“Takes two to tango. You should know. You get around quite a bit.”
“Yes, but I’m safe.”
“So were we.” Ish. Sometimes we got a little careless in the heat of the moment, but we always came to our senses. And I was on birth control. “Evidently, the universe had other plans.”
“Oh, don’t start with that shit again.” He backed out of my small bathroom and headed down the hall.
“Some things never change,” I said to my very scary reflection. My scarf was twisted and I looked like I’d been on a three-day bender. But I’d also learned that sometimes I didn’t have all the answers in this life.
I slid my hand over my still-flat stomach. This demon spawn was a gift.
Even if it came with an unnatural love for kicking all the food and drink out of my body. And this extra sparkly version of reading auras.
I brushed my teeth again and rummaged around in my basket of samples. Makeup wasn’t worth the effort, but I wiped down my sweaty face with some toner and used a mint-scented moisturizer.
That seemed to steady me a bit.
I followed my brother’s voice into the living room. He was back on the phone. And now that I wasn’t yakking up my toes, I noticed he was wearing a three-piece suit. His wild blond curls were tamed back from his face. His navy suit had the lightest tone on tone pinstripe to it. He’d opened the jacket, showing off a brown belt that matched his shoes exactly.
It might not be a rich boy casual outfit like I was used to, but this was definitely a blast from the past. He still knew how to put himself together. I was sure he would’ve gone into fashion if he wasn’t a Hastings.
Apparently, he’d been roped into the family business. Wheeling and dealing in the financial sector seemed to have finally rubbed off on him.
He turned and saw me, then quickly told whomever was on the other end of the line that he’d be busy for the next few hours.
“No you won’t.”
“Thanks, Devon.” He slid his phone into his pocket.
“What are you doing here, Xavier?”
“I came to talk.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my sister.”
I eased back on my couch. And when everything seemed to stay where it was supposed to, I relaxed. “Since when?”
“You’re the one who walked, Lu.”
I stared down at my chipped purple polish. “Mom wanted me gone, so I got gone.”
He tipped his head back. “She never said that.”
“She wanted me to be a different person.” I blew out an annoyed breath. “You know I was dying in that house.”
“Do you always have to be so dramatic?”
I stiffened. “Look, I appreciate you helping me, but you can go.”
He crossed his arms over his surprisingly expansive chest. When the hell had that happened? “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Haven’t you done enough?” I gestured to my doorway. “Speaking of dramatic.”
“I heard you in here, and things falling over.” He raked a hand through his hair and a few curls dared to spring out of his neat hairstyle. And that little thing actually made me feel much better. That was more like the X I knew and used to love.
I looked down at my nails again. “Yeah. I just need to rest.”