Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,41

don't have a thing for her, do you?"

"Me?" he laughed. "No. But you do."

I frowned. "Says who?"

"You don't have to say it," he said. "It's written all over your face."

Shit.

This wasn't what I wanted to hear. Yeah, maybe I did find her interesting, but I'd never act on it. Female companionship – that was easy to find, too easy in some ways.

But a nanny for my sister? Now, that was difficult.

No way I'd be mixing the two.

I told Chase, "You're full of it."

"You can think that all you want," he said. "It doesn't make it true."

Wisdom from Chase. It was the last thing I needed.

And I was about tell him so when Brody ambled into the office, looking like he had all the time in the world.

I told him, "You're late."

He glanced at his watch. "It's only twelve after."

"Yeah. And you're still late."

At the table, Chase laughed.

I looked to him and said, "What's so funny?"

"That's the same thing you said to me."

"Yeah, because you were late, too."

Chase jerked a thumb toward Brody. "Not as late as him."

Brody looked to Chase and said, "What, you didn't tell him?"

I looked from brother to brother. "Tell me what?"

Brody replied, "I told Chase I'd be fifteen minutes late." He moved toward the conference table. "So in a way, I'm early."

Great. Now both of them were pissing me off. I looked back to Chase and said, "Why didn't you mention he was gonna be late?"

"Because we were busy." Chase looked to Brody and added, "Discussing Cami the nanny."

As Brody claimed a seat at the table, he looked to me and said, "Now that's funny."

If there was a joke, I didn't get it. "Why?"

"Because she's at the house with Arden right now."

I still didn't see the humor. "And why is that funny?"

"Because," he said, "she's probably talking about you, too."

I sure as hell hoped not.

Chapter 25

Cami

On the couch, Arden gave me a brief rundown of the Blastoviak family history, starting with the fact that their dad had a nasty habit of disappearing, sometimes for weeks, and sometimes for a whole lot longer. But he always came back eventually.

"But then," Arden continued, "the very last time he comes back, he stays only long enough to get the mom pregnant."

"With Willow, you mean?"

"Right. And according to Brody, as soon as their dad finds out that their mom's expecting another baby, he pulls a fade all over again, this time for good." Arden made a sound of disgust. "And then, the mom leaves too, the very next year."

I tried to imagine it. "So…she announces she's leaving? Just like that?"

"If only," Arden said. "No, what she does is announce that she's going on vacation."

"Seriously?"

"Oh, yeah. And she tells her sons they've got to hold down the fort while she's gone."

Silently, I worked through the details. At the time, Mason, Chase, and Brody would've been young men, more than capable of being on their own. Even Brody, the youngest son, would've been nearing his high school graduation. With two older brothers in the house, he might've done reasonably okay.

But Willow? She'd been just a baby. With a frown, I asked, "But what about Willow?"

Arden winced. "Apparently, she was part of 'the fort.'"

"So the guys were supposed to be watching her?"

"Oh, yeah. And the mom warns them that if anyone finds out she's gone, the government will swoop in and take Willow away, like into foster care or wherever, so they'd better keep their mouths shut."

"God, what a witch."

"No kidding," Arden said. "But anyway, so she leaves, supposedly for just a long weekend. But then, her vacation keeps getting extended. And she's telling them, 'Just a couple more days.' And then it's, 'Just a couple more weeks.' Finally, when she's been gone for like three whole months, she tells them – in a letter, no less – that she's not coming back at all."

My jaw dropped. "Really? But why?"

"Well, according to Brody, she said she was done with the whole 'parenting thing.'"

I shook my head. "But you're never done. Not really."

Arden gave me a look. "Sorry, but not everyone's parents are like yours."

Too late, I recalled who I was talking to. Arden's parents hadn't been all that terrific either. From what I'd gathered, they'd also spent plenty of time away, off doing their own thing.

I gave her a sympathetic look. "No. I'm the one who's sorry."

"Don't be," she said. "I'm just saying, some people are different, you know?"

I did know. I thought of my own mom, and I felt a surge of