Infuriating - Onley James Page 0,21

people could pull it off.”

Jackson thought his sister looked like she’d just escaped from teaching a kindergarten art class with her bright sundress, oversized cardigan, and her hair in two buns on the top of her head, but the last time he’d commented on Ruby’s style, she’d forced him to go shopping with her. So, he said nothing, instead pushing a mug of coffee in front of Day, who took a sip of the black brew and sighed.

Jackson frowned as a thought occurred to him. “I thought you said you were going to call when you were downstairs?”

“Well, there was nobody at the desk, so we just came on up. Besides, if you’d had any warning, you would have just hidden away your new…client, and then I wouldn’t have gotten such a nice compliment,” Ruby said, beaming at Day, who smirked at Jackson, his brows somehow looking smug.

“What do you mean there was nobody at the front desk? There’s always supposed to be somebody at the front desk. That’s why I live here,” Jackson said, ignoring the way Ruby and Day appeared ready to tag team him.

“You don’t live here. You live in Miami,” Chloe reminded him. Jackson snatched the five-year-old up and tickled her until she screeched, “Stop! I’m gonna pee.”

That earned a snicker from Day, and it did something funny to Jackson’s chest to see him smile at Chloe. Keisha, however, was not one to be outdone by her baby sister. “Uncle Jack, I got a reading award at school.”

“You did?” Jackson asked, putting as much pride in his voice as he could muster. “Well, that sounds like you deserve some whipped cream on your waffle.”

“Gross. I want peanut butter,” Keisha said.

“Now, you're talking,” Day said. “Peanut butter on waffles is the bomb.”

“Nobody says ‘the bomb’ anymore,” Isaac said, watching Day warily and picking lint off his Spiderman t-shirt.

“Isaac Isiah Harrington. Is that how you speak to grown ups?” Ruby asked.

“Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “I’m gonna go play Xbox in your room, Uncle Jack.”

Jackson watched as Isaac shot up the stairs and threw open his bedroom door, not waiting for permission.

“Can I take my waffle upstairs and watch Isaac play Assassin’s Creed?” Keisha asked.

“Yes, you may. Just don’t get your sticky fingers all over my bed,” Jackson said.

He finished prepping her waffle and handed it to her, watching her walk up the stairs at a much slower pace. Chloe didn’t follow. She climbed up onto the stool beside Day and just stared at him while he drank his coffee. When Day noticed her, he frowned at her over his cup before setting it back on the counter. “Hi?” he said.

“Hi,” she chirped.

“AJ, can you help me grab something out of my car, please?” Ruby asked.

Jackson knew there was nothing for her to get out of the car. She planned to interrogate him about why there was a client living in his home when there were several safe houses he could have chosen to take Day to. But he honestly had no answers and the last thing he needed was for his sister to see him wavering. She’d have his mother and sisters there before nightfall and Day would run screaming. He was far too fragile to be exposed to the entire Avery clan on the second day of knowing Jackson. Nobody was that strong. He’d seen those women bring Linc to heel with a look. Of course, they loved Wyatt and Day had very Wyatt-like qualities… He was just far more wounded.

“Can it wait a few minutes? I’d like to eat my breakfast,” Jackson lied, ignoring the way Day’s gaze shot to his, a silent cry not to be left alone with a small child.

“No, actually. It can’t. I don’t want it to wilt.”

Wilt, his ass. Jackson had a black thumb. He couldn’t even keep a fake plant alive. There was no way his sister would bring one of her precious babies to Jackson for him to murder. He was lucky she trusted him with her kids. She said it was because the kids were old enough to ask for food and water. He shook his head. She wasn’t going to let this go.

Jackson sighed. “I’ll be right back. Ten minutes. Don’t open the door for anybody.”

“Duh,” Chloe said, her hand under her chin.

“Yeah, duh,” Day said, mimicking her gesture.

Jackson grabbed his keys and followed his sister out the door, locking it behind him. They weren’t even to the end of the hallway before