Page 163 of Papa's Bébé
Her brother?
Shock filled her as she opened the door and stepped out. Dougie immediately moved to her brother, sniffing his feet.
Marlin gave him a surprised look. “He’s . . . unusual looking.”
“That’s Dougie. His eyesight is limited, but he has excellent hearing and a good sense of smell,” she said, feeling shocked at her brother’s presence.
“And that’s Gummy.” She nodded at the small dog glaring at her brother. “She doesn’t have many teeth.”
Princess Priss glanced up from where she was lying on the sofa. “Princess Priss. She has three legs, she’s also a total diva who is in love with Matthieu.”
Matthieu snorted. Maya knew she was rambling, but she was weirdly nervous about having her brother in her house.
But Marlin didn’t act like he thought she was being weird. He just nodded and looked behind her, his mouth twitching. “Is that a pig?”
“That’s Big Berry. She’s a very smart pig and she’s best friends with Tank. He likely won’t come out. He’s not good with strangers. Why are you here? What . . . I mean, it’s nice you’re here but unexpected.” That was awkward.
“Yeah, sorry. I should have messaged you first. I just wanted to come and check on you.”
“Are you okay?”
There was a beat of silence.
“Funny, that’s what I was going to ask you,” her brother said.
“You were?” she asked. “Why?”
“Why?” he repeated. “Maybe because of this person threatening you.”
Well. That surprised her. Although he had texted a few times since she’d seen him the other week to check in. Which had been surprising and nice.
“They aren’t really threatening me,” she said to him. “It’s Dad who is being threatened.”
“You were mentioned,” Marlin said darkly.
“So were you.”
“I’m a cop. I carry a gun. I can protect myself. You can’t.”
“That’s why I’ve got Matthieu.” She glanced over to where he sat on the sofa. Drat, she should ask Marlin to sit. “Although, I was half-expecting a call from Dad telling me that he was pulling the plug on my security.”
“Why would he do that? Because Kathryn paid you a visit today? What did she say?”
“How did you know that she paid me a visit?” she asked, surprised.
“The police officer assigned to her today is a friend of mine,” he explained. “He’s often on Kathryn duty and I asked him to tell me if she went near you. She threw a fit when he wanted to go into the yoga studio with her. So he stayed outside, even knowing it could mean his badge if something happened to her on his watch. She’s such a manipulative bitch.”
Surprise filled her. She knew that Marlin was no fan of Kathryn’s, but she’d never heard him talk about her like that.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that Dad keeps footing the bill for your bodyguard,” Marlin told her. “He can afford it.”
“Kathryn made it sound like he couldn’t.” She’d been feeling a bit guilty about that.
“Mom left a huge amount of money to Dad when she died. I guess she expected him to take care of us, or to set up trust fundsfor us or something. But he never did. He’s kept it for himself all this time. It’s time he used it on someone other than himself or Kathryn. If he calls and tries to pull the plug, you call me.”
“You shouldn’t get involved. You work for him.”
“One thing has nothing to do with the other. I just wanted to make sure you were all right after Kathryn visited. I know how toxic she is.”
