Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
The twins’ sister, Tasha, had moved out, but it hadn’t been more than a few days before Tristan’s sister, Brianna, had moved in. She’d lived in her parents’ guesthouse for a long time and had jumped at the chance to be on her own. Kala had explained how it didn’t hurt they now had someone who could easily watch after the big mutt they called Bud Two and the house when they were off galivanting around the planet.
So all four bedrooms were full, and no one apparently wanted to stay in the office.
“Cooper tried to convince them to come back to his place, but they were not listening,” Kenz said. “Like not even to each other. They both argued the other one should go to Coop’s or The Hideout, and then they argued about how the other one was trying to cut them out. It was a lot of boy drama. Are you sure you want two dudes? It feels like a lot of emotional turmoil.”
It normally wasn’t. It had worked for so many years, and then it simply hadn’t. “Well, I probably don’t have to worry about it now. I mean afterward. I really have to worry about it now since I’m stuck with them until we get back from Canada.”
Uncle Ian had gone over the parameters of her mission.
Don’t get fucking killed.
He had a way with words. Basically they were going so Tristan and Kala/Kenzie—who would be playing her best friend/companion/bodyguard—could get access to Huisman’s estate and hopefully find some dark lair where he kept all his secrets. They talked about him like he was some comic book villain who could murder her with a snap of his fingers. She was there to look pretty and be quiet.
She got that a lot these days. It was starting to rankle.
“Or you could, like, talk to them,” Kenzie said quietly. “They’re out in the living room arguing about who should take the first watch.”
“There’s a watch?” They must have come in after she’d showered and gotten ready for bed. Likely because they’d had to get Tristan’s bags from wherever he’d left them. “Also, why did you let them in? I thought we were going to be an all-female refuge. Well, all women and TJ and Bud Two.”
“Bud’s kind of half dude since he lost his balls. And TJ is proof you can’t trust any men. I mean he’s good for carrying heavy things and stuff, but he folded when the guys showed up,” Kenzie admitted. “They started whining about how they would sleep outside your window and he let them in.”
“I would have told them to go for it,” Kala replied. “I happen to have a great trap on the window. You can totally go out of it if you need to, but anyone coming in is getting some new scars, if you know what I mean.”
Her cousin was terrifying. “They were going to sleep outside?”
“They have sleeping bags and everything,” Kenzie explained, sinking to the bed with a wistful sigh. “I kind of thought it was romantic.”
“It’s stupid,” Kala corrected. “But the fun part was Brianna yelling at her brother.”
“Because he’s a butthead.” Brianna stood in the doorway, the frown on her face softening when she looked at Carys. “Hey. Sorry, I was on the phone when you came in and then you were in the shower. Are you doing okay?”
Her parents had blessed her with three brothers and not a single sister. Her relationship with Aidan and Tristan had given her the sisters she’d so desperately desired. Brianna Dean-Miles was precious to her, and the idea of not being in her life made Carys ache. She held open her arms. “I’m okay, sweetie. How are you?”
Brianna sniffled and walked into her arms, hugging her tight. “I was so worried about you. I’m sorry. Tristan is being an idiot, and I don’t know what to do.”
Carys hugged her. She remembered doing this the first time Bri got her heart broken. Bri and Daisy O’Donnell had been her baby sisters, the ones who looked up to her, who came to her for advice. Even more so than her cousins. The twins were a force of nature and had Tasha to look up to. But Bri and Daisy had been hers.
“There’s nothing for you to do,” Carys said, stroking Bri’s gold and brown hair. “None of this is your fault.”
“No, it’s Tristan’s,” Brianna replied.
Damn. This wasn’t like a normal breakup. It was like a divorce. She’d never thought about all the people who’d come to depend on the three of them being together. They were breaking up whole family systems. She hadn’t even thought about how it would affect her parents. They were all so close.
All of her life she’d simply accepted she would marry these men, and this was her family.