Julia bustles into my office, humming a tune under her breath, flipping through a pile of folders. Undoubtedly she’s here to add another to the stack in my inbox. That fucking inbox. Of course things have been piling up for me to do here. It’s a fantasy to believe that Cash Industries runs on its own if I step out.

“Got another one?”

Julia jolts to a stop, sucks in a gasp, and screams.

I feel like utter shit, but the scream makes me laugh—it’s that bloodcurdling. I lean back in my seat. “Hey, Julia. I’m back from vacation.”

She puts a hand to her chest as if to calm her furiously pumping heart. “Jesus, Charlie. You could have said something. You could have—” Julia fans herself a little, blowing out a breath. “You could have sent an email. You’re not supposed to be here until tomorrow.”

“I came back early.”

“Yeah, I see that now.”

Way too late, Dex comes running down the hall, skidding to a stop outside my door. “Jules? Are you all—” Well, well, well. He calls her by her nickname. He registers my presence a moment later and stiffens, straightening up. “Mr. Cash!” he booms. “Fancy meeting you here, a day early.”

“You two are so hung up on this day early thing.” I reach for the stack of folders and flip open the first one. It’s a copy of the contract Dex has spent weeks negotiating. All I need do is sign on the dotted line.

Julia and Dex stare at me.

I open my desk drawer and look for my favorite pen. It’s not in its usual spot, in the little tray right at the front. Where the hell is it? I stick my hand in and sweep the drawer.

Then I remember: it’s in my travel bag. I had Damien drop me off directly from the airport, so the things I took with me are still in the bag, which leans up against the side of the desk. I scoot my chair over, bend down, and draw it out of the side pocket. Uncap it. Flip to the last page of the contract, scanning as I go. Sign on the dotted line.

When I look up, they’re both still staring, Julia’s mouth quirked in a smile that I recognize as cautious optimism.

“Are you back because it...went really well?”

Dex hovers near the door, leaning against the frame, and cuts his eyes toward Julia before looking back at me. “Yeah,” he echoes. “How did it go?”

I lean back in my seat and give them both a testy look. “I was emailing you practically the entire time. The resort was nice.” The understatement burns in my throat. “If you’re looking to acquire, Dex, it would be a good addition to our portfolio. Something more mid-range to expand our offerings at that level of the market.”

Julia swallows audibly. “So, did you...do a lot of exploring on the island?” She comes a little closer, toward the edge of my desk. “Meet anyone?”

Something is dawning at the edge of my mind, and I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.

I was set up.

“Julia.” I say it in the same warning tone I used to use with her when she was a toddler and I was twelve. She was always getting into dangerous shit then, and she’s far into dangerous territory now.

She glances at the floor, just for a second, and it’s the giveaway I need to confirm it.

“Julia, what the—” I close my eyes, pressing my fist to my forehead. “What the hell?”

Dex’s eyes go wide. He opens his mouth, then thinks better of whatever it is he’s going to say and shuts it again.

“I wasn’t playing matchmaker,” Julia says, and that’s when Dex gives a silent nod, bobbing his head like he’s only now understood, too, and backs away, disappearing into the hall.

“You sure as hell were. Honestly—” I glare at her, anger surging into my chest like a heartburn that won’t go away. “I don’t need your help meeting people, Julia. And—” I stand up and pace toward the windows. Every muscle feels like it’s on fire with tension. My face is hot with the shame of being taken for a ride by Josephine. Turns out, I was always on a ride, orchestrated by my sister. “Josephine Paxton?” I spit, wheeling around. Julia is clutching the folders to her chest, eyes wide. “Why would you put me on a plane with Josephine Paxton? I hated her in school.” 

“You did?” My sister is stunned. “You went to school with her?”

“Yes. Her boyfriend was—” I run my hands through my hair. “This is pointless. It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t fond of her in school and I wasn’t fond of seeing her on the plane.”

“It was a mistake,” Julia says, voice trembling. My anger softens at the sound of it, but not so much that it’s gone. “The fleet representative asked me if you’d mind sharing when I made the booking. I didn’t recognize the name, I swear to god, Charlie.”

“You just hoped that a Josephine Paxton would be my type?”

“Nobody even knows what your type is,” Julia says, her eyes flashing. “You never do anything. You never go out with anyone—”

“That’s not true.”

“When was the last time you went on a date?”

On the island, with Josie. That’s the last time I went on a date. “Last week,” I admit to her. The truth leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Her face floods with satisfaction. “So she was your type, and I was right the—”

“You were not.” Another wave of pain starts at the top of my head and trickles down through my body, straight to the floor. “That was a fucking disaster, Julia. A disaster.”

Julia’s smile disappears.

There’s a heavy silence.

“I’m sorry. Really. I never would have booked it that way if I’d known.”

I want to be furious with her. I want to yell at her, tell her exactly how stupid it was to toy with me that way. But this is my sister. Secretly, she is my favorite sister. And I can’t bring myself to do it. I let out a sigh, trying to clear my chest of the throbbing hurt. “It’s all right.”

“Are you sure?”

A lie is the only possible answer. “Yes, I’m sure.” I go back to my desk and sit heavily in my seat. “I’m ready to get back to work. Let me get back to work, Julia.”

“Okay.” She drops the folders into the inbox and turns on her heel, making a beeline for my office door. Her shoulders are tense, up high by her ears.

“Jules.”

“Yeah?” She turns at the threshold, eyebrows raised. 

“It was a nice place,” I say lamely. “Thanks...for organizing the trip.”

My sister gives me a ghost of a smile, and then she’s gone.