Page 105 of Legally Mine

"His daughter," I said, puffing up my chest even though I stood close to six inches shorter than the hairdresser next to me.

"And why is it you don't want your dad to be happy?" Katie asked with a nasty grin. "I don't think he'll want me to leave him alone, honey. Danny likes me too much."

The other women in the shop cackled and whistled. My stomach turned at the memory of my dad all over this ridiculous woman.

"Look, my grandmother saw you with Victor," I said, putting my cards on the table. "You're not really interested in my dad. He's a garbage collector who can't even play in his band anymore because Victor messed him up so much. He's twenty years older than you, has no money, and lives with his ma. You've obviously been sent by Victor to get him into trouble again, and I'm asking you, if you have any decency, to stop. Please stop."

I took a deep breath. All of the women stared at me, their plump lips dropped to the floor.

"He has nothing more to give," I said quietly, now pleading rather than dictating. A catfight wouldn't work here. They had me in numbers, and they'd dig in their claws. It was better to play dead. "If Victor's looking for another payout...he needs to know there's nothing left."

"Who do you think you're foolin', honey?" Katie asked, apparently having decided to abandon all pretense. "Nothin' left? Ain't you got a rich boyfriend? Victor knows there's a lot more there. And if he don't get it, well...let's just say your dad and grandmother might not have a place to live pretty soon." She turned to her friends. "It's a shame really. It's a nice house, just a few blocks from here."

I fought the sick feeling that was growing in my stomach.

"You can tell him that's not an option anymore," I said. "That connection is gone. And if he feels okay with tossing an old lady and her maimed son out onto the street, then he's going straight to hell."

Katie shrugged.

"Ain't you a fancy lawyer now?" she asked, her smile laced with daggers. "That's what Danny's always sayin'. He can't stop braggin' about his daughter and her fancy Harvard degree." She glanced at her friends, who were looking at me with arched, heavily plucked brows. "I think you'll be able to find plenty of funds when they become necessary."

"When will that be?" I asked with a dry mouth. I couldn't help myself.

"Oh, your dad's holding out better than most, I'll give him that. He's actually tryin' to make this whole rehab thing work. But..." She flipped a long-nailed finger around the room whimsically. "Once an addict, always an addict. He'll come back to the track. They always do."

My heart sank. This was the wrong tactic; I should have known better. Appealing to Katie's better nature was never going to work. The best thing I could do would be to get my family the hell out of New York. A lot easier said than done.

Before I could leave, the shop door jangled open again.

"Skylar?"

My heart fell even further as I realized who was behind me. Along with the rest of the women, I turned around to find Brandon standing awkwardly in the shop entrance, looking way better in his simple white T-shirt and jeans than anyone had any right to. He wore his favorite Red Sox cap, the curled brim pulled low over his face. From afar, he might have looked like any other regular neighborhood guy coming off a construction shift or a delivery route. But it didn't really matter how he dressed; Brandon couldn't mask the confidence in his shoulders, the determined set of his chiseled jaw. No hat could hide the natural magnetism emanating from every pore.

"Hot damn," someone breathed behind me. I knew without looking that all these women were practically panting.

"Skylar?" Brandon said again as his blue eyes zeroed in on me. "Everything okay?"

I closed my eyes. Shit. This was going to make everything even worse.

"It's fine," I said in a voice that sounded anything but. "We should go."

"Who's your friend, sweetie?" Katie asked behind me, saccharine-sweet. She raised a hand. "I'm Katie. How you doin' handsome? What do we call you?"

Her voice was friendly, but I knew exactly what she was doing. Every single thing she saw was going to be reported right back to Messina, and he would know exactly whom she'd seen. My entire story was completely blown.

Brandon darted a quick blue glance at her and the other women, then landed back me.

"You ready to leave?" he asked, ignoring Katie.

His question jarred me out of my frozen position.

"Yes." I wove my way back through the shop and grabbed his hand. "We need to go."

"Oh Skylar?"

Katie's voice stopped me as I tugged Brandon toward the door. I turned around. She might still have looked like a drowned rat, but she looked like a smug drowned rat. She looked down at Brandon's wrist, which bore the single giveaway of who he was: his shiny, expensive Rolex watch.

"I'll tell Victor he has nothing to worry about," she said with a particularly evil smile.