Page 22 of The Right Sign
“What are your objections?” I demand.
“This isn’t a boardroom.” Lucy taps her phone and dials a number. “I’m calling her dad.”
I glare at her.
She frowns and pulls the phone away. “He’s not answering.”
“It’s a sign.”
“I have friends back home. Maybe we can fly her back to—”
“What. Is. Wrong. With. Me?”
“Really?” She flits her eyes up to mine. “You really want to know?”
I make a ‘get on with it’ gesture.
“I wouldn’t trust you with a plant.”
Oof. That hurts.
“You work all hours of the day.”
“I have international clients,” I grunt.
“You’re gone on trips more than you’re home.”
“I can—”
“Hire a nanny?” She finishes for me. “And when Natalia setsherpanties on fire and you’re halfway around the world inspecting a nano-bot sunscreen lab in Nicaragua, my daughter will be alone and vulnerable and sad.”
“I don’t think…”
“No, you don’t think. Not about anything but the company. You live like a nomad. You’re not even worthy enough to be called a bachelor. At least bachelors party.”
“Not everything in life is a game, Luce,” I grumble. She can talk this way because my sister has the luxury of living life exactly the way she wants to.
Ever since dad stepped down from the company to spend more time with mom, I took up the mantle. Now that they’re gone, I take care of my sister and niece’s every need.
I’m not complaining. I wouldn’t have it any other way. But my responsibilities leave no time for anything else.
There’s no way I’m letting dad’s company be anything but great, and if I’m not looking out for Luce and Talia, who will?
“When was the last time you dated, brother?”
A sudden image imprints in my mind. Yaya. Red pantsuit gliding against her skin. Long ponytail, black and full. Eyes like a siren’s.
I shake my head to clear it.
“Have you ever really let yourself be vulnerable with one person? Have you everwantedto?”
I wear my poker face, hoping like crazy she can’t tell how I jumped a little inside my skin. It feels like she caught me thinking about a woman I met precisely once. A woman who bashed my car just to prove she deserved all the heat for a crime.
“I date.” I undo the button in my shirt cuff.
“Who was your last girlfriend?”
“There was that girl from Switzerland.”