“Zach!” She moaned, planting her face in her hands.
“Just sayin’.” Zach laughed. “Is he married?”
“No,” she mumbled into her palms.
“Gay?”
She looked up at him, eyebrows high.
He shrugged. “So he’s not gay, not married, is into you and, by the noises you were making this morning, the feeling is mutual. He’s not poor, so Dad’s long-gone money isn’t what he’s after. Why is it complicated?”
She opened her mouth, and closed it again. She wasn’t ready to tell Zach why it was complicated. That was not a conversation she was willing to have with her newly affable teenage half brother.
He gave her an expectant look. “Well?”
Her mobile phone burst into ringing life, saving her from blustering through an answer she didn’t have.
Jolting to her feet, she hurried across the room and plucked it from where it sat charging in its dock. “Hello? Sienna Roberts speaking.”
“Hello, Ms. Roberts.” The male voice in her ear was familiar. Very familiar. “This is Benton Fenchurch. The principal from The Point School.”
She flicked Zach a glance. Her grip on her phone tightened. “I know who you are, Mr. Fenchurch. What can I help you with?”
The man cleared his throat. Was it only the day before yesterday when he’d snidely insulted her and her family? “I’ve just received a call from a member of the school board about Zachary.”
He paused again. Her pulse pounded in her ear. Her stomach churned. She didn’t have it in her to deal with new crap about the violin. She didn’t. She’d only just started making inroads with Zach. She didn’t want to lose the fragile affability over the same damn broken musical instrument.
“And?” she prompted, the silence screaming at her.
“Zachary’s expulsion has been reconsidered, and I would like to inform you he is welcome back at Point come Monday morning.”
She blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“After discussions with Mr. Dyson…”
His voice faded away, replaced with a low, fuzzy roar in her head. Her lips prickled with tingling blood. Her scalp crawled.
Dyson. Someone called Dyson had contacted the exclusive school regarding Zach and had his expulsion overturned?
She rubbed at her eyes. Her temples throbbed. “Which Dyson?”
Behind her, Zach snorted out a low chuckle. “Drawn to, drawn to,” he chanted in a sing-song lilt.
“Mr. Dyson,” Fenchurch responded, contrite contempt clear in his voice. “He has been a long and proud member of The Point School b—”
“Which Dyson?”
“James.” Flustered impatience replaced his distaste. He’d clearly prepared a speech, and every time she interrupted him, his planned apology went farther out the window. “James Dyson. Although his father is also a member of the—”
“So James Dyson called you and told you Zach is no longer expelled?”
“Yes, yes.” Fenchurch made a choked sound. “Ms. Roberts, if you will let me—”
She hung up.
Heart fast in her chest, she swung back to Zach. James Dyson had pulled strings only a Dyson could pull and had her brother reinstated at The Point School, the most expensive school in the country. What did she do about that?
Zach frowned at her from the sofa. “What’s going on?”
“Do you…” She stopped, her mouth too dry to speak for a moment. “Do you want to go back to Point?”
Incredulous shock spread over his face, followed by undeniable glee. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He jumped to his feet. “Are you kidding me? Did James Dyson make Mr. Fenchurch change his mind? Did he?” His grin split his face in half. “Holy shit, sis. Marry the guy. Marry him. I gotta tell my friends.” He scrambled at his hip pocket, pulling his mobile phone from its depths. “I gotta…” He ran over to her and, before she could do anything, wrapped her in a hug and smacked a loud kiss on the side of her face. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
And with that, he ran from the living area, his mobile pressed to his ear. The last thing she heard as he damn near ran through the front door was, “Guess what, Ricco? I’m coming back.”