Page 59 of His Property

I shake my head. “I figured I’d teach you how to make a Christmas dinner. Since Taco Bell is closed and all.”

Victor chuckles and turns on his heels toward the kitchen. “The Chinese restaurant down the street isn’t.”

“Seriously, you have to learn to cooksomething,” I call to his back, my nerves calming slightly and a real smile pulling my lips. “I don’t understand how you could be a grown man and not know how to make mac and cheese.”

“Hey, I made mac and cheese foryou!” He appears from the kitchen, empty handed with a small smile on his face.

“Exactly.” I smirk, and Victor lazily strolls over to me.

Both our heads turn toward the hallway when an electric scooter comes into view. Gabi drives the scooter to the couch, and I smile wide in greeting, but she only throws me a few awkward glances.

I feel weird staring at her, so I turn to Victor, and he shrugs.

“Mae brought dinner. Some assembly required.”

Gabi glances between us without responding then slowly drags herself onto the couch. After situating herself, she looks at Victor and points to the scooter. “Can you move that, please?”

Victor moves the scooter out of the way, then both of us stand uncomfortably in his living room while Gabi pulls a throw blanket over her legs and stares at the floor.

Victor scratches the back of his head and blows out a breath. We exchange a look, and he drops his hand. “Well, I have some laundry to fold really quick. Do you think you two will be good down here by yourselves?”

“Of course,” I say, a little too enthusiastically.

Victor gratefully smiles at me with soft eyes before he moves his gaze to his sister and waits a few moments. “Gabi?”

“Yeah,” she says, finally looking up. “I’m cool.”

Victor nods then throws me one last look before heading up the stairs. When he’s out of sight, I go to the couch and sit down on the edge of it, my head turned toward Gabi.

I pick at my nails and clear my throat. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

Gabi turns to face me with an unreadable expression. She’s wearing gray sweats and a green spaghetti strap top, and she has her blonde hair up in a ponytail just like the first time I met her. She’s pretty, but with some sunlight and freshly washed hair, she could be gorgeous. A smile wouldn’t hurt either.

“How much did he pay you?” she asks.

I rear back and blink. My mouth opens and closes, and it takes me a few moments to regain my bearings. “I’m sorry, what?”

“How much did my brother pay you to come here and pretend to be his girlfriend? I mean, it’s Christmas, so I hope he paid you well. Time and a half, at least.” There’s no humor in her voice, so I assume it’s a serious question. The cold stare she’s giving me makes me squirm, and I get a weird sense of guilt. Like when you’re driving in front of a cop car and haven’t done anything wrong, but your heart speeds up, and you sit up straighter anyway. That’s what this feels like.

“He didn’t pay me anything.”

Gabi closes her eyes and takes a slow, steadying breath. “Please don’t bullshit me, Mae.Please.”

“I’m not bullshitting you. I…” A sigh brushes my lips. “I know you and Victor are going through something, and I’m sorry for that, but I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“No?” she asks, her head tilting as she studies me.

I shake my head. “No.”

“Then tell me why you’re really here. I can tell you’re nervous, and Iknowyou aren’t my brother’s girlfriend. So let’s cut through the bullshit and skip to the part where you say whatever it is he told you to say.”

Damn, she isnotgoing to be easy on me.

I think through my next words and can’t help but notice this feels an awful lot like it did when I was talking to Victor’s boss. My life isn’t on the line here, but I’m damn near the same level of nervous.

“Okay, you’re right,” I say, scooting until my back hits the couch. I lay my palms flat on my lap. “Victor asked me to talk to you. He didn’tpayme to, but last night he showed up at my church and asked me to tell you that he didn’t kidnap me.”

Gabi’s hard demeanor softens as she drags her knees up and wraps her arms around them. She stares at me like she’s hanging onto my every word.

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