Page 125 of Emergence and Ascendance

"I don't know if that's good or bad."

"Very good honestly. You're moving in here so that means this is serious. Shit, I guess I've been gone for a while." She sat up, lifted her phone, and hopped off the bed. "Anyway, I was just coming to see if you wanted to split a pizza. I hate to make the cook waste time on making something just for me so I was going to order something."

"Pizza would be good."

"I'm a veggie girl, is that okay?" Jona's focus was on her phone again, so even though I nodded, I responded out loud.

"Perfect."

"Done. Twenty minutes. It will be in the kitchen."

"Thank you."

Okay, so that wasn't terrible. One sister down, one to go!

twenty-two

Christian.

When I made it to the house, I half expected Scotlyn to be in my study but instead she was curled up on the sofa in the sitting area of my room with her laptop. She looked comfortable, settled, but more importantly like she belonged there. The sight of her in my space did something to my chest that I was trying not to analyze too deeply.

I watched her for a while before I spoke and she was so damn caught up in what she was doing, she hadn't noticed.

"You look comfortable."

She looked up and smiled. "I thought that was the point."

I chuckled at her slick ass comment. "It is but you're stubborn as fuck, so I didn't know what to expect."

"Work?" I motioned to the laptop and she shook her head.

"No, just reading about how according to every relevant business blog, I'm a selfish bitch because I refused to show up at my father's funeral simply because he left everything to Alex."

I had seen the headlines circulating. There were pictures of the service showing Alex standing alone, without either of his sisters. Then there was a report leaked with so-called proof that Valerie and Scotlyn weren't there because Gerald left controlling interest of Whitney International to his son. They had no fuckingidea what was truly going on. Yes, Gerald had done just that, however, because he was a hateful man who didn't love and respect his daughters, that was why neither Scotlyn nor Valerie were present. It didn't have a damn thing to do with his will.

"Do you want me to make some calls?"

I already planned to even if she said no, because this was the last thing she needed.

"It doesn't matter, so no. I know who I am. Val and I have known for years what the terms of our father's will was. Alex already had the documents drawn up to ensure we all had equal shares as soon as things were officially transferred to his name. They can think what they want. I truly don't care."

The things they were saying about her were cruel. They hurt Scotlyn, and she cared, but she was also choosing not to let it affect her beyond the brief moment she took to acknowledge them. I was grateful for her strength with this situation because I didn't like seeing her upset about shit she couldn't control.

She closed her laptop and placed it beside her before she lifted and crossed the room, easing her arms around my waist. Scotlyn lifted onto her toes and kissed me before she tilted her head back more to meet my eyes. "And for the record, I'm not stubborn. I just like to be sure about what I'm doing and why."

"Says a stubborn ass woman who refuses to admit she's stubborn."

Scotlyn rolled her eyes and kissed me again, but this time, I placed one hand at the back of her neck and the other on her hip, bringing her in closer, taking my time exploring her mouth before I let her go. "Jona say where she was going?"

"Nope, I assumed she was here. She ordered pizza for us and I haven't seen her since."

"Her GWagon is missing from the garage."

"You can't hear anything in this house. I didn't even realize she was gone."

"You can thank my mother for that." I kissed her again. "You ate pizza with Jona?"

Scotlyn shook her head. "No, she ordered it and left it in the kitchen for me after she took her half, but I appreciate the gesture because she at least considered me."

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