by Lori Foster
“I thought you’d be gone already.”
So she’d brought the drama to Vanity? Through long practice, he understood what it took to get the answers he needed. He held her back. “Mom’s okay?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not physically hurt?”
“No.” She hiccupped, absently patted the anxious dogs, then faced him with trumped-up bravado. “I want to talk to Vanity.”
When he said nothing, the tears started flowing again.
From behind them, Vanity said, “What’s going on? Tabby?”
To Stack’s annoyance, Tabby abandoned him and ran to Vanity.
Worse, Vanity opened her arms and offered comfort. “Shh. It’s okay now. I’m here.”
Stack resisted the urge to growl.
“I need to...to...talk to you.” She cast Stack a glance. “A...alone.”
Vanity gazed at Stack with silent apology.
Amazing how fast a day could go to hell. “Come on.” Stack pulled his sister away and got them all started for the kitchen. “First, no, I’m not leaving you here alone with Vanity.”
Her face crumpled again.
Stack ignored it. “Take a seat. The dogs need to go out, and I need coffee.”
“I’ll get the coffee going,” Vanity offered. She seemed anxious to have something to do. Not that he could blame her. Anything was preferable to being the recipient of Tabby’s tears.
Stack pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and pressed his sister into it, then handed her two napkins so she could clean her face. Next he opened the back door and whistled for the dogs. As soon as Norwood and Maggie ran out to the yard, he went to Vanity, kissed her cheek and whispered, “Sorry.”
She sent him a soft smile—as if she was proud of him for something. Had she expected him to close the door on his own sister? To deny her? No, he didn’t like Tabby’s theatrics, but she was his sister through the good and the bad.
Feeling as if he faced the gallows, Stack joined Tabby at the table. She looked marginally composed now—but also capable of letting loose again if he said the wrong thing. “Better?”
She sniffled. “Yes.”
“Tell me what’s going on.”
She clutched the wadded napkins in her hands and looked to Vanity for support.
“Go on,” Vanity urged her. “It’ll be okay.”
Tabby nodded, drew a breath and blurted, “I’ve left Phil.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WELL, HELL. STACK SAT back in his seat, studied his sister’s anxious face, then Vanity’s expectant expression, and he shook his head. The irony of it almost made him laugh. “I really wish you hadn’t done that.”
Both women gawked at him.
Stack squeezed the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming on, and the day had barely begun. A day that, moments ago, had seemed so promising with sizzling sex on the breakfast menu.
“Stack.” Scowling, Vanity touched his arm. “You know you’re pleased that your sister has left Phil. It’s what you wanted. Tell her so.”
Un-freaking-believable. “Are you instructing me?”
She frowned at him, her gaze unflinching. “If I need to, yes.”
The bold way she tried to stare him down made his mouth quirk. Damn, but he loved her. It struck him that he’d probably loved her for a while now.
Likely even before she’d made the offer of uncommitted sex.
The coffeepot finished sputtering, so he got up and poured three mugs. He knew how both Vanity and his sister drank theirs, so while he prepped the drinks, he shared his thoughts.
“You’re serious, Tabby? You won’t change your mind?”
“I won’t.” She swallowed hard again. “You were right about him all along. I know I’ve been an idiot.”
Stack handed her the coffee with sugar and cream. Then he kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you’re done with him.”
“You are?”
“He was never good enough for you.”
The women shared a knowing look.
Stack handed the second mug to Vanity. “You knew this was coming?”
“I knew she was thinking about it.” She sipped her coffee, then murmured, “Perfect. Thank you.”
Standing over her, Stack crossed his arms. For the moment he let Tabby stew and concentrated on Vanity. “So, you and my sister were keeping secrets from me?”
“Tabby asked me to keep her secret, so I did. You don’t have to know everything, Stack Hannigan. Women are allowed to talk without updating you.”
“This was more than usual girl talk.”
Vanity jumped on that like a dog on a bone. “Girl talk? What, pray tell, is girl talk?” Shoving her seat back, she stood and squared off with him. “Is this more of your sexist nonsense where women only focus on nails and hair and—”
Stack kissed her to wind her down. It worked better than he expected, given she fisted a hand in his shirt and held on, making the kiss longer than he’d intended.
In fact, by the time she ended it, he’d forgotten what he wanted to say.
Vanity, however, went straight back to topic. “Sometimes,” she told him gently, “a woman wants to talk to another woman, not her overprotective, macho brother.”
“I’m not macho.”
They both snorted. He turned to Tabby, saying, “Stow it.”
Tears still clung to her lashes, but she smiled and pretended to zip her lips.
Vanity brought his face back around to her. “Tabby and I are friends. Friends talk.”
Jumping in, Tabby said, “She’s the best of friends.” Smoothing her hand down her sweater, she added, “She bought me this, and my coat and boots. And she paid for me to get my hair done and—”
“Tabby,” Vanity cut in, her face now flushed. “Weren’t we just saying that he doesn’t need a blow-by-blow report of how we’ve spent our time?”
Stack studied her. It didn’t surprise him that Tabby would take advantage. And he even understood Vanity’s need to help where she could. He didn’t like it, but he got it.
What bothered him was that she’d never, not once, mentioned it.
Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “Are you friends with my mother, too?”
Guilty, she pinched the air and admitted, “Little bit.”
Shit. “So you’re funding my whole family?”
She took exception to that. “Not funding them. I’ve bought a few gifts because I enjoy gift-giving. There’s no harm in that.”
“If there’s no harm, then why didn’t you tell me?”
Lifting to her toes, her nose almost touching his, she said succinctly and with a lot of sass, “It wasn’t your business.”
He leaned into her anger. “My family isn’t my business?”
“Your relationship with them is, of course. But not my relationship with them.” She dropped back to her heels and crossed her arms. “It’s independent of whatever happens with us.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Even when this—” she gestured between them “—ends, I hope they’ll remain my friends.”
“Nothing between us is ending.”
She blinked at him, making him realize that he’d raised his voice. Stomping down the irritation, Stack gathered his control, lowered his tone and tried to sound more reasonable.
“You know how I feel about lies.”
She gasped hard. “I didn’t lie.”
Distraught, Tabby rushed to agree. “Seriously, Stack, I begged her to keep my secrets.” Fresh tears sprouted. “I couldn’t talk to you, knowing how you hated Phil and how...how stupid I’d been.” Her choked voice immediately brought Vanity to her side. This time it didn’t calm Tabby. “I know I’ve screwed up everything. But this time, it’s the worst!”
For once, Tabby’s upset seemed sincere. Stack stared down at her, knowing there were things she hadn’t yet told him.
Vanity glared at him as if he were the one who’d upset her.
“Whatever it is,” h
e said over the noise Tabby made, “we’ll figure it out.”
“There, you see?” Vanity told her. “Didn’t I tell you it’d be okay?”
Tabby nodded while wiping away her ruined makeup. “I’m so sorry, Stack. I know I’ve said that a million times, but I mean it. I’m sorry, and somehow I’m going to make it work.”
Make what work?
Vanity rubbed her shoulder. “You have no reason to be sorry. Trust your brother.”
Did Vanity trust him, then? He hoped so. “Tabby?”
She wouldn’t look at him, but when she whispered, “I’m pregnant,” he heard her loud and clear.
And still he repeated dumbly, “Pregnant?”
With another sob, she nodded.
“Phil’s?”
Wailing, Tabby buried her face in her crossed arms on the table.
Stack nudged Vanity aside and went to his knees beside his sister. He smiled just a little. A baby. Wow. “Tabby?” He goosed her side. “Turn off the waterworks, okay? A baby is...well, not a bad thing. Not at all.”
Her head jerked up. “You mean it?”
Never had he seen his sister look so miserable. “Of course I mean it.” The smile widened. “Mom’s going to flip.”
Tabby cried, laughed, choked a little more. “That’s what I told Vanity.”
He twisted to see Vanity standing there, her face filled with uncertainty. “You knew about this, too?”
She nodded.
Damn, she was good at keeping a secret. He’d have to remember that.
He turned back to his sister. “I promise you, this isn’t going to be the hardship you’re imagining.”
“She wants the baby,” Vanity interjected.
“Of course she does.” He glanced at her again. “I do know my sister, darlin’.”
“Oh.” Vanity rubbed her arms. “Yes, of course you do.”
Reclaiming his attention, Tabby said with accusation, “You weren’t happy to know I kicked Phil out.”
“I misspoke and I’m sorry. Believe me, whatever your reasons, I’m sure it was one hundred percent the right thing to do.” However it happened, no matter why it happened, removing Phil from her life was a good move. Especially now, with a kid involved.
But at least when Phil lived with Tabby, Stack knew where to find him. Now, if the bastard went to ground, it’d be tougher to corral him.
“You asked if the baby was his.” Tabby waited for his explanation on that.
“Only because you were so upset. I thought maybe something else was going on.” A thought occurred to him, and he frowned. “Does Phil know?”
Tabby’s eyes went liquid again. “I told him.” She shredded the napkins in her wringing hands. “He...he said it wasn’t his problem.”
Pleased to know Phil wouldn’t be in the picture, mucking it up, Stack smiled at his sister. “How could a baby be anyone’s problem?”
“Even if Phil’s the father?”
“You’re the mother,” Vanity said. “That’s all that matters.”
“Exactly.” Stack stood, pulled Tabby from her seat, and wrapped her in his arms to admit the truth. “I’m excited.”
She laughed against his chest, using his shirt to dry her eyes. “Because I’m leaving Phil,” she teased, “or because you’ll be an uncle?”
Squeezing her, he said, “Both.” He set her away from him. “You two might want to sit down again.”
Alarmed, Tabby said, “What are you going to do?”
Before he could get exasperated, Vanity stepped in. “Don’t be silly, Tabby.” She urged his sister into her seat. “Stack’s not going to do anything. Nothing bad anyway. I think it’s just that he has something important to tell us.” Keeping one hand on Tabby’s shoulder, Vanity tipped her head at him. “Something to do with that phone call?”
Always so astute. “Yes.” He held Vanity’s chair out for her, waited for her to take it, then seated himself. “You both know some yahoo jumped me.”
“Two yahoos,” Tabby said.
Vanity kept quiet.
“Two,” he confirmed. “We’ve been keeping up with them, but so far that hadn’t gotten us much. They claim they don’t know who hired them, but if the guy made contact again, they were supposed to let us know.”
Both women listened intently.
“Then this morning,” Stack said, “I got a call from Leese.” He explained about the woman, and with every word, Vanity looked more enraged. Interesting. He’d seen many emotions from her, but not that one. Tabby, for the most part, didn’t seem to be getting it. Laying it out there, Stack said, “By the description, I think the woman is Whitney.”
Tabby gasped. “That bitch. I never did like her!”
With a very different reaction, Vanity said, “But that would mean...” She glanced at Tabby, then shook her head and fell mum again.
Stack took his sister’s cold, trembling hand. “Sis, you know Phil and Whitney have remained...friends.”
Going blank, all expression wiped clean, Tabby watched him. “What are you saying?”
She’d already been through a lot today, but she needed to hear it all. Stack collected her other hand, holding both. “If the woman is Whitney, then it’s probable that the man she says is instigating all this is—”
“Phil?” Tabby gave a nervous laugh. “Don’t be silly. Phil is too lazy to plan anything like that.”
Stack refused to release her when she tried to pull away. “Whitney told Leese that the guys weren’t just hired to rough me up.”
Vanity wrapped her arms around her middle.
Eyes flaring wide, Tabby said, “Oh, my God. You’re saying they were supposed to kill you?”
“That’s what she said. No idea yet if it’s true.”
The laugh turned hysterical. “And you think Phil was behind it? That’s insane!”
Typical of Tabby, anything inconvenient got denied. “I’m going to run down some leads today to see what I can find out.” Stack gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “I’ll also give Phil a call, and hopefully he’ll make this easy. When I thought he was still with you, I planned to stop by and talk to him face-to-face. Now he might be able to dodge me.”
Tabby groaned. “Don’t hate me, okay?”
Softer, Stack said, “Never a possibility.”
She winced. “I demolished Phil’s phone.”
Releasing her, Stack sat back. This just kept getting better and better.
Tabby rushed into frantic explanations. “I paid for that phone! It was under my name, my plan. I told him to get his own damn phone. I didn’t know...didn’t know that all of this was happening.”
Shit. Stack blew out a frustrated breath. “You have any idea where he might have gone?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m sorry. He sometimes claimed to help a friend at a bar, not that I ever saw any money from it, and I don’t know what bar.”
“Or what friend?”
Smothered in guilt, she flattened her mouth and fought off renewed weeping. “I’m sorry. Phil and I...our lives haven’t been in sync for a while.”
Because she’d been working and Phil had been loafing. Stack rubbed the back of his neck. He had to get it together. For his sister, for Vanity. “It’s okay,” he lied. It was far from okay. “I’ll figure out something.” What, he had no idea.
Vanity curled a hand around his biceps. “Shouldn’t you talk to the police?”
“Yeah.” His thoughts churned, then settled on a single course. Mind made up, he announced, “I’m going to talk with Whitney first.” At least she should be easy to find. And maybe she could lead him to fucking Phil.
Vanity dropped back in her chair. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
He looked into her beautiful eyes, saw a hint of jealousy—and something more. “You need to trust me on this.”
Her gaze darted away. Stack didn’t entirely understand that reaction, but he’d figure it out soon. Right now, he had more important things to cover. “I want you both
to be really careful. And sis, no contact with Phil, okay? If he shows up, call me. Or the cops. But stay away from him.”
“All right, but...” Desperate, she hugged herself. “I can’t believe Phil had anything to do with this.”
Stack wasn’t sure how to convince her. He’d seen his sister in a variety of dramatic roles, but this was different. The last time she’d appeared this fragile had been at his father’s funeral. In no way did he want to add to her grief.
“Everything was arranged through some small-time dope dealer. I don’t suppose you happen to know where Phil bought his weed?”
“I didn’t want to know.” Her fist hit the table, making Vanity jump. “I’m useless!”
Now, that was more like the old Tabby. She said things that made him reassure and compliment her.
Smiling, Stack gave her what she needed. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve taken a big first step, and I’m proud of you.”
“I should have asked more questions. I should have seen things sooner. We’d argued about his habit so many times. I hated it because it was a waste of money we didn’t have.” She stared at Stack. “Phil was—is—a jerk. But how could he be involved in this? The only money he had, he got from me, and I’d put him on a very small allowance over a month ago. I didn’t even give him cash for gas. I filled up the car myself.”
Vanity made a small sound, and Stack squeezed her hand. “I have no idea how much it might’ve cost, or where he could have gotten the money, but in my gut I know he was involved.”
Breathing fast, Tabby stood. Anger emanated from her, always preferable to the hurt. “Oh, God, if he did this, so help me—”
“Shh.” Stack stood, too. “We don’t know for sure yet, and until we do, you’ll promise to stay away from him. Understood?”
Hand shaking, she tucked her hair back and nodded. “I took the day off work. I just... I couldn’t face anyone there today. I’m going to talk to Mom next.”
“Do me a favor and stay the day with her, okay? If Phil comes back to the apartment, I don’t want you there alone.”
Giving him a sad smile, she said, “I kind of wanted my mom today anyway.”
Stack understood that. They were close, and whenever necessary, their folks had been there for them, always supportive, always the perfect backup.
