Page 27 of Assistant to the Billionaire CEO

Regardless of their motives, their move to “the continent” meant that Tilly and I were left alone in the US. It wasn’t anything that came as a surprise to me, not really. Tilly took it somewhat harder than I did. To me, they were pretty much keeping their promise that they had tried to help us come to terms with as teenagers, and to this day, I admired their eagerness to fulfill their dreams and spend their time in a way they had always wanted to. Maybe Tilly hoped they would change their mind or return. They didn’t. Tilly and I didn’t have any other immediate family. In many ways, I knew my sister felt that I was all she had left, and as such, I had vowed to protect and care for her and her newborn son. Teddy’s father, an unemployed “musician” from California, where Tilly had lived for several months until recently, hadn’t acknowledged his birth—the son of a bitch, although Tilly didn’t seem to miss him in the least. I decided I’d be Teddy’s father figure, at least until Tilly found someone to fill that role.

In any case, it was nice not having to come home to an empty apartment, and I was looking forward to actually being able to spend quality time with them once the merger was set in stone.

“Sorry I’m late,” I replied, hanging my silver-gray coat from a coat rack next to the door. Tilly stood up from the cream-colored leather couch, walked over and wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing my cheek. I hugged her back. “How has little Teddy been? Have you had a good day?”

“He slept the afternoon away.” She smiled, picking up a glass of grape juice from the coffee table on her way back to the couch. The maroon liquid in her hand caught the light like a ruby. “You want one?”

“No thanks. I’ll have the other grape juice. Is it normal that he sleeps so much?”

“My new doctor, Dr. Maxwell—a handsome devil, I’m telling you—said he’ll spend a lot of time sleeping during the first month.” She sat back down and tucked her legs underneath her.

“Handsome devil?”

She made swoony eyes. “Yeah, too bad he’s only my replacement until my regular doctor is back from her vacation. Stop looking at me like that, I’m not interested in him. Only because I met someone. No, donotask. No reveal yet. Back to Dr. Maxwell. He also said I should enjoy the peace and quiet while I have it, so that’s what I’m doing.”

“Makes sense. Who did you meet?”

“I saiddo not ask. You’re not ready for that discussion yet. Stop disturbing my peace and quiet.”

“Peace and quiet,” I growled, annoyed, but calmed myself with the knowledge that my sister would tell me eventually. She could never keep news to herself for too long. “Speaking of peace and quiet. Remember what Mom said about you? When you were a baby?”

“That I spent half the time crying and the other half pooping? That?”

“That.”

“That’s what she said aboutyou.”

“No, she didn’t,” I countered. “It’s you.”

“At least I didn’t disassemble Dad’s answering machine. And his printer. And his remote control. On thesameday,” she said and playfully stuck her tongue out at me.

The memory made me grin. “I’ve never seen him that angry before.”

“Me neither. Except for when you smashed that old bottle of wine. What was it? A Château Lafite Rothschild?”

“Hey, it wasn’t my fault. It rolled off the table.”

“Because you kicked your soccer ball against it.”

“That was an accident.”

“And disassembling the gadgets was an accident, too?”

“Sort of. I wanted to see how they worked.” I walked over to the wine rack next to my living room and chose a perfectly tempered bottle of Chardonnay. “I thought I’d be able to put them back together again when I was done.”

“But you couldn’t. And neither could Dad. Actually, I think that’s the day you became the asshat you are today—the day you realized you could get away with stuff.”

“Me? An asshat? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Retrieving a wineglass from my open-plan kitchen, I made my way back over to the couch with the wine bottle tucked under my arm. I sat down next to her and poured the rich yellow liquid into a glass. “I didn’t get away with anything. I was grounded for a month, and Dad made me pay for the repairs. And for the record: I’m the fucking best brother ever.”

“You are.” She grinned, taking a sip of her juice. “But you’re a bit of an asshat too. Like most men are. I love you anyway though.”

I wrapped my free arm around her shoulder and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I love you too.”

“So, what are we having for dinner?”

11

STELLA

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