younger. More innocent.
And I realized now just how much she’d been on her own.
Up until recently she hadn’t even trusted her own sister to be on her side. And from what I’d seen of the Devereaux family and what I knew they’d done to Brandon and his parents…
“Hey,” I said, leaning forward until I was in her space. “You’re not on your own. You know that, right? Lila might be… well, Lila. But there’s no better person to have on your side.”
I hated the idea that I had to clue her in to the awesome woman who was my girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
The word alone made my lips twitch up with happiness.
“Look, I know Lila acts like a flake sometimes, but it’s just an act. And, trust me when I say that I know as well as anyone how she can come across as manipulative, but the more I’ve gotten to know her, the more I’ve realized how loyal she can be.” I swallowed when Tess’s gaze grew intense as I rattled on about Lila. “She’s a good person, just—”
“Raised by a monster,” Tess finished for me. She blew out a long breath. “I know all this, Jack. I really do. Lila and I might not have always gotten along…” She glanced around at the partygoers. “A lot of that was our father’s fault. We were never able to just be sisters. There was always something at stake. We were always competing.”
“That sucks,” I said. All my verbal skills had been used up in defending Lila’s honor.
Tess didn’t mock me, though. She just nodded in agreement. “It does suck. But even when we were at odds, I knew she wasn’t as wicked as she pretended to be. She wasn’t nearly as vain or selfish…” Tess shot me a funny little smirk. “She built an incredibly convincing mask for herself, and almost everybody fell for it.” She narrowed her eyes like she was trying to read me. “Everybody but you.”
She wasn’t saying it as some sort of compliment, she said it like a fact. But I still felt my chest swell with pride… and something else. I guess maybe I was humbled. I was insanely grateful. Because for whatever reason, I was the guy who got the girl. The girl. My girl.
My heart did a weird lurch, and I was suddenly desperate to see her. To hold her.
“She’s not perfect, of course,” Tess said, breaking the tension.
We both laughed at that. “Definitely not.”
“But I’m grateful that we went to Pinedale,” Tess said. “I’m glad that she met you.”
I smiled.
“And I’m hoping…” She turned to face me, that battle seemingly over and resignation written all over her face. “I’m hoping you’ll take her back with you.”
I jerked back in surprise at her sudden intensity. “You… what?”
She was one hundred percent serious when she continued, “For Thanksgiving break. Over the holidays. And when she’s done with school and you’re done filming, maybe…”
I drew my brows together in confusion, as much over the intensity in her tone as what she was saying. “You want Lila to go back to Pinedale? But… why?”
Tess looked pained. “She was happy there… toward the end, at least.” She bit her lip. “I think—I think she would be happy if you two went back there. Away from our dad. Away from her mom. Away from… all this.” She gestured to the party going on before us. The loud laughter, the non-stop gossip. She turned to me, and the plea in her eyes made my stomach churn.
Maybe it was instinct or foreboding, but those protective instincts were on high alert. “What aren’t you telling me, Tess? Did your father find out that you’re working against him? Does this have to do with Vivien or—”
She shook her head quickly. “No. The Vivien prenup is a dead-end, Jack. My father is a lot of things, but he’s not an idiot. He knows the loopholes, and he needs her money too badly to screw up.” She tilted her head to the side as she seemed to reconsider. “He needs her money too much to be caught, at least.”
“So… what? Is this about that mysterious payment?”
Her silence was my answer and pieces seemed to click into place.
“Her mother is getting the payments. But why? And what’s with all the secrecy around it?”
Tess licked her lips, and I could have sworn I caught a real wave of fear there in her eyes. “That’s the thing, Jack. I don’t know, but I can guess.”
“What does that mean?”
She shook her