Page 19 of Beautiful Exile

It was my turn to grin. “I’m in.”

“I’d recommend solar panels that feed a storage battery. But you might want a generator on top of it, just in case. You’ll be on well water, so you’re good there. Are you thinking a guesthouse or any other outbuildings?”

A vision of Arden’s workshop flashed in my mind: the windows facing that gorgeous view, and an endless array of paintings and sculptures scattered around the space. It was a bizarre thing to pop into my mind. It wasn’t like I had a secret art hobby I needed a home for. Maybe it was simply that she’d taken over so many of my thoughts the past few days.

There was just something about her. A fiery honesty I’d had toolittle of in my life. But more than that was the thirst for survival I admired the hell out of.

I shook myself of those swirling thoughts, pulled under by gray-violet eyes yet again. “A guesthouse would be good. Pool for sure.” After sparring, swimming was my favorite workout, the only one that truly cleared my mind. “I’m not sure about others. Can we start there?”

“Of course,” Shep said, gathering up the other listings and tossing them into the wastepaper basket. “I won’t get started on an official concept for the main house until you close on the property, but I might doodle some preliminary ideas to see what you like and don’t. Is there anything else you want to cover today?”

“I think we’re good for now,” I said, setting down the Meadowlark Lane listing and running offer figures in my mind.

“All right, then. I’ll get to work,” he said, starting for the door.

“Shep.”

He turned, waiting for whatever I was about to say. I cursed myself but kept on going. In for a penny, in for a pound.

“What’s the story with your sister Arden?”

Shep’s easygoing demeanor shifted in a heartbeat. Gone was the slight grin and open expression. In their place were hard eyes and a mouth set in a grim line. “That’s a no-go zone. You wanna get laid, you look elsewhere.”

My spine straightened as a prickle of suspicion skated down it. I should’ve been insulted by the idea that Shep thought I would use his sister to get off—that I would treatanywoman with such callous disregard. But I couldn’t be bothered to even consider that when I was too focused on the reasons why.

Why was Shep this protective of Arden? It made sense that he would look out for a younger sibling, but this stark flip in demeanor and intense reaction…didn’t make sense.

“Not how I meant it,” I said, assessing the best approach. I was used to that sort of thing in business. How to get the information I needed without showing my cards to my opponent. But Shep wasn’t my opponent, and I wouldn’t lie to him. “Just curious. I hit up Kye’sgym early the other morning.” A smile tugged at my lips. “Think I might’ve startled her because she held a knife to my throat.”

Shep stared at me for one beat, then two. Then he barked out a laugh, running a hand through his rich brown hair. “Shit, Linc. I’m sorry. She turns that music up to ear-bleeding levels and can be a little trigger-happy.”

“Please, tell me she doesn’t actually have access to firearms. I’d definitely be missing a little of my ear.”

Shep shook his head and sighed. “No guns. But definitely knock and wait to be invited in. Kye’s trained her in jujitsu. She’s pretty damn good.”

“She’s not half bad with a switchblade either.”

“I’m going to give her shit about that one,” he said, amusement filling his expression.

Something about the pleasure Shep got out of hearing about the interaction and the clear affection he had for his little sister had a pang taking root in my chest, worry rising alongside it—concern thatmysister, Ellie, had gone so far down a road she couldn’t come back from it, and worry that I might lose her to a world we’d always sworn we would never be a part of.

I shook that off, refocusing on the conversation at hand and finding out what Arden’s story was. “Is there a reason she’s so quick with a blade?”

A shadow passed over Shep’s expression a split second before he donned a mask. I was good at reading those defenses. A childhood spent trying to figure out people’s motives or determining when they would snap had trained me well.

He shrugged, the motion meant to be read as careless, but I could see the tension winding through Shep’s shoulders. “We’ve all got stories. Hers isn’t mine to tell,” he said.

Fuck.

I’d been right. This was about more than Cope’s attack. Something had happened to Arden. Something bad. Something I didn’t have any right to know about. But that didn’t stop me from wanting the information.

I bit the inside of my cheek until the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth—whatever it took to keep from pressing Shep for more and stop myself from showing him every damn card in my deck.

“Understood,” I said, my fingers twitching at my sides. I needed to spar or go for a swim. Maybe hike into those beautiful mountains where I could breathe.

Shep held my gaze for a beat longer than was typical. “She likes her space. I recommend giving it to her.”

I understood that, too. Heard the warning that lay beneath his words. I lifted my chin, a gesture that said I heard him, but I didn’t give him the words that said I agreed to his terms. Because they would’ve been a lie.

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