Page 176 of One Bad Idea
She gave me a perplexed look. "What's mincemeat?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "I'm just saying, you're not gonna intimidate me."
"I didn't think I could," she said with a little frown. "You're kind of scary."
"Hey!" I said. "I am not. I’m just…" I hesitated. "…mad at Jake, I guess. I mean, seriously, how could he do that to his own brother?"
Abruptly, Luna turned and looked to her right. I followed her gaze and stifled a gasp. Standing just inside the suite's door was –damn it– Darla of all people.
Well, this was just great.
Chapter 66
I'd been so focused on Luna that I hadn't seen Darla come in.
I hadn'theardher either.
But the way it looked, she'd seen and heard plenty. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she eyed me and my unwanted visitor. "That's it," she announced. "I'm getting security." And with that, she turned and marched out of the suite, leaving me and Luna staring after her.
Oh, crap.
This wasn't what I wanted. Cripes, I wasn't even sure who Darla would be reporting.Me? Luna? Both of us?
Regardless, this wasn't good.
And now, I didn't know what to do. I looked toward the phone on my desk.Should I call security myself in hopes of heading off a scene?
Probably too late for that.
This was, after all, Darla we were talking about.
I was still looking at my phone when Luna said something that took me completely by surprise. "Hey, you wanna get a coffee?"
I turned to stare. "What?"
"Coffee," she repeated. "If you reallydolove him, you'll want to hear what I came to say." She gave me a tentative smile. "I'll even treat."
It wasn't the promise of free coffee that convinced me to go. It was the fact that yes, I did love him, and I was beyond curious.
Plus, there was the little matter of avoiding security.
Turns out, I made the right decision.
An hour later, I sat in stunned silence as she finished the story of what had really happened over a decade ago.
"So," she concluded, "Jakedidcome for them. But when he saw how much better they had ithere, he onlyactedlike he'd come just for the car."
I shook my head. "But why would he do that?"
She gave a wistful smile. "You'd have to know him to understand."
"Understand what?"
"That he wanted his brothers safe and happy, even if it meant they hated him for it."
I thought of everything I'd learned from Cassidy. What Luna described was surprisingly believable.
In fact, I could almost see it, Jake showing up to retrieve his brothers, only to discover that they'd landed in a better place. And then, rather than dragging them back to Michigan as planned, he'd acted like a total jackass so they'd stay where they were.
