Page 20 of Falling For The Enemy (The Gilbert Curse)

“I know that, Rory, but it’s hard for me to stop being your big brother.” He sighed. “Honestly, there are times when I can’t really believe that you are out of that hospital bed.”

“Dash,” she said, going over to her brother and hugging him with her free arm. “I’m okay now.”

“Yeah.”

But she knew that as hard as it was for her to make up for a decade that she’d lost, it must’ve been equally as hard for her brother to watch her missing out on life. He was the one who had to sit in a chair next to her bed and wonder if she’d ever wake up.

“You know I love you but I can’t let you boss me around,” she said at last.

“Life would be so much easier if everyone would just let me do that,” he deadpanned.

“It’s not just me?”

“No. Elle and Conrad are on that list, too,” he admitted.

Of course they were. Dash wasn’t ever going to stop watching over the people he loved. Even though she, Elle and Con didn’t need his protection, Dash couldn’t help himself. She linked her free arm through his and turned him back toward the kitchen. “You like independent people.”

“I guess I do,” he said. “So, about Kit...”

“No, we’re not going to do this. I like him. I think he likes me. And I’m going to just see where it goes. You know my therapist said to try new things.”

“She also told me to butt out of your life,” Dash said gruffly.

“And you didn’t fire her?”

“Ha. As if I could. You made it clear she worked for you,” Dash reminded her. “Which I’m glad you did. Seeing you in the rain today was something special.”

“I felt so alive.” As she murmured the words, Rory realized that it wasn’t just the rain that had made her feel that way, but also Kit’s kiss.

“That’s all I want for you,” Dash confessed. Then he looked at his watch. “I didn’t just come over to butt into your life. Conrad wants to start Sunday dinners at the Manor. You can bring a friend. Sunday at two.”

“You had to come here to tell me?”

He shot her an unapologetic look. “Yes. I didn’t want to just get a thumbs-up emoji. I wanted to see how you were doing.”

She gave him a thumbs-up, which made him laugh. She started laughing, too.

Dash helped her take off the doors to the kitchen cabinets before he left and as she worked on cleaning and refinishing them that afternoon she realized that she was slowly figuring out who Rory Gilbert was.

Aunt Mal’s house was in an older, established neighborhood on the suburbs of Boston. She’d bought it with the profits they’d made in their first big year. It was one of the McMansions that were all the rage back in the early 2000s and Aunt Mal had decorated it with her flair for midcentury design.

It was sleek and modern-looking in that sort of old-century way. Her housekeeper, Castor, opened the door when Kit arrived.

He hadn’t planned on visiting his aunt today, but after seeing Rory and Dash together he had realized there were pieces to the Gilbert family puzzle that he didn’t have. Something about them didn’t add up the way he’d expected. And if anyone knew what had happened the night of the party, it would be his aunt.

“I wasn’t expecting you today. Did you find something we can use?” Aunt Mal asked as he was shown into her sitting room. She was tall, thin and always wore her straight black hair pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her neck. She favored caftans in the summer but in the fall went all in on long, flowing skirts and sweaters with feathers on them. Today’s outfit was a deep purple skirt with a black sweater.

She was seated on one of the tufted settees that she used in most of the rooms in this house. They were pretty small and when he sat on them he felt too big. The walls were lined with bookshelves and there was a mahogany desk that sat in front of the picture window overlooking the side yard.

“I’m not sure yet. I was able to spend time with both Rory and Dash today. And I have a few questions.”

She arched a brow. “Like what? Did they say something about Declan or your father?”

“Nothing like that. It’s just... Aunt Mal, what exactly happened the night of the ball?” he asked. “Some of the stuff they mentioned didn’t really add up.”

“Of course it didn’t,” she said, getting to her feet and walking over to him in a cloud of Estée Lauder perfume. “They are liars. We know this.”

Liars. Except that Rory wasn’t. In fact, if he had to place money on her being anything, it would be bluntly honest. Dash...well, he was a harder read. After a decade of watching his every move in the business world, Kit had thought he’d known the other man, but the truth was a bit more convoluted. There was so much to Dash that he hadn’t known.

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