “ButCandacedidn’t deserve you.”

I tried to interrupt and defendCandacebecause no woman should have to put up with whatIdid to her, butWillajust kept right on talking.

“Uh-uh, no,I’mgonna stop you right there.”Willaheld up her hand in my face. “Youwould never hurt that woman on purpose.Itwas only ever in your sleep, and instead of trying to get you help with your nightmares, she ran away.”

“It’s not that simple,”Itried to explain.Iregretted the one timeIgot drunk and confided in her husband, because he obviously toldWillaeverything.

“Fair, but she also never tried,” she said, sensing my rising anger. “Look,I’mdone bringing her up.AllI’msaying is don’t letCandaceprevent you from opening yourself up to someone else… whether that’sEllieor another woman.”

I heard what she was saying, butIjust couldn’t do that to a woman.Especiallysomeone likeEllie.Evenif she wasn’tJack’ssister and my employee, she had already been in one abusive relationship.Beingwith me, whenIcould inadvertently hurt her in my sleep, would only add to her trauma, andIcouldn’t do that.

“Okay,” she said, clapping her hands. “Donewith big sister talk.Now, you better go over there and rescue that girl fromMomandNana.”

I looked over and sighed.Theyhad photo albums pulled out from my childhood, regaling her with even more embarrassing stories.

“Don’t worry.Ialready told her most of your embarrassing childhood stories.There’snot much left for them to tell,” she said, giving me a huge fake smile.

“Are you always such a smartass?”

“No, thank you very much.SometimesI’msleeping,” she said as she stuck out her tongue and walked away.

I walked over to collectEllieand head out.WhenIgot close,Iheard my mom and grandma talking about the pub, andEllieinvited them to come for a meal.Great.Moreopportunities for them to meddle.

I told themTammycalled and we needed to head back to the pub soIcould get a few things taken care of.Ellielooked at me funny like she knewIwasn’t saying everything, but she didn’t call me out on it, andIappreciated it.Wesaid goodbye to all the family, and my mom brought over some leftovers for us to take back with us.

The walk back to the car was quiet, which was good for me sinceIwas going through how to handle the callTammytook at the pub.Iwas happyElliewaited until we got inside the car to say anything.

“I like listening to you talk about the security business,” she said, which was not the topicIthought she would bring up, but this was a safer topic, soIwent with it.

“So, you know what your brother will be doing?”Iasked asIdrove us back to our building.

“Well, yes, but also, you have so much pride in your voice when you talk about it,” she explained. “Youseem genuinely excited about it, and that joy is contagious,Iguess.”

I was excited, butIguessIjust never realized my excitement was that obvious.

“Yeah, so far it’s doing well, and we’re picking up clients, which means we need to hire some extra people sooner rather than later,”Itold her, asImentioned that my sister might have some people in mind.

We talked about the business and what role her brother might take on when he got back to theStates.Sheseemed genuinely curious, andIenjoyed talking with her about it.

“What didTammycall about?” she asked.

I chuckled, wondering how she’d waited that long to bring that up.

“How long have you been sitting there thinking about that?”Iasked.

“I was trying not to becauseIfigured you would tell me ifIneeded to know, butI’mnot the most patient person and couldn’t help myself,” she said, blushing and honestly looking a bit chagrined.

As much asIdidn’t want to worry her, she needed to know.EspeciallysinceIhad decided right after the call withTammythat she would not be staying in her apartment alone tonight.NotuntilIcould talk toArcherandVincetomorrow and add a few extra security cameras.

“Tammy called to let me know that you had another mystery caller today,”Isaid cautiously while trying to look at her and the road at the same time to see her reaction.Ididn’t want her to be upset about this, but her reaction surprised me.

“Ugh, seriously?Again?” she practically grumbled. “Ileft.Whycan’t he just leave me alone?God,Ihate that man.”

She was upset, all right, but more angry than sad.Still,I’dtake an angry woman over one who was crying any day.Sheremained silent for the rest of the ride, andIgave her space to sit with her thoughts.Ineeded to think too—about our options and howArcher,Vince, andIshould handle this.

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