Page 20 of Faking It with my Bestie's Billionaire Brother

And for the second time that morning, Penny looked at me like I had grown another head. "Don't you think that's taking it a little far? I mean, are you really that worried about these notes?"

I tried to give her my most reassuring smile. There was no point in worrying her unnecessarily, so she didn't need to know just how deeply concerned I was. "I don't know yet," I answered somewhat honestly. "But I don't want to take any chances. I asked your friend because it was convenient due to the pictures. Lord knows that I would not have involved her otherwise. But now that she is, and especially because she's your best friend, I feel responsible for ensuring her safety."

Penny eyed me thoughtfully. " I do appreciate that. It's just hard to imagine you and Ava…" she said with a small smile.

I suppressed an eyeroll. "Well, let's hope that you're the only one who feels that way. It's just for a little while until we can turn the narrative around for the company and I can make sure that everybody's safe."

I spent the next several minutes going over new security details with her. She wasn't happy about any of it, but unfortunately, Penny was used to this lifestyle.

The fact of the matter was that our dad had accrued a ton of enemies during his time on this Earth, and just because he kicked the bucket didn't mean that they forgot about their wounds. As far as most of those people were concerned, the crimes of my father just passed down to me. It wasn't like I couldn't handle it, but at the time, I'd been trying to raise Penny, and I didn't want any of that touching her, so there were periodic bouts of having an extra security detail and whatnot. Things had been relatively quiet over the last few years, but somebody had a bee in their bonnet, and the employees I'd fired definitely didn't help the matter.

But somehow, I couldn't shake the feeling that it didn't really have anything to do with my father's old foes. There was one nagging presence who had the ugly habit of popping up occasionally whenever she felt like she needed a little more cash, and I hoped to God that my instinct regarding her involvement was wrong, but I couldn't shake the notion. If she was behind the notes, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to shake her off this time, either. Her threats only grew more creative and diabolical with time, but since Penny was a grown woman now and not under my thumb at all times, it was much harder to shield her from the other threats out in the world.

It was one of the many reasons I never really bothered myself with trying to find a partner. Aside from not wanting to repeat the devastating mistakes of my parents, I worried that it would take my eye off the ball. And where Penny was concerned, I could not afford to be distracted. It had been my job to keep her safe nearly since the day she was born, and that didn't stop just because she was grown and had a life of her own now.

But my dedication to keeping my sister safe also meant protecting anything or anyone who was attached to her, like Ava. Although, Ava could prove to be the ultimate distraction for me, and I needed to watch myself with her.

As if the thought had manifested her, she burst into the living area from the hallway. "I'll tell you what, Duke, you've got to be kidding me with this spread. That room is bigger than my whole apartment!" she enthused, with a slightly breathless smile on her face. "And those windows provide the most perfect sculpting light."

Penny laughed, and the worry lines on her forehead eased. "Leave it to you, Ava, to always find a silver lining in everything."

Ava's smile dropped when she directed her attention at me. "Don't think you're off the hook, buster." Then, she looked at my sister, concerned. "I'm guessing your brother filled you in on all the gory details."

"Gory details?" I asked.

Ava laughed at my offended tone, but Penny wrinkled in her nose. "You mean the fact that I'm supposed to pretend that you two are all loved up and about to get married? Yes, he filled me in on that, and I have to admit that I still have not wrapped my head around the idea," she said, making a disgusted face, and I couldn't help but notice that Ava looked a little distraught. But Penny continued, "I mean, I hope for both of your sakes that this plan works out, but I'm going to have a hard time buying you two together."

Both Ava and I stiffened simultaneously. "What? You don't think I'm good enough for your brother?" Ava asked, looking slightly hurt, and I had the inexplicable urge to go over there and smooth that wrinkle in her brow.

"Oh, no, Ava," Penny reassured her. "You know I don't think that way. It's just that you two have never been each other's biggest fans. Let's be honest. I mean, you're a little rough around the edges and earthy for my brother, and he's a little too stuffy and uptight for you."

"Hey," Ava said the same time I did, and then I added, "I take offence to that, Penelope."

Penny looked between me and her friend curiously. "Come on, you two have to know how insane that seems. I mean, the thought of my big brother and my best friend…" she trailed off, looking squeamish. "Well, it would be gross, to say the least."

Ava stood behind the couch, but I could see her in my peripheral vision mouth the word "gross," then look miffed, and I couldn't help the satisfaction that shot through me that she seemed offended by Penny's disdain.

There was nothing gross about the way I felt when I had her in my arms the night before. And there was nothing gross about how hard she'd made me come at the mere thought of her.

Her eyes drifted to mine, and I had to wonder for one horrified moment if what I had just been thinking showed on my face, because her cheeks were flushed, and she didn't look away.

"Then again," Penny said, "I guess that's the ideal solution for a con such as this one. You'll get the attention of the naysayers, and the attention back on the positive side of the company, and my best friend will be compensated amply—at least, I am assuming that you will be paying her properly, Spencer?"

I gave her an irritated look. "Of course I am. You’ve never known me to be a cheapskate, have you?"

"Just making sure," she said in her singsong voice, and I was relieved that she was in a much lighter mood than when she first burst into my apartment.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Grand Central Station," Ava muttered, still looking discontented by her best friend's comments.

Ralph emerged to answer the door while on his way out, and two burly men holding boxes brimming full of things trundled in. "My stuff!" Ava said, rushing to the men. "Why on Earth do they have my stuff?" Her voice got shriller by the syllable, then she looked at me with poison in her gaze.

I tried to look as innocent as possible as I explained, "I might've sent out a text to go ahead and gather your things, but I didn’t see the need to dally with everything that's going on, Ava."

She looked outraged. "You had no right to send the goons." She stopped, looking at the burly men and eyeing them dubiously. "No offense, of course, gentleman. I'm sure you're perfectly lovely when you're not breaking into some unsuspecting young woman's home."

"Spencer," Penny said behind me in a condemning voice.

I turned to face both Ava and Penny, who were looking at me with raised eyebrows, Penny with her lips pressed together in that disapproving way of hers while Ava had her arms crossed across her chest and her fingers curling into fists.

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