Page 22 of Silks
You look like a movie star.
No one ever bothered to comment on ordinary gray eyes. Not that I cared. But my twin’s eyes were strangely hypnotic, pinning me uncomfortably in place.
“What do you want from me? How can I make this better?”
“It’s fine,” I said, my voice sounding strange to my ears. “It’s water under the bridge now.”
“I won’t stop, Ophelia,” he said, and there was a warning tone in his voice again.
What does that mean? I wondered, but I felt a little uneasy shiver down my spine.
Maybe I didn’t want to know what that meant.
Teddy had always been so freaking intense when it came to me. Two years away from him meant I wasn’t used to the everyday intensity of my asshole overly protective big brother. Turning down all the frats that wanted him in favor of renting a house he could share with me. Calling and texting me all day. All the classes we took together, even the ones he couldn’t possibly have wanted to take, like pottery. The time he left at halftime during a football game to come get me at the library because I wasn’t there to watch him.
I shouldn’t have been surprised he was paying to tail me at graduate school.
We ordered and ate. My grilled cheese and carrot soup were delicious but damn, did my brother’s golden fries ever look good, too.
I was just debating causing a distraction so I could grab one when my phone buzzed.
I was only able to glance at the screen and see that it was Harvey when Teddy picked up my phone.
“Give me that!” I said, trying to lunge across the table, but he only captured both my wrists easily in his hand, his eyes scanning the text message.
We need more or you know what will happen
“What does this mean?” he asked, his voice tight with anger. “What have you gotten yourself into, sweetheart?”
“Don’t sweetheart me!” I said indignantly. “And it’s none of your business. Maybe I work for the mob now.”
But this attempt at humor fell flat, a muscle throbbing in my brother’s jawline.
“You better not be,” he said grimly. “Tell me who is threatening you, Ophelia. Now.”
“I have to go pee,” I said, swiping a few fries from his plate and cramming them in my mouth, then hurrying away before he could object.
After going to the bathroom, I put my hands on my hips and contemplated my options.
Obviously I was going to dine and dash, crawl out the window, and get an Uber.
It wasn’t like Teddy couldn’t afford it.
The only downside was that he now had my phone, but thank God Harvey was using some sort of encrypted number.
Maybe it would be easier to do a few months in jail. I wasn’t sure I was cut out for the cloak-and-dagger stuff.
If I could only get to Chet! He looked slimy and sleazy and he was high-ranking in Barrington Industries. If there was something dodgy going on, he certainly knew about it. Only I couldn’t even try to charm Chet with my twin brother always getting in the way.
I dragged a chair over underneath the window, but I had barely stood on it before the door to the bathroom opened and my brother stood there.
“Get out of the women’s bathroom!” I cried, but he only strode up to me.
He kicked the chair away, but since he had one hand firmly on my shirt, the only thing that happened was I dangled in the air, kicking ineffectively at him.
“Sugar, don’t bother trying to get away,” he said in an amused voice, setting me gently down on the ground.
“I’m going to kill you, Theodore!” I shrieked, kicking wildly at him, but he pushed me backward, shoving a knee in between my thighs to trap me in place.