Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (The Rajes #1)(93)

DJ squeezed his temples. Julia threw DJ a hurt look.

Emma patted the giant beanbag she was sitting on. “Come on, bruh’, you might as well get in on this.”

DJ sank down next to her, shaking his head.

Julia settled herself into the other beanbag next to them. “When you heard she was sick, what went through your mind?”

He threw a glance at the camera.

“Don’t worry, DJ, this is just us talking. Ignore the camera.”

Her blue gaze zeroed in on him as though he were the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen, and he felt the corner behind him close in.

“He was thrilled,” Emma said. “I mean what big brother wouldn’t be thrilled that his annoying baby sister was going to die?” Her bugger-off grin gleamed in her eyes.

He started to stand. Enough was enough. The camera did not need to catch this.

Emma held his hand and pulled him back. “He was angry, all right?” she said to the camera. “I was angry. We both wanted to burn the world down. It had taken us years, but we were both finally fine, we’d both finally built lives we loved.”

Julia lifted her chin at him. “And then you had to leave everything behind.”

“Wouldn’t you?” He hated that she’d made him say it with a camera watching.

Emma’s grip on his hand tightened. She rested her head on his shoulder. “He was always a great big brother.” She looked up at him with her mismatched eyes, their parents’ eyes fused together. “DJ was twelve when he started working to help our mother take care of us. He didn’t buy new shoes if it meant I could buy paints. He never asked for a bloody thing, not once. But he made sure I had everything I ever needed. And now I’ve bankrupted him. All these years of working, and my medical bills, and the rent for this place have taken everything he’s worked for.”

He almost opened his mouth, but she stopped him again.

“You want to watch me die? Go ahead. I’ll leave these cameras on at my last breath if that’ll give you your kicks. But you’re going to have to click that donate button. Go on. Let’s see what you can cough up. Click it. Click it now. You’re not dying, you bastards, look at you, sitting in your home, staring at my—”

Julia stood and turned off the camera. “This isn’t a joke, Emma. You told me you wanted to do this, and now you’re turning my work into some sort of mockery?”

“Actually, you’re the one who told me I’d want to do this. You’re the one who told me I could make this what I wanted to make it, told me to let my anger out so I’d feel better. Now you want to tell me that my feelings are a mockery?”

Something like unbanked rage flashed across Julia’s face. But it was gone so fast he wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it.

I know only too well what a skilled liar Julia is.

Out of nowhere Trisha’s words came back to him.

Had Julia seen Emma’s art? This was nothing compared to what she did with her iconoclastic humor there. He thought about the painting Emma had done for Trisha.

Julia didn’t look like she would ever get that painting.

She threw him a desperate look and he sobered.

“You’re not being fair, Emma,” he said, evenly. “Julia’s time is valuable.” Then to Julia. “I’m sorry.”

Emma shrugged, waved the last piece of pain perdu at Julia with an “Au revoir,” and sauntered off into the bedroom, munching on the sweet bread as she went.

“It’s fine,” Julia said, her voice calm again. “I can edit around it.” The blue of her eyes was bright again. She unhooked her camera from the tripod and looped it around her neck. “I’m sure she’ll love it once it’s done.”

That made him want to laugh. All the same, Emma had behaved badly with her. “I really am sorry. As you can imagine this isn’t easy. She has an appointment with her surgeon today and she’s stressed about it.”

Julia’s smile tightened around her mouth. She folded up the tripod and headed for the door.

DJ took the tripod from her. “I’ll walk you out.” Once they were out on the porch of the building, he asked her the question he’d been holding inside. “Can we forget about the video, please? I’m sorry if we wasted your time, but I think this was a mistake.”

Her smile didn’t budge but something slipped in her eyes again, another flash of temper beneath the twinkle. Again, it was gone in the barest second. “Nothing about meeting you has been a mistake, DJ.” She placed a hand on his arm. “Let’s not hurry to conclusions. As you said, Emma’s just in a bad place today.” She laughed a little. “If I were going to go see Trisha Raje, I’d be a raging bitch too.”

He attempted a smile but couldn’t quite manage it.

Julia’s smile lost some of its force, but she didn’t remove the hand from his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were catering Yash’s fund-raiser?”

“Didn’t I?”

“I don’t understand why you’re cozying up with the Rajes. Didn’t you hear a thing I said that day?”

“I assure you there’s no cozying up going on. It’s just work. Which, as you can imagine, I really need right now.”

She studied him for a bit, and this time he saw fatigue flash in her eyes. A tiredness he recognized only too well. “Take care, DJ. This is not a family who reacts well to people forgetting their place in the world.” And with that she hooked the tripod on her shoulder and was gone.