Thief (A Bad Boy Romance)(52)
And yet here I sit, getting sicker by the minute.
I shake my head. “Look I came here to tell you to stay away from them. Be sure to hear me say that.”
Declan rolls his eye. “I don’t give a shit about the Hammonds, kid.”
“Good.”
“But I do give a shit about your talents. I wasn’t kidding when I said I had a job.”
I stand. I’m done here. I’m done listening to Declan’s bullshit and his poisonous opinions.
I push my chair in and turn towards the kitchen door. “And I wasn’t kidding when I told you I’m not interested.”
“Seven figures.”
I stop.
He hoots out a laugh behind me. ““Yeah, that got your attention.”
I turn. “No, it didn’t.” I shake my head at him. “I’m just remembering why I had to find a family somewhere else.”
He snorts. “I know you the need the money.”
“You don’t know shit about me.”
“Believe me, kid. I do. I know about your little project, for instance.”
I freeze, and he chuckles.
“Yeah, that little nest egg idea of yours? Oh yeah, I know all about that shit. ‘Cept you’ve got a cash problem, and we both know it.”
“We’re done here.”
I try and make my voice level, like he didn’t just strike the nerve we both know he did.
Declan chuckles and waves his hand. “Alright, run off to your fake family.”
“Stay away from my boat, Declan.” I stride out of the kitchen towards the front door.
“You were just a pet to them, kid,” he calls after me, still chuckling.
“Remember that.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ivy
Stella, Carter, and I wave to Sierra through the window of the train as it pulls away.
“It’s totally a boy.”
I laugh, perking my brows up at my older sister. “You think?”
She snorts. “Oh, the friend she’s going to see in Boston? The one she spent an hour doing her hair and trying on clothes for?” Still giving me a look as she covers her four-year-old’s ears. “She’s wearing lingerie, Ivy,” she whispers with a scandalized look on her face. “Black.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, good for her.”
Stella tut-tuts as we walk back to the car. “Very out of character for her to be so mysterious, I’m just pointing that out.”
“I’m sure she’s got her reasons.” I give Stella a meaningful look across Carter’s car seat as we both buckle him in. “I mean, this family being so understanding about relationships that don’t fit the plan.”
She smirks. “Touché.” She coughs as we get into the front seats. “Still not going to tell me where you went the other night though, huh?”
“Nope.”
She groans as she puts the car into drive and takes us out onto the road. “You know you’re supposed to share stuff with your sisters. How did you and Si-Si not get that memo?”
I laugh, turning to look out the window as we drive back through town to our parents’ house.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still dwelling on the other night with Silas, and what that all means. But I’ve decided I’m okay with it - with whatever I end up deciding to call it. A final farewell, the closing of a book.
A new chapter?
No.
I watch the town pass us by. What happened happened, and maybe it shouldn’t have, but I can’t dwell on that. After all, he’s the one that taught me years ago that dwelling on things that happened with him is a fruitless venture. And I can’t lament on what’s happening now either - with him, with work, with Blaine.
For now, and for better or for worse, I’m home. I’m surrounded by family, and here at home, I’m safe.
“Who’s car is that?”
Stella stops her car short of our parents’ driveway, and I frown at the black Audi SUV parked behind our dad’s old Jeep.
“I have no idea?”
We park at the curb and get Carter out of his seat before heading up the walkway to the front door.
My mom meets us at the door.
“Oh, honey! Good, you’re back. He’s in the living room talking to you father.”
I frown again. “Who’s in the living room?”
She smiles. “Blaine, sweetheart.
Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
“He’s here?” I hiss, panic rising in my chest. “Mom, you know what he did-”
“Oh, no, Ivy,” Mom waves her hand, beaming at me. “It was all a big misunderstanding! He’s already explained the whole silly mix up to us.”
What.
I push past her into the living room in a daze, and there he is.