Page 7 of Cup of Lies

“Is she a celebrity?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you have any more of her?”

She shakes her head. “No. Are you mad?”

A fierce need to protect her chases away all confusion and uncertainty. “Hell no. I could never be made at you, Calista. You’re my baby sister.”

Her nostrils flare and she looks away. I sense I’ve said the wrong thing, but I don’t know how to fix it.

“I miss Mom and Dad,” she whispers. “I wish I could take it all back. I was a horrible teenager. They hate me.”

Hated.

It should be past tense.

They’re dead now.

“They never hated you,” I assure her, though I don’t exactly remember if that’s true or not. “If you want, we can fly out to Oklahoma to visit their graves. Orion won’t care.”

Several months ago, when I called Orion “our dad,” she burst into tears. Even though he’s our adoptive father, she still clings to calling him by his name, not Dad. I try to do the same when it’s just the two of us.

“They were right,” Calista says in a soft voice. “They knew I’d get mixed up in the wrong crowd, get taken advantage of, and ruin my life. If only they knew how terribly I destroyed it.”

The teacup in her small hand trembles. I want to take her hand in mine to offer some comfort, but she doesn’t like to be touched. It hurts, but I respect her feelings.

“I bet if they knew what a great artist you are, they’d be thrilled. Mom was always so good at her crafts. Remember when she painted birds on the bathroom wall?”

Calista gives me a blank look. “No.”

Frustration claws at me, but I don’t let it show. I’m guessing this is just some teenage angst she’s going through. Or hormones. I’d turned red as fuck when she told me we were out of tampons and asked if I could order more.

I glance back down at the blond-haired woman on the iPad. There’s something familiar about her. Maybe she’s a celebrity.I’ll have to run the artwork through one of my AI programs to see if there are any celeb lookalikes to investigate further. Otherwise, it’s going to drive me insane wondering who the hell she is.

“Can I email this to myself?” I ask, eyebrows lifted in question.

My sister thinks it over for a second and then nods. “Will you tell me who she is if you find out?”

I smirk at her. “I’ll do one better and ask her out if she’s single.”

A rare, small smile is reflected back at me. My chest thumps with pride. She’s a serious, withdrawn young woman and it kills me that she seems to be processing grief or something worse all alone.

All I want to do is help her and make her happy.

“Would Orion hurt me if I ran away?”

Her words are a blow to my skull. I nearly drop the iPad to scowl at her. “What the fuck, Calista?I’llhurt you if you run away.”

Not really, but I’d be pissed as hell if she did that.

She narrows her eyes, studying me as though she doesn’t believe me that I’d hurt her. I’m glad she knows I’m not some fucking animal.

“Why would you leave me, anyway?” I grumble. “You’re my sister and we need each other.”

We both grow quiet as she ponders my words. Then she whispers so quietly, I barely hear her.

“Caius, I’m scared. I don’t like it here. Orion and Theo…” She shudders. “Please, can you take me away from here?”

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