four of the occupants were girls. Delaney and Quinn fought about everything, then made up and were best friends, then fought more the next day. I was a twin, which meant Addy and I had done everything together. I loved my sister more than anything, but growing up in a house full of love that was expressed loudly made me appreciate quiet. I knew Addy did, too. We’d talked about it when we were moving out of our parents’ house. Everyone thought we’d move out and get a place together, but she was of the same mind—she wanted her own space, too. That didn’t mean we weren’t close or that we didn’t love each other, but it was time for us to be individuals and not Addy and Hadley—The Twins.
“If I say you’re right, can we avoid a lengthy discussion? Because I want to see the books, call Ethan, then go get lunch.”
“Yeah, Hadley, we can avoid a lengthy discussion as long as you keep your cell near.”
I rolled my eyes and stared at the ceiling a moment wondering if I was crazy getting involved with a man who my uncle had warned me was going to be protective and I had to know when to push back and when to concede. I figured since no one in my family let up on this topic, this was a prime example of when I needed to concede.
“Babe?” he prompted, and I rolled my eyes back to him.
“Fine,” I snapped and he smiled.
It took a lot not to call him out on his smug grin, and he knew it did because he started chuckling.
“I see that was hard for you,” he noted and I narrowed my eyes. “Appreciate you agreeing to that.”
He sounded sincere, reinforcing my earlier conclusion. He wasn’t being controlling—he cared about my safety.
“How many books are out there?” I whispered.
Brady didn’t answer until he made it across my office and wrapped his arms around me.
“Brace, baby, there looks to be at least a dozen. But some might be salvageable.”
Shit.
I slowly exhaled and shook my head.
“I don’t get it. How could anyone destroy such beautiful works of art?”
“I don’t know.”
I rested my forehead on his chest and tried to calm down. But not even the delicious smell of his cologne worked. His arms tightened and I felt his lips touch the top of my head where he muttered, “Let’s get this done.”
“I hate this. And what’s worse is, whatever books are out there ruined I won’t be able to replace. Gayle will make sure of it.”
Brady’s body went solid and he asked, “Is it possible she’s destroying the books?”
“I wish I could say yes, because I seriously don’t like her, but she’s on a week’s vacation in Florida with her family and they left yesterday. Those books weren’t out there this morning when I got to work.”
“You need cameras outside.”
“Yeah, that’s never going to happen. There’s no money for that and our budget’s on the chopping block for the third year in a row. With the way things are looking I’m damn lucky to have a job.”
Brady gave me a squeeze and slightly pulled away. I looked up at him, giving him what he’d non-verbally asked for.
“Your job in jeopardy?”
“Yes,” I told him honestly. “And I’d appreciate it if you don’t talk to anyone about that. I love my job. It would suck to lose it, but I know there’s a job waiting for me at Triple Canopy so I know financially I’ll be okay. I just wanted to prove I could make it on my own without my family’s help.”
“I get that.” Brady held my stare and something that looked a lot like pride shone back. “You got my word I won’t mention it.”
“You need cameras,” my cousin Ethan declared, and for the second time in the last hour, I rolled my eyes, this time toward the cloudy sky since we were standing outside.
“I’ve heard that before. But as I explained to Brady, that’s not in the budget.”
Ethan’s gaze slid from me to Brady and after a moment he asked, “Are you gonna—”
“No,” I cut in before my cousin could finish his question. “No one is using Triple Canopy resources for the library. And especially not for this. You said yourself that vandalism isn’t a serious crime. And even if you caught the person returning the damaged books, it would be near-impossible to prove they actually did the damage. And if we could prove they did because the damaged