and such an artfully messy knot on the top of her head, he knew it probably took her an hour to do it. “And she’s demanding some answers from her sister’s new man.”
“We’re done here,” Hawk declared.
Relieved, Mag got up, as did everyone, but only he moved quickly to the door.
Evie’s sister’s eyes were going everywhere, to him, beyond him to the other men, and back to him, but he had her full attention when he walked into Elvira’s office.
“Sidney?” he asked, offering her a hand to shake.
She stared up at him and breathed, “Holy crap, I’m totally going nerd.”
When she seemed unable to get over her shock her sister could bag a guy who looked like Mag, Mag’s patience took a serious dive, and he stopped offering his hand in order to put it on his hip.
“What can I do for you?” he asked coldly.
She did the looking around thing, now not only to him, and beyond him, but also to his shoulder before she again gave him her eyes.
And then, even though they had the same hair color and similar features, it was only then, for the first time, that she looked just like Evie.
This being when she squinted her eyes at him.
“You can explain to me why my sister is in mortal peril and no one thought to tell me about it,” she snapped.
Well.
Shit.
“I think your sister should—” he began.
She gave him The Hand, and when she did, he heard Elvira make a gulping noise behind him that sounded like she was both strangling and laughing, and Mag stopped talking.
“No. Nope.” Sidney shook her head. “She’s yours so you know Evie. You know she takes it all on and she doesn’t share dick. So, you’re the new guy, this once, I’ll educate you. It’s on you to clue me in when shit gets real for my sister. Even her waste-of-space ex tore himself away from his joystick in order to drop a text when Evan was up to her eyeballs in their bullshit. He did that even if he never got shot because Evan insists on enabling Mom’s crap, Dad’s crap and Mick’s garbage.”
Mag was so surprised this was what she was there to say, he had absolutely no clue how to reply.
Though he didn’t have to, considering Sidney wasn’t done.
“Now I know bloodshed has caused Evie to reevaluate things. Mom’s in a snit. Rob’s left her. Dad’s in a panic and worried like fuck for Evan. And Mick’s being all dramatic talking about Evie signing his death warrant and bitching that she told him to fuck off, which she should have done,” she leaned toward Mag, “years ago. But, as you can see, in all this, the one name that doesn’t come up is,” she leaned back and jerked a thumb at herself, “mine.”
“Mm-hmm, share your truth, sister,” Elvira encouraged as she moved to take her seat, not only for comfort, but because it was a better audience position.
Sidney looked to her and gave a sharp, sisterhood nod.
“Sidney,” he called, got her attention and carried on, “it’s really not up to me—”
“Wrong,” she interrupted him.
Okay.
Now he was getting ticked.
“I don’t even know you,” he bit out.
“Did you know I exist?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Did you know she hasn’t involved me in this?” she pushed.
“Yeah,” he grunted, seeing where this was going and nipping it in the bud. “But it was dangerous, she didn’t want you involved, and that was her decision to make.”
“How about this, hot guy,” she started. “Considering it was dangerous and it not only involved my sister, but my fuckup of a brother, who fucking cares what she decides? I should know.”
It sucked to admit she was correct.
He then said what he did not want to say because, even if it was right, it might mean headache for Evan. “You should be telling this to Evie.”
“Well, I’m not, seeing as I’m telling it to you.”
“Sidney—”
He didn’t go on because she suddenly looked to her feet, the carefully arranged tendrils of hair that framed her face drifting, then she looked up and Elvira made another noise.
But Mag braced.
“My sister was kidnapped,” she whispered.
“She’s fine,” Mag said softly.
“She was kidnapped because my brother is an asshole.”
Mag had nothing to say to that.
“She doesn’t tell me this shit not because she wants to protect me,” she continued. “She doesn’t tell me because I wasn’t hired out by Dad to fix all of our neighbors’ computers when I was eleven. She doesn’t think a lot of me