“You have a place… Here?” Mom scoffs, her eyes completely full of disbelief.
Sirens come into hearing range as Bo nods and looks toward the origins of the sound.
“Yes. The fire ruined the cars, so give me a minute to call a driver. By the time he gets here, we should be finished answering all the questions the local officials will have.”
She walks away, leaving all of us stupefied and dumbfounded. “She has a place?” Mom whispers, her eyes scolding me. “The girl lives in a cracker box. How can she have a place in Hawaii?”
I shrug, feeling just as surprised as she is. Bo’s comments from earlier rattle around in my mind. She hinted that she might come from money or have money. Well, I’ll be damned. I feel like I don’t know her at all.
Chapter 10
BO
“Just make sure all the pictures of Bora and I together are gone,” I say into the phone, making sure none of the Marshall family has moved this way.
They still seem stunned. I really, really, don’t want them to know who I am, but desperate times... Well, I could put away all the pictures, but they’d figure it out eventually, and then they’d freak out twice as much.
Dad’s house has been featured on numerous television shows, and it’s been in several magazines. Considering Mrs. Marshall is a major groupie, she’ll probably know it as soon as she sees it—as long as she’s not still in shock. At least it won’t look like I’m lying when they see some proof—photographed proof. But they don’t need to know I have a twin. That would give everything away to Jax.
“I think I have them all out, Bo. But I’ll do another sweep to be sure. Will you be staying in your room or your father’s?” Jane asks.
Gross. Never ever will I stay on that bed.
“My room. No one needs to go in Dad’s room. All of the guest rooms are enormous with bathrooms attached. They’ll never even realize that they don’t have master suites. Thank you, Jane. I really appreciate this.”
She laughs lightly, probably because of how quickly I told her I’d be staying in my room.
“You know it’s not a problem. And your father knows you’re coming? Not that it matters, but he often visits around this time of year. That could be… interesting. And then of course there’s the fact you’re a secret.”
Shit. “I’ll call him. As for the secret, it’s about to be out to them. Let’s hope they keep it.”
I hang up with her just as Jax nears me, his eyes studying me like I’m some exotic creature he’s just seen for the first time.
“When did you plan on telling me you have so many secrets?”
I smirk as I dial Dad’s number. “They’re not secrets if you tell them. Besides, this isn’t the biggest secret of the night. Just wait until we get to the house.”
He tilts his head in confusion, and I actually feel a glimmer of excitement. This night has been completely chaotic, scary as hell, and mind-boggling, but Jax was going to scale the side of a fiery house for me. Well, for Bora. I can cut him some slack. He’s a little deeper than the skin, which is a far cry from where I thought he was before he went to bed.
“Bora?” Dad asks in a rasp, hoarse voice, proving I just woke him. “What’s wrong?”
I turn away from Jax, and try not to give too much away. “It’s me, Dad. Sorry to bug you. I sort of need the Hawaii house for a few weeks.”
“Bo? Shit. I forgot you were using Bora’s phone. Mick called me and filled me in on your sister’s shit. What’s going on? Did her boyfriend kick you out of Mick’s house, because I can call your Uncle Mick, and he’ll toss that stupid—”
“Dad, stop. The house burned down, and we all made it out safely. But now we’re a little stranded.”
He gasps, and I hear his breathing become erratic with panic. I just told him we were safe. No need for panic.
“Is Helen okay?”
“Of course she is,” I say, frowning. “Do you think I’d be this calm and collected if she wasn’t?”
He mutters a curse and I hear something shatter to the floor. “Damn bottles,” he swears. “Sorry, Bo. I’m a little jarred right now. Of course I don’t think you’d be okay if Helen was hurt. And the Hawaii house is as much yours as it is mine. You don’t need permission to use it. Especially during an emergency like this. Take Helen with you. Let her rest up and recover from the scare she probably received. Does Mick know?”
“Yes. And he’s on his way here to check on her himself.”
Jax’s eyes catch mine, his head tilting in confusion. I’m sure nothing is making any sense to him right now.