Page 104 of Never Again

“There’s nothing to tell,”Nathan said, still not bothering to look at her.

“Why must you lie to me?” Bailey asked with a heartfelt sigh as she reached back and helped herself to one of the many pillows stuffed behind her.

“What makes you think that I’m lying to you?”Nathan drawled as his gaze flickered to her.

“Because I know you,” she assured him with a solemn nod even as she debated ordering something to nibble on while she waited.

“Uh-huh,”Nathan murmured absently as Bailey took this opportunity to reach over and grab her phone off the nightstand and peruse her food delivery options.

“Have you talked to Casey lately?” Bailey asked as her gaze flickered to her iPad just in time to see that muscle in Nathan’s jaw twitch, which it did every time someone mentioned her sister’s name.

“No,”he bit out through clenched teeth as she was forced to bite back a smile.

“Oh,” Bailey said absently as she made a show of looking at her phone as she added, “Because I talked to her today.”

“Don’t fucking care,”Nathan said, sounding adorably pissed.

“Understandable,” she murmured, making sure to sound bored as she continued scrolling through her phone, taking in everything from burgers to Chinese food.

When he didn’t say anything else, and she really didn’t expect him to at this point, Bailey shifted her focus to her sandwich options and waited a few minutes before she looked back at her iPad to find her brother glaring at her. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before he broke, Bailey debated between a bacon cheeseburger and a-

“You really are a pain in the ass,”Nathan said as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face before gesturing for her to get on with it.

“I don’t really feel like it’s my place to say anything,” Bailey said with a sad shake of her head and a heartfelt sigh as she took an obscene amount of pleasure in watching his eyes narrow as that muscle in his jaw started throbbing again and-

“What are you doing?” she found herself asking as she watched Nathan grab his phone.

“Wondering why you’re trying to piss me off,” Nathan drawled as he shifted his focus to his phone and began typing something.

“Because it entertains me,” Bailey said, wondering how much longer she would be able to torment her brother before he broke. Probably not long, she thought, watching as that muscle in his jaw continued twitching.

He’d barely spoken to Casey since everything happened, but he’d watched her whenever she walked into the room, devouring her with his eyes until he realized what he was doing and tried to pretend that he wasn’t aware of her. And Casey…

Was everything that Bailey could have ever asked for in a big sister.

Casey was a smart ass with a caffeine obsession of her own without her unfortunate tendency to react badly, was laid back, an incredibly talented programmer, and loved to torment Nathan, which honestly just made her day. She loved having Casey around, loved having a sister who adored her and loved tormenting Nathan.

It was honestly more than she could have asked for.

“What did she tell you?”Nathan demanded with a glare that told her that she would pay for this as soon as she was allowed to come back to the office.

“Tell me about what?” Bailey murmured with a satisfied sigh as she noted the murderous glare that Nathan was sending her way.

She-

“What are you doing?” Bailey found herself asking as she watched her brother shift his focus to his phone seconds before a chime sounded behind her.

Nathan didn’t say anything, but then again, he didn’t have to, not when she felt the bed shift behind her, followed by the sounds of a heavy sigh as a large tan arm wrapped around her, careful of the large swell of her belly, and gently pulled her back. Swallowing hard, her gaze shifted back to her iPad to find her brother smiling smugly as he shot her a wink and-

“You really are a pain in my ass,” her incredibly understanding husband murmured sleepily as he reached over and ended the call.

“You knew this when you married me,” Bailey reminded him as he pressed his lips against the back of her neck.

“Yes, I did,” Quinn said as he placed his hand back on her belly. “You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“I was sleeping, but Nathan missed me,” she pointed out, hoping beyond hope that he was willing to overlook the fact that she’d lied, especially since she’d promised that she would be on her best behavior so that he would let her tag along tomorrow.

Now that he was taking over for Tristan, he was set to expand the business with the help from one of the men from his old unit. He was meeting with Hunter O’Mallery, CEO of Shadow Security and the man who was currently supposed to be on house arrest and-

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