“Don’t ask me things I can’t answer.”
“Look, I know you mean well, but you need to stay out of this, okay? Shane’s my ex, and I’ll handle him.”
“I wouldn’t be so hostile if he treated you right. He’s never appreciated how special you are.” The edge in Trevor’s voice hardened. “He’s lucky I was in Russia and couldn’t track him down after what he did to you. I knew it was bad when Debbie had to fly to Amsterdam to join you for retail therapy.”
Ginger took a deep breath. Trevor didn’t know exactly what had happened. Her best friend Debbie Chang had told everyone she was meeting Ginger for some frivolous shopping, and apparently Trevor hadn’t bothered to check the story. “It was a while ago, and I’ve gotten over it. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
“So it’s just a job, right? Just money? You aren’t doing anything else with him?”
Her mind flashed back to the storm. How Shane had kissed her and suckled her and given her the best orgasm of the past year. “Nope.”
“You’re lying. You hesitated.”
“Am not!”
“What about Robert’s feelings?”
Oh my god. “How do you know about him?” Robert was the man she’d dated after returning to the States to forget Shane.
“I checked up on him, too.”
“Okay, you need to stop. You’re being creepy.”
“I’m not stalking the man. Just making sure he didn’t have any criminal convictions or anything.”
She rolled her eyes. Was that supposed to make it better? “What was that? The connection here is spotty. I think I’m losing—” She hung up.
It was annoying how well Trevor knew her. He seemed to have some kind of innate lie detector when it came to his little sister.
She lay on the bed, then chuckled humorlessly at how Trevor hadn’t realized that she and Robert had broken up a few weeks ago. He was super sweet, and she liked him a lot, but ultimately, they weren’t right for each other. No, she wasn’t right for him. He needed a woman who wasn’t using him to forget her ex.
A few moments later, her phone rang again, this time a sexy Beyoncé remix. She smiled.
“Debbie! What a surprise,” Ginger said.
“Trevor just texted me. I don’t even know how he has my new number, but whatever.” Debbie spoke like she was firing words from a machine gun. It felt jarring to people who’d heard her speak Chinese, which came out with a lyrical sweetness. “Is it true you’re in Thailand with Shane?”
“We’re not here by ourselves.”
“Domestic help doesn’t count,” Debbie said. “They look the other way.”
“Peeraya isn’t like that.” Except she was.
“Have you forgotten what he did to you? That bastard tossed you out when you were pregnant with his child!”
“He didn’t know. I never told him.”
“Stop saying that to make him look less guilty. You always do, you know.”
“Debbie, I’m serious.”
“And is it true that Dane’s involved in you going to Thailand? That rat bastard?”
“Yes, but he’s paying me. And you’re right—he’s a rat bastard.”
“Don’t let them intimidate you. There are things more important than money.”
“Is that what you told your father when he gave you a brand new Mercedes coup on your sixteenth birthday?” Debbie’s father was one of the wealthiest land developers in Shanghai. His family had migrated to the U.S., but he still spent a lot of time in China overseeing his real estate empire. He was currently training his only daughter to take over the company when he retired.