Page 39 of Triplet Tease

I dug deep for something to say while wonderingwho the woman was when I sensed my bedroom door opening wider. Iwould have told Siena to hide in the bathroom until these people leftas they were sure to do any minute, but unfortunately, we didn’thave that conversation, and now she was about to enter the lion’sden where my father might call her a tart again. I didn’t wantthat. I had no way to make any of this better.

“Mom!”

I stared at Finn, and then Eton, who appearedbeside him at that moment.

Mom? This was Mrs. Hardy? How was thatpossible?

“Siena?” The lady looked at me and then herdaughter and back at me. “How do you know this man?” she asked.

I’d have thought it was obvious, intimately.

This was not the time for Siena to tell hermother the truth about how we met, but if she were anything like me,she’d struggle to make up a story on the spot.

“We invited Siena here. She’s a friend,”I explained before she could utter a word. “But I want to know whyare you here.”

Our father took a step away from Finn andtoward me. “I wanted to introduce you to my fiancee before I meetwith that young filmmaker this afternoon. I wanted to tell all threeof you that we’re getting married in a couple of months. We didn’twant to make a big thing out of it. It was going to be a small familyaffair. It still can be.” He looked back at Finn and Eton. “Youboys need to sort yourselves out. Get therapy. Losing your mother wasa shock, but this isn’t right.”

The woman, Siena’s mother, looked around atmy brothers and back at Siena and then at me as if she was puttingtwo and two together. “Siena, is this how you’re making a livingnow?”

“No,” I protested.

She ignored me and asked her daughter moreprobing questions without waiting for any answers. “When did youfirst meet this man? Did you get paid to come here?”

Siena didn’t reply. She went back into myroom and flung the door shut behind her.

I pointed to the door. “Get out,” I said tothe woman.

I didn’t care if she was Siena’s mom or myfather’s future wife. Or my future stepmom. She’d overstepped themark by miles, and I was fucking furious.

The woman looked shocked by how I spoke to her,in no doubt that I was mad.

I was fucking mad. She had no idea.

“You don’t get to come in here like this,wake us up, and talk like that to someone I care about.” I turnedmy gaze from the woman and leveled it at my father. The words appliedto him, too.

The sentiment was true and a revelation to me.I wasn’t furious because we’d been caught out. I was angrybecause I did care about Siena, and I cared about my brothers.

My brother’s judgment was enough to convinceme that this woman might be perfect for any one of us or all of us. Ididn’t know her, but the intimate time we’d spent together wasenough for me to care.

I also cared because Eton cared. He cared alot, he’d told us as much, and if you offended my brother, then youinsulted me.

Fortunately, my father ushered the shockedwoman out of the apartment without another word.

Eton wasn’t ready to let it go. He rushedalong the hallway to speak to them just as they were through thefront door. “You have no right to make judgments about people likethis when you don’t know the full story. You shouldn’t have justlet yourself in here. And you’ve jumped to all the wrongconclusions. I’d have deadbolted the door if I’d have known youhad a key.”

There was no reply. My father might have beenshocked, but he wasn’t the sort of man to vent his anger in publicspaces. He’d have walked away.

“And Siena is very dear to us,” Eton addedmore quietly before he closed the door.

I felt like giving him a round of applause forthe monologue — he’d said it all — but I turned and opened mybedroom door to check on Siena.

She wasn’t in my bedroom. I heard the showerrunning in the bathroom where she was cleaning up.

“Shit, fucking shit,” Eton said from justoutside my door. “What are we going to do?”

Finn was already beside him. “We’re goingto do everything to let that woman in there know she’s special tous. No matter what her mother says.”

“She’snot going to thinkthat.We didn’t pay her, for a start.”

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