11
Bianca
“N o way in hell!” Hailey snaps, arms akimbo, cheeks pink as she stares her boyfriend down, chest heaving. She’s craning her neck so far back I bet it’ll be sore later, but the fire burning her cheeks isn’t subsiding. “Arthur’s new and Apollo...” She trails off, chewing her lip. “Just no .”
I sink further into the plush couch in their grand living room, hoping I’ll become invisible if I try hard enough. Carter’s attention flicks between us, the epitome of control as he lets his shoulders fall an inch.
“What would you have me do, pretty girl? Bianca refused to stay here and—”
“You need to do better! Why would you think it appropriate to send your father’s right-hand man with my sister?!”
The minuscule tick of Carter’s jaw is all that indicates his faltering composure. I don’t know him well enough to read these small gestures, but this one’s so obvious I don’t need to.
Koby snickers behind Carter’s back. It’s soundless, but the mirth on his face and his bouncing chest give him away.
He winks at me, earning a tight-lipped smile in return. It’s hard not to smile at the one person in this circle who thrives on tension. Or rather, tension-breaking.
“Hailey—” Carter tries again but she snaps her hand up.
“No. Don’t use that gravelly tone on me. You’re not getting away with this! Do better !”
Their argument, if you can call a one-sided yelling contest an argument, started quite innocently, six minutes ago.
Before that, while we were still in Carter’s office , he called Hailey over for introductions. The first thirty seconds were so uncomfortable I wished the floor would swallow me whole. Worst hey, hi of my life.
“Hey, I’m Hailey, your... half-sister, I guess.”
“Hi, Hailey. I’m Bianca.”
After that awkward introduction, Hailey must’ve thought fuck it before she enveloped me in a tight hug, muttering how relieved she was that I’m in one piece and we’d finally met.
Her eyes were misty when she pulled away from the frozen-in-place, stiff, stick-like person— me .
It’s been so many years since anyone embraced me for anything other than a regulation birthday hug that my nervous system reacted by seizing up. I’ve never been a hugger.
Probably because I wasn’t showered with affection as a child... or later in life.
I shouldn’t complain about my childhood. My adopted parents were proper. They raised me well, though they never hugged me, weren’t proud of my achievements, and didn’t smile at me daily like the parents of my friends.
For years, a gnawing feeling of not belonging plagued my mind. It amplified when Mom got pregnant.
I was eight, and once my brother was born, I noticed the difference in the way we were treated. At first, I thought it was because he was a baby. He needed them more than I did.
After all, lots of my school friends complained about their younger siblings stealing the spotlight. It wasn’t until my twenty-first birthday, when my parents admitted I was adopted, that I saw the difference for what it was: I wasn’t theirs. They raised me, but I wasn’t blood.
When I moved out of their house, the day after they told me I was adopted, they stopped calling. It was me who visited, but I could feel I wasn’t welcome. After a short while, I stopped reaching out. They didn’t want me in their life anymore. They had fulfilled their duty and crossed me off their list.
I haven’t seen them in three years...
Hours upon hours in therapy helped me work through my emotions, and only once I’d accepted I was lucky for landing with a non-abusive family did I decide to find my biological mother.
Another six months passed before I discovered her name and address. Three more before I found out she was dead. I learned I have a half-sister but couldn’t locate her anywhere.
Desperate for information, I reached out to Vaughn. He was surprisingly easy to find. The moment I introduced myself, standing on his doorstep in Ohio, tears filled his eyes.
He knew I existed, but respected his wife’s wishes to let me live my life without their interference. I later learned she’d tried to reach out on numerous occasions but was turned down by my adopted parents.
Vaughn invited me in for a cup of tea, but I ended up staying for a few days, learning about Mom while telling him my story. He reached out to Mom’s parents and helped me better understand why she gave me up days after I was born.
When Hailey hugged me in Scarlett , I regretted not asking Vaughn more about her. I focused on my biological mother, glossing over my half-sister.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have—” Hailey said, pulling away from my frozen body.
“No, it’s okay. I just didn’t expect you’d be excited to meet me.”
“Are you kidding?” Koby chuckled, winking at me out of Hailey’s view. “You’re all we’ve heard about for almost three months, firecracker.”
Carter poured us a glass of wine each, not passing on the opportunity to kiss the crown of Hailey’s head. “We’ll give you until we’ve figured out our plan of action, and then I’m taking you girls home. Bianca’s staying with us tonight.”
Hailey beamed at him, mouthed thank you and pecked his lips. The four men promptly slipped out of the office.
I expected a few mind-numbing, textbook, getting-to-know-you questions, forced chuckles, and a lot of thumb-twiddling, but Hailey’s not shy. Quite the opposite. She’s open, lively, and the sweetest person I’ve come across in a long time.
She admitted she knew everything Ryder had dug up about me, but even with my life history ingrained in her mind, she asked question after question, genuinely thrilled to learn more.
My cheeks were red most of the time, embarrassment the prevailing feeling twisting my insides. I hadn’t put much thought into meeting Hailey. I hadn’t thought about her at all, and I was ashamed that while she wanted to know everything about me, all I did was parrot her questions right back.
My obvious lack of interest wasn’t as mortifying as Hailey’s lengthy apology halfway down her wine glass.
“If I’d known about you sooner, I would’ve done everything I could to find you,” she admitted, avoiding my eyes for the first time since the guys left. “I’m sorry, Bianca. I—”
“It’s not your fault. You weren’t even born when Mom left me. You couldn’t have known.” I reached out to squeeze her hand, the gesture surprising me more than Hailey. I’m not an affectionate person. Consoling others doesn’t come naturally. “I admit, I didn’t give any thought to meeting you. I was so fixated on finding out why Mom gave me up that it didn’t register I had a sister when Vaughn told me about you.”
“It’s okay, I get it.”
“Do you?” I chuckled, swigging the rest of my wine. I was beginning to remember why I don’t drink. “Don’t let me off the hook so easily. You’re excited and I... it’s a bit surreal, you know? The last three months of my life have been crazy. Give me a few days, okay? I’ll come around, and next time I see you, I’ll be the one asking questions.”
The smile that lit up her pretty face warmed me up like nothing has for years. Maybe having a sister, the first person who seems happy to have me in their life, is what I need? Especially since Hailey’s already protective of me despite our relationship being less than two hours old.
I pinch my lips into a thin line, holding off a chuckle at the sight of her small form standing her ground in front of the brute of a man her boyfriend is.
Ryder’s here too, his muscular body folded into a chair, a glass of Bourbon in one hand. Koby’s at the kitchen island, amused eyes darting between Hailey and Carter.
The only one missing is Broadway. He went straight home with Violet. Koby didn’t hold back from explaining that they hadn’t fucked for four hours... and that’s way too long for them since Violet got pregnant.
And way too much information for my liking.
“Who would you have me send with Bianca?” Carter asks, his tone level. The control he exudes is astounding.
Hailey’s an agitated ball of frustration, huffing and puffing in his face. It doesn’t ruffle Carter’s composure in the slightest. If anything, it seems to amuse him.
She’s not happy about his choices for my bodyguards, neither up to her high standards.
“Ideally, Broadway and Koby,” she says. “But we both know Broadway won’t leave Violet, so Koby and Ryder.”
Ryder chuckles, raising his glass a bit higher. “Cheers, pretty girl. How am I last on your list?”
“Watch your fucking mouth, Ryder,” Carter grits out, shooting him a murderous glare.
Hailey rolls her eyes and for some reason that ruffles Carter’s composure in a flash. She blanks out the hungry look crossing his face, too focused on Ryder to pay attention.
“Oh, come off it,” she snaps. “You’re more than capable, Ryder, but we both know violence is not your forte.”
Now, it’s Carter who chuckles, but the tension in his posture doesn’t ease. “You’d be surprised. Don’t let that calm exterior fool you. You’ve seen nothing yet.”
He grabs her by the shoulders, backing her toward the couch until she plops beside me, arms crossed over her chest. Carter crouches before her to save her craning her neck.
“Arthur and Apollo won’t let a hair fall off Bianca’s head,” he says, winding their fingers together and running his thumbs along her knuckles. “As much as I love indulging your demands, I can’t spare Koby. I need him here. There’s too much happening that you don’t know about.”
“Fine. But please send Ryder with her. Please . He can work from anywhere, right? Cleveland’s two hours away, and—”
“Breathe, pretty girl,” he cuts in, looking over his shoulder at Ryder. “What do you think?”
He looks up from his phone. Those brown eyes, the color of melted chocolate, clash briefly with mine before swinging to his boss. “Whatever you decide. Considering what we discussed earlier, I’ll be tracking for the foreseeable future. Whether I do it from Columbus or Cleveland doesn’t make a difference.”
“I sure hope that won’t take up too much of your time,” Hailey pipes in. “I want you with Bianca, keeping her safe.”
“As unbelievable as it sounds, I can multitask.”
“Then it’s settled,” Carter denotes before Hailey can say anything else. “Happy girl?”
“Happy girl,” she admits, beaming at him, no trace of the anger she showcased a moment ago. “Thank you.”
Carter leans in, kissing her forehead. “Anything for you.”
It takes a lot of restraint not to pop two fingers in my mouth and theatrically gag at the display. They’re so sweet together it makes my teeth hurt...
And my heart ache.
I bet being cared for that way feels glorious. No one ever looked at me as if I held the answers to everything, and that’s exactly how Carter stares at Hailey. Like she’s the one who hung the moon. Like she’s a rare gem.
Urgh . Sickening.
Jealous, much?
So fucking much.
“What time are we leaving tomorrow?” I ask, daring to shatter their moment.
“Ryder?” Carter bounces the question before kissing Hailey again and rising to his full height.
“I need to gather a few things before we leave,” Ryder tells me. “Noon at the latest. We’re not in a rush, but there are a few things I should set up right away. The sooner we leave the better.”
It’s almost three in the morning already, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be heading to bed anytime soon. Carter’s refilled Hailey’s wine glass, mine still almost full. I’m pacing myself, already a little hazy from all that alcohol after long abstinence. It’ll be at least another forty minutes before I can sleep without the fear of waking up next to Charles Vaughn.
“Noon it is.” I fiddle with the hem of my t-shirt, rolling the fabric between my fingers.
The question about where he and Arthur will be staying is on the tip of my tongue. It stays there because I don’t think I’m ready for the answer.
My small apartment has two bedrooms, the one for the guys only a single. Instead of a spacious couch in the crammed living room, I have a loveseat and thus no idea how we’ll fit.
My bed’s a double, but the thought of sharing it with a man I barely know makes my skin break out in hives...
Maybe I shouldn’t have dismissed staying with Carter and Hailey so quickly.