Page 25 of Liars and Liaisons

Hauntingly angelic, just like…

Sydney.

7

My one conditionbefore we leave is telling Kal.

Grayson gives me a few days to say my good-byes in general and to set up the meeting with my brother, but when he comes back, it’s all business.

Cora was easy—a simple text about a new job and the promise to give her a play-by-play the second I left was all it took to keep her at bay. If I tried to do the same with Kal, he’d come looking for me.

A car service takes me to a little seaside café on the north side of Aplana Island. Though Grayson sits across the back seat, he didn’t say anything when he picked me up, and doesn’t even look up from his phone when his driver pulls into the small parking lot. I get out and tell him I’ll be back in a half hour.

He grunts, and that’s it.

I find Kal sitting with his wife and two daughters at a table on the far end of the patio. I approach slowly, clearing the notifications from my phone and pointedly ignoring one specific text.

When can I get the next drop?

Our messages are short and vague, in case anyone has bugged my father’s phone. Since mine’s a cheap pay-as-you-go one, I don’t have to worry so much, but he can’t risk losing his contacts or communication with my mother.

But I don’t want to deal with him right now. I’ll send my new checks as soon as I have an envelope and stamps.

When I get to the table, the breezy sea air shifts into something less cool and free. I can’t tell if that’s me or Kal. Maybe both.

Elena, simply put, is stunning. Her long, dark brown hair shimmers in the sunlight, her hazel eyes bright as she assists her six-year-old with a coloring book. There’s a springtime radiance that emanates from her, like she really is the queen of my brother’s little underworld.

Slung across Kal’s chest is a sleeping, dark-haired toddler. She sucks on her thumb while my brother presses slow, clockwise circles into her back. The pink onesie seems at odds with her parents’ mostly black attire. Even their older child has a glittery rainbow top and a white tutu. Sort of like they’re trying to preserve as much color in their lives as possible.

Before it’s too late and they realize genetics are a powerful thing.

“Q,” Elena says to the little girl, running her hand down her jet-black ringlets, “do you remember your aunt Violet?”

I glance at the sunflower maze she’s running a bright yellow crayon through. “Wow, you’re really good at that. Is this your first try?”

She turns big, dark eyes up to me. Her father’s eyes—myfather’s eyes. Emotion clogs in my throat as she scans me up, down, and then goes right back to her maze.

Rocking back on my heels, I smother a smirk at her clear judgment.

Elena sighs. “She’s not really into speaking right now. Wonder where she gets that from.”

Her husband ignores the obvious jab. “You’re late.”

My hand pauses on the back of the iron bistro seat, and I frown. “I called you to come here.”

“And it’s now fifteen minutes past the time we agreed upon,” he says, taking a sip from a small ceramic mug. “Which tells me you likely contemplated not even coming because you knew whatever you’re going to tell me, I won’t approve.”

“Kallum,” Elena murmurs, elbowing him in the gut. “Jesus Christ. Let her speak.”

As I lower myself into the seat, Kal’s stern glare grates into my skin. I chew on the inside of my lip, silently cursing my cousin’s big fucking mouth. “Cora already told you, didn’t she?”

Elena, at least, has the decency to look ashamed. Her husband just continues glaring.

“I don’t know why anyone in this family even tries to keep secrets,” I mutter, earning a twisted grin from my sister-in-law.

I’m sure she’s reading into the fact that I called us a family, and while I don’t exactly want her to get the wrong impression, I don’t have it in me right now to disappoint her doubly.

“I thought you were trying to make your relationship with the producer work,” Kal says. “Now, suddenly, you’re running off to be his brother’s housekeeper? Are you in some sort of trouble?”

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