Audria scoffed. “Whatever you have to tell yourself.”
I felt unexpectedly annoyed. I had thought my sisters would simply accept the story and be happy for me. “You know? I hope someday you find a guy you actually fall for. Because maybe then you’ll realize it’s not as simple as just doing what makes logical sense. Yeah, logically, I should’ve probably kicked him to the curb. But I feel something when I’m with him—when I think about him. Like that’s the whole reason we’re all here in the first place. To feel something like that. It’s like being alive, and everything after or before it was just this sort of gray, bland comparison.”
Bree was smiling stupidly.
“What?” I snapped. “Are you going to join in and tell me I’m an idiot, too?”
“No,” she said. “I was just thinking how that sounds an awful lot like love.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re like five years old. What would you know about love?”
Bree pegged a crouton at the side of my head. It bounced off and landed back in her salad bowl. We all stared at it in mild confusion for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. Even Audria was laughing, although it was a mild—don’t worry, I’m still a stone cold bitch—kind of laugh.
“Well,” I said. “Whether you two agree or whatever you choose to call it, I’m happy. Really happy. And the happiness didn’t come when I found out he’d left me everything or when I watched grandpa’s second video. It came when I knew I was going to forgive him. So…” I lowered my head.
Audria sighed. “If he hurts you again, I’m going to make him regret it. Got that?”
I grinned. “Fair enough. But what if it’s just a little hurt. Like if he uses one of his pervy little whips or paddles on me tonight?”
Bree made a ridiculous sound between a cat purring and a motorcycle revving up. “When did you turn into such a hoe?”
I laughed, but Audria was making a disgusted face.
“If he does that, then I’ll scrap my thesis and change the topic to forcing the repression of memories. Because Andi’s goofy ass getting spanked with a paddle isn’t an image I want to live with.”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “Don’t worry. I’ll try to snap a selfie for you if things get wild.”
“I wonder if there are going to be videos for us soon,” Bree said. “Not that I’m particularly in a rush, but it has been weeks now and we haven’t even heard what grandpa left us in his will.”
“Yeah,” I said, thinking back to the contents of his second video, which I had decided not to fully explain to my sisters. I couldn’t say why, exactly. Maybe I just couldn’t help admitting how his insane plan for Landon and I had actually worked. If he had something similar in the works for my sisters, I didn’t want to ruin it for them. “I have a feeling there’s something coming for you guys. Soon.”28LandonI knew Edward and Sydney wouldn’t be likely to agree to meet me unless they thought they were about to get something they wanted, so I made sure my invitation was appropriately vague.
Sydney was the first to arrive. She was wearing something provocative, as usual. She smirked when I looked up, as if she’d caught me admiring her.
“I’m looking forward to this,” she said. “My leading theory is that you’re going to ask me to help you squash all these rumors in exchange for… something. I just can’t figure out what it is you think you have that I’d want. Your body, maybe?” She made a show of looking me up and down. “Tempting. But I don’t think that would do.”
I really was going to enjoy this.
“I’ll explain what’s going on once he’s here.”
Edward arrived a moment later. His hair was slicked back, and he looked as pale and ominous as ever. He surveyed the room more cautiously than Sydney had, almost like he was expecting some sort of ambush.
“What is this, exactly?” Edward asked.
“No,” I said. “I just wanted to tell you both personally.”
Sydney set down the glass of liquor she was holding with a clank. That had earned her attention, it seemed.
“The club is mine,” I said. “And my first act as the sole owner of The Golden Pecker is going to be stripping your memberships. Both of you are done.”
Edward’s face was dark. “You realize what this will look like, don’t you? People will think you’re outing me because you’ve got a problem with kinks you don’t agree with.”
“Anyone who thinks that is welcome to leave. Everyone else won’t have trouble figuring out you’re gone because you were an asshole who wanted to bend the rules.”
Sydney was smiling cruelly. “Did you forget who my father is? Do you think he won’t crush you for this?”