It was just about lunch, and I’d paused working for the time being. After a moment of sitting back with my eyes closed to relax, I sat up and reached for my phone.

Still nothing.

How busy could she be that she wouldn’t even reply to my texts? Or was she going to go back to ignoring me, as she had before? Even after last night? I’d thought things would be different, but was it just me?

Fuck, I thought to myself as I came to a realization. I am such an idiot.

How exactly were things supposed to change for the better between us? I hadn't even talked to her about things yet.

I need to talk to her, I decided. Right now.

I didn’t know if she’d be on her break or not, or if she would still be in the kitchens. But I decided to give it a try, and picked up my phone to call her. I would have to come up with an excuse for how I got her number. Considering how prickly I knew she could be, it would be less weird if I asked someone for her number than if I got it using my standing in the company.

Before I could dial the number, the door opened with enough force to slam it against the wall, making me look up. I was surprised to note my unexpected visitor was my half-sister.

“Emily,” I said, putting my phone down. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Trent.”

The way she said my name made me look at her a little more closely, and I only then noticed how she was trembling. She had her hands fisted at her sides, her eyes were narrowed at me, and her lips were pressed flat.

“You look livid,” I muttered. “What’s wrong with you? Did something happen with Dad?”

She growled at me, and it was shocking enough that my eyes widened. I was pretty good at keeping my composure around other people in most situations, but I was caught off guard right then.

“Why the fuck are you still sitting on your ass, huh? Get up! You’ve got places you need to be.”

I arched an eyebrow at her. “What are you talking about?” I said. “I still have plenty of work to do here—”

She cut me off by crossing the space between us and slamming her fists down on my desk. The force of it was enough to make a loud sound that made me jump. I tried to play it off as I shrugged, even though she didn’t look like she cared in the least that I was a bit ruffled by her behavior. I glanced down at her hands, wondering if she felt okay after slamming them so hard, but I figured she would snap at me if I asked, so I kept my mouth shut. My little sister was just a tad bit angry.

“You are going to get Jessi back,” she outright demanded.

I blinked, not understanding. “I’m sorry?”

“You will get your ass on the family helicopter,” she said through gritted teeth. “You will go and retrieve my friend, big brother, and you will bring her back. I know you probably don’t understand because you have a black heart, but she is the closest thing I have to a best friend.”

“I didn’t know the two of you were so close,” I said tentatively. What was she on about anyway? Get Jessi from where exactly?

She let out a sigh, her whole body shuddering as the air passed between her lips. Her head ducked down, and she stayed in that position, bent over my desk, for a moment. When she stood up, she looked a bit calmer than before. She removed her hands, shaking them out, then flipping a lock of hair back over her shoulder.

“There’s something going on between you and Jessi, isn’t there? And don’t even pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about right now, Trent, because if you try, I will hit you.” From the steel in her gaze, I knew she meant it. She was not playing around. I backed away from her a little.

“I know the Jessi you’re talking about.” I frowned at her, just slightly, smoothing a hand down the front of my shirt as I finally found my composure again. “If you’re asking whether there is anything between Jessi and me, then yes. It’s none of your business though.”

She scoffed, giving me the stink eye. “It is my business if just your mere presence sends my friend packing, big brother.”

The words were said derisively, but I hardly cared, because her words had just sunk in for me. And my composure was gone again as I looked up at her with shock.

Jessi was gone?

I opened my mouth but couldn’t bring myself to say the words. I didn’t want to think it. I was with her just last night! Granted, she wasn’t there when I woke up, and her boxes were gone… A coldness flushed over me as I figured out I’d been wrong. I’d thought she just put the boxes away so she could do her job. Why would she have left without saying anything?

My eyes drifted to my phone. I picked it up, noting absently that there was a slight shake of my hands as I did so. I unlocked the screen, and her number was still there. I dialed it this time and put the phone to my ear. Emily stayed quiet through my silence, though she did start pacing the room in front of me. The phone rang and rang… until it cut off.

She wasn’t picking up.

“Did you speak to her?” I asked, looking up at Emily. “Did she tell you she was leaving?”

Emily scowled at me. “I had to hear she was leaving from another source. I called her, and she must have been on her way there in her car already. That was an hour ago. I would have come here immediately, but I was at home and I wasn’t properly dressed.”

“What did she say?”

It didn’t sit well with me that Jessi was closer to Emily that she would talk to her instead of me, but if there was a way to change things…

“She didn’t say much,” Emily admitted. “To be honest, I don’t know a lot of what went down between the two of you. I just have a bunch of rumors, most of which she confirmed. She sounded fine over the phone but I know that she’s not, and it’s because of you. She ran because she thought you would put her through more heartbreak.”

Jessi…

“Why didn’t she just talk to me…?”

It hurt to think that she would rather run from me than talk to me. Just what did she think last night was? Or the other night? I hadn't exactly clarified anything myself, but surely she knew my words from yesterday were sincere? I might have tried to lie to myself after our first time together, to convince myself I felt nothing for her. I knew that wasn’t true anymore. If she had just asked me yesterday…

I never did give her that apology, though. And I didn’t say everything that I should have, just what I thought she needed to hear to get her to stay. I should have asked if she was going to stay instead of assuming she would just because I said so.

“Fuck,” I muttered, dropping my face into my hands. I’d made a lot of mistakes with Jessi.

“I guess you finally realize that you were in the wrong,” Emily said, though her voice was completely sarcastic. “Well, that’s good, but what I want more than you realizing is you doing something. Whatever it is you’ve broken in my friend you will fix it, or else. I don’t know or care what’s happened between the two of you since you’ve been back here, but dammit, you will fix it!”

Her voice rose as she spoke until she was shouting at me, and I leaned back in my chair, feeling chastised. I was more than a little stunned at her vehemence, though there was still a small part of me not over the shock that Jessi was gone.

“I haven’t done anything to hurt Jessi,” I started, trying to defend myself. “She probably just got the wrong idea because we haven’t talked about anything—”

I cut myself off at her laugh full of derision as she folded her arms and cocked her hips to one side. She arched an eyebrow at me as she smirked.

“Oh, big brother. Don’t tell me that along with a black heart you happen to have a selective memory as well? I know I just said I didn’t know or care what happened between the two of you, but I’ve heard rumors from reliable sources, and we both know you’ve been mean to her in the past.”

That was more than enough to shut me up. I didn’t have to think back to know what she meant. I’d put Jessi down plenty of times, and it wasn’t like I’d cared if other people heard.

“On your first day at the hotel,” Emily started, “I heard you picked a fight with her. You didn’t think she could have got her job here fairly. And don’t think I missed what happened when you came to the mansion. When you left me to go running after Dad and ran into her. I heard the words you said about her, making a snub about the help using the front door. Oh, and there’s plenty more if we start digging into the past.” She gave a snort and sneered at me, tilting her head back so she looked down her nose at me. “Wow, big brother. I knew you were a douche, but to that girl? You were an absolute bastard.”

My fists clenched on my thighs where she couldn’t see as she listed out all the callous words I’d thrown at Jessi. She was right, our past was even worse. Back then Jessi had been around me a lot more than she was now.

“You know nothing about what’s been going on between me and Jessi,” I said, sounding a little defensive even to my own ears. “And it’s none of your business anyway; I don’t give a damn what you have to say. Now, please get out.”

She didn’t. Little sis was done listening to me. Forever, it would seem.

“That woman,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “Jessi? She loves you. She fucking loves you, Trent! She’s always loved you. I didn’t tell her this, but even before you left and I was a little kid, I would see how she would make eyes around you every time you walked into a room. And you have always, always, thrown it back in her face. I kept silent then because I didn’t know how to talk to you before, but I am fed up. I’m not just going to keep watching it anymore.”

I was stunned, once again. In my mind, I wondered just what my sister had seen all those years ago. I tried to find some sort of defense for myself, some protest. Could there really be anything to find? I couldn’t blame my family issues on it because it was my choice to be an ass to Jessi.

Hell, if I was honest with myself, I was an ass to them all and something of a tyrant, or Emily suddenly treating me so harshly wouldn’t be so shocking. Her temper had never been aimed at me, but that was more because she didn’t know me, and partially feared me, than that she had nothing against me.

I had a lot of making up to do. And not just to Jessi.

The question now was even if I wanted to try, could I? I looked up at Emily, the sister that I never knew, that I always thought was nothing but a meek, spoiled child but was now showing me colors I hadn't seen before. Had my brothers ever felt the same way, that they didn’t know how to talk to me? My father, who was always trying to get me to come home, and my stepmom who made attempts to get close to me I always rebuffed… what about her?

I hadn't treated them much like family at all, and here Emily was, telling me to get her friend back.

“You better go after her, Trent,” she said, voice suddenly quiet like she’d blown off all her anger while she’d screamed at me. “I don’t care about whatever else you do, and you’re going to have to figure out how to do it, but please bring Jessi back home. Soon, if you don’t mind.”

Home… this was Jessi’s home. And I’d been the one to run her off. I watched Emily turn and walk out of my office, closing the door behind her especially gently.

I should go after Jessi. Not just for my sister’s sake, but for my own.