Page 64 of B & E Ever After (Fairy Tale Quartet 3)

Leaving me behind to catch up, she and her brother started for the front entrance, only to pull up short as soon as they finagled the door open.

I stepped in behind them, spotting a small crew of workers installing new lights in the foyer.

Blinking, I peered around at their progress.

Well, holy shit. Darmon had actually come through and followed my order. What an unexpected development.

“Oh!” Gabby breathed next to me, her delight palpable. “New lights. Thank God. This place could definitely do with some brightening.”

“Cool,” Miguel echoed, gazing up at the men on ladders as we eased past them and entered the hall that led to their apartment.

As soon as we made it inside their place, Miguel couldn’t seem to hold back his need to run a moment longer. “I’m gonna go change,” he called over his shoulder as he darted down a hall. “Be right back.”

Gabby shut the door behind us and glanced my way. “I’m going to have to help him with homework and get supper started for these two before we can go.”

When I nodded, she turned away and moved through a doorway I could only guess led into the kitchen.

So I shifted my gaze around the front room, taking everything in and searching for a clue about this third person who lived here: Papá.

For a space that was probably supposed to be the biggest room in the apartment, it was incredibly cramped. And one occupant obviously slept on the couch. A flattened pillow and crumpled blanket lay draped over the cushions.

I meandered that way, curious. After picking up the pillow, I brought it to my nose and inhaled.

Oh yes, this was definitely Gabby’s pillow. It had her scent all over it.

“Why’re you smelling my sister’s pillow?”

Turning, I eyed the snickering boy in the doorway with a book bag slung over his shoulder.

“She sleeps here,” I surmised, tossing the pillow back onto the couch. When he nodded, I asked, “Doesn’t she have her own room?”

He shook his head no.

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “We couldn’t afford a three-bedroom apartment. And selling her bed took care of the down payment to this place. So it just made sense.”

It just made sense, huh? Something acidic and angry sliced through my veins, because it didn’t make sense to me. It didn’t sit well with me at all to learn the lovely creature currently in the kitchen didn’t even have her own space to sleep at night.

“How long have you lived here?” I asked Miguel.

He shrugged again and started for the kitchen. “A couple months. A year. I don’t know. Since Papá lost his leg and we couldn’t afford the last place anymore.”

Following him, I asked, “And who’s Papá?”

He sent me an odd glance. “He’s Papá,” he stressed the word as if that should be obvious. Then he disappeared into the kitchen.

So I stepped into the room after him to smell meat frying.

“Okay,” Miguel announced, plopping his bag onto the table and taking a seat as his sister broke spaghetti noodles into thirds and dropped them in a pot of boiling water. “Got my homework ready.”

“Great.” Gabby sent me a challenging glance before telling her brother, “You know, Hayden offered to help you with your homework tonight while I cooked, if you want.”

“Really?” The boy’s eyes lit up as his sister and I exchanged silent words. “Awesome. Thanks, Hayden.”

From her smirk, I could tell she didn’t think I’d do it, so I glanced down at Miguel and called her bluff. “Of course,” I told the kid. “I’m curious to discover just how much you don’t know.”

“Ignorant?” Gabby gasped out a cry of outrage, while Miguel only grew more animated.

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