Page 16 of Flyboy
"No."
"You're not going to tell me who he is?"
"No. Not before I tell your sister."
"Ah. Okay. I take it she still has no idea she bought the house from you."
Jesus Christ, this kid. "What makes you think that?"
She pulled from beneath his arm and righted herself on her stool. "I looked up the company on the contract." She lifted one side of her mouth in a half smile. "It seemed weird the previous owner was a company."
Jack cocked an eyebrow. "And that led you to think it was me?" The house in Sunnyville was owned by one of the Townsend Group's subsidies, and he was pretty sure there were three or four layers of companies before you hit Townsend.
"It took a while. But I found you."
"You don't really need me to tell you who Roark is then."
"No. I'm pretty sure I know."
"Right, well then, you can either go to bed and sleep, or watch some movies after you eat."
"I'm not really tired."
"You might not be right now, but you probably will be after your burger. You don't have to decide now though."
"Okay."
"Where's your phone?"
"In my bag. Do you want Lyssa's too?"
"Yep. Get them both for me. I need to call some people. We'll meet here."
"You need me to hide in the bedroom?"
Jack laughed. "No. You'll just press your ear to the door."
"You got that right." She gave him some side-eye. "When you tell Lyssa what I told you, are you going to tell her you’re in love with her as well?"
Shaking his head, he grabbed his water and took a drink to stall. "No."
"Good call."
His gaze found hers. "Oh?"
"She's not ready."
"You seem to think you know her well considering you've only known her a few months."
She shrugged. "She's me. I'm her. We come from the same place. Except she's had more years to harden her shell."
"She has." Penny's insight didn't surprise him. She was smart. Off the charts smart, and her observations of people, the things she seemed to know without being told, was a skill that came naturally and had no doubt been honed to a sharp edge from years of protecting herself. "I think she'll always have it to some degree," he added.
"Yes. Hard not to when you grow up like we have."
The thought of what they'd both endured at the hands of Gina Drummond made Jack want to strangle the woman.
"We'll keep our shells but that doesn't mean we won't let people behind them," she added.
