Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)(51)

She walked back into her house and I watched her go, not sure what she meant but sure it had something to do with her past. It took every ounce of restraint not to look her up, not to dig through the internet to find exactly what happened to her back home. But it felt like an invasion of her privacy, an invasion she hadn’t done to me. I know she hadn’t looked up what happened to my wrist, knew she’d wanted the story straight from my lips.





20




DECLAN





THE REST of the afternoon and into the night, I did the same damn thing I’d done the night before.

I watched her lights.

Tried to work.

And miserably failed.

I even ended up pushing myself harder in the gym than I intended to.

I’d looked forward to getting her in my car the next morning and having a talk with her on our way to work. Yet, when the sun rose, I was ambushed by Anastasia and Melinda at the crack of dawn, both of them doing exactly what Clara said they would.

Digging.

They stopped over with baked goods, like the woman cooked at all. The two of them were vicious in trying to figure out what was going on between Everly and me.

“Declan, you don’t have to keep her in the guesthouse. Send her home. Carl wouldn’t have cared. He’d done enough for her. Obviously, he didn’t leave her money for an apartment.” She stated it almost as a question, like she wanted to know the stipulations of the will. “I know Carl trusted you and your brothers most. And I know you’re always going to take care of us. But,” Melinda sighed, “she’s not one of us, Declan. She’s not even a Milton. We all took his name, she didn’t.”

Melinda was happy owning most of the spas in the HEAT empire and having us handle the business. She didn’t care to worry about anything other than her social status.

“She’s as much Carl’s daughter as Anastasia or Clara, Mrs. Milton. I wouldn’t turn my back on her even if she—”

The woman laughed and patted her coiffed hair, full of hairspray. “She’s not. Carl didn’t raise her.” Melinda cut me off. “I made sure of it. He didn’t go back to see her because his holidays were to be spent with us, and her mother never took one child support payment from him. They had separate lives, and she doesn’t understand this one. She’s lived in poverty most of her life, probably.”

Anastasia put the pie she’d brought over in the fridge and started searching through my cabinets for a glass. “Oh gosh, can you imagine how she must feel here?”

Her mother chuckled. “Like she’s won the lottery, I suppose.” Then she pointed to Anastasia’s glass. “Get me some water, too, would you honey?”

Anastasia flounced back over to the cabinet she’d found my glasses in and grabbed another in that pink floral dress that screamed she was trying too hard. “Declan, would you like one?”

“No.” I cleared my throat. “Look, Everly is going to stay here as long as—”

“I wanted to discuss that with you because one or two paps have written about it. It’s not big news yet but we need her to go home, Declan. It’s not a good look for any of us, honestly. I mean, what if her mother comes to visit?”

So what if she did? Jesus Christ. Dealing with them without Carl as a buffer was much harder than I anticipated.

“Oh, Piper wants us to get together for dinner, by the way.” Anastasia didn’t care at all about Everly’s mom. “She said she’ll be needing to come here more often considering the PR shitstorm—”

“Language, Anastasia.” Melinda chastised but she was smirking at her daughter. “It is quite a terrible conundrum to have this woman left hanging on us though. I’m wondering if there’s a way to get her out of HEAT Health and Fitness without it backfiring on us. It’s a member-exclusive club, and she’s—”

“She’s a great employee, ladies.” I tried to quell their bullshit and have them leave without arguing.

“Declan.” That quiet voice, so soft and smooth I dreamed about it in my sleep. Yet, my heart fucking froze when I heard it then.

Everly didn’t come to my house. She’d never come before. “Everly?”

“Sorry.” She cleared her throat and stood tall with her small duffel over her shoulder, her hair framing her face like the masterpiece it was.

I’d outright lost the battle against my attraction to her. I blatantly stared at her lips, her eyes, the damn color of her cheeks as she blushed and tried to catalog all of it at once inside my home for the first time.

“You didn’t answer your phone, and your door was open. I’m filling in for Juna early. So, no need for a ride later. I’m going to jog now.”

“Wait.” I rounded the island counter. “I can drive you—”

“Oh, God. She can jog, Declan. We’re visiting. Jesus, Everly. Are you trying to make him feel guilty?” Anastasia accused immediately.

“Of course not.” Her eyes narrowed. “He drives me every day, so I didn’t want him to wonder where his employee was in an hour when he leaves for work.”

“Whatever,” Anastasia tossed out. “He’d have figured it out. He’s not that concerned.”

Damn it. I was never a man to yell at a woman, and Anastasia was Carl’s daughter, but right then, I considered it and figured, fuck it why not?