Page 72 of Veiled in Brick

“Two months ago.”

“Two months ago?” Liam replied disbelievingly.

“You would’ve known that if you called me back,” she argued.

He exhaled softly, looking her up and down with a forlorn expression. “Where’ve you been living?”

She smiled broadly at him. “Nearby.”

Liam’s eyes widened. “Nearby? How close is nearby?”

“Just north of Salem.”

“You moved here and I didn’t know about it?!” he exclaimed in an odd tone between exasperation and glee. “Cas, I would’ve helped you move all your stuff, I—”

She laughed. “I didn’t really have stuff; I just drove up with my clothes.”

“No furniture?” Liam asked, his hands now on his hips.

“I bought all new stuff at a store in Roanoke,” she replied with a bob of her shoulder.

His eyebrows flew up. “That sounds expensive.”

She waved off his comment with a flick of her wrist. “My new job pays well. Managed to get some buff guys that work there to deliver it all for me—”

“I’m a buff guy,” Liam countered. “Ya could’ve left me a message or something.”

“Ah,” she grumbled and held up an index finger, “first off, I paid for those guys ’cause they were nice to look at. I don’t want to look at you.” Her face screwed up in mild disgust as she said it, and I chortled. “Secondly,” Cassie held up a second finger. “I didn’t want to tell you that I moved here over a message.” She gestured at his still-awestruck face. “Wouldn’t have wanted to miss this.”

Liam closed his mouth, sucking on the inside of his cheek briefly before letting out an amused breath through his nostrils. He reached an arm out, strung it over her shoulders, and gave her a brief squeeze.

He laughed as he told her, “Welcome to Salem, then, I guess,” and took a step back. “You want coffee? Tell me about your new job—new place—”

“Coffee, yes. The rest, later,” she replied.

Liam began to make his way to the kitchen, grabbing Cassie a black mug from the cabinet beside the fridge. Just as he began to pour into the cup, she dragged her legs to the chair that Liam was sitting in previously and slumped down with a thud. As there was only one additional seat at the kitchen table, I sank onto a bar stool at the island, and Liam sat to join his sister.

He set the mug down for her, I noted that it was black—just as Liam drinks it—and she took a large sip. She smiled at the taste and set it down carefully.

“So, did he come here too?”

Liam’s cheerful expression fell away immediately. “What? Who?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know who, Liam, who else would I be talking about?”

“Carter?” Liam asked, and she nodded. “He came to see you?”

“Uh huh, ’cause he knows I have money,” Cassie remarked bitterly. “I assume he found you too?”

Liam’s jaw clenched. “Yup.”

Cassie kicked her legs out and crossed them at the ankles as she glanced my way.

“From the look on your face, you’ve had the pleasure of meeting our father?”

I snorted, feeling my expression twist up at the thought. “A pleasure, sure.”

“He do anything to you?” Liam questioned her.

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