Penny
“You’re being kind of tough on him,” Kylie says as we stroll into the lobby bar and order drinks. She’s making an appearance down here, dying for someone to confront her. That is when Kylie shines, when she’s backed into a corner. So far, no one has given her any trouble, and she looks disappointed.
“I’m not, trust me. Dalton is all sorts of selfish. He thinks about work and his career before any living human. He’s all about money and great Scotch.”
“I’m waiting for you to get to the bad part,” Kylie remarks stone-faced. “The last few guys you’ve dated have been hippie-dippie aimless men. You need someone who can help you get to the next level. He’ll dote on you and take you to fancy places. Why not enjoy it?”
“Because I love him, Kylie. And there is no way he’s capable of loving me back. How could he be? He’s exactly like—” I cut the sentence short, but it’s too late. She knows what I was about to say, and for a second she looks wounded. But she’s quick to dust herself off.
“He’s just like me?” Kylie laughs. “And what? I’m incapable of loving someone?”
“I didn’t mean that. It’s about loving someone more than you love the life you have. The things you have.”
“You don’t think I love you?” Kylie challenges, and my heart sinks.
“I’m sorry,” I sputter out. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“You never need me,” Kylie says. “If you’d asked me for anything, I would’ve given my last breath to make sure you got it. Somehow you always seem to land on your feet, and when I try to help you out, you don’t want me to.”
“It’s not that.” I squirm trying to articulate the very tricky rules she and I have set up in our relationship over the years. The path we’ve blazed to get here wasn’t made in one day; I can’t imagine we’ll sort it out that fast. “When you offer help, it’s always an effort to try to get me to be more like you or Mom. It’s never the help I need.”
“Then why don’t you tell me what you do need?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug.
“See, that’s not my problem. Or Mom’s,” Kylie protests, swirling her little plastic straw in her drink.
“Okay, I need to know you will love me no matter how I turn out,” I grind out through gritted teeth. “I need to know I’m as important to you as this apartment.”
Kylie’s expression sobers. “You know you are.”
“No, no I don’t.”
Kylie crosses the space between us and puts her arms around me. “Whenever I feel lost, you’re the one I call. You’re the only one I can relax around, put down my guard around. I knew I could rely on you to keep the apartment for me because I trust you like I trust no one else.”
I hug her so tight it hurts.
When we finally step back, she says, “Now, let’s talk about Dalton. Give Dalton another shot. I think you might be right. He and I are a lot alike. Which means he is used to being in control. That man is stupid in love with you. That’s a huge risk for him. You, Penny, you can fall head over heels and love with your whole heart. People like Dalton and me, it’s harder than you can ever imagine. If he’s gone out on a limb to love you, don’t leave him hanging there.”
I tell her what I asked him to do to prove his love for me.
Kylie nods in approval. “You know, you’re not the pushover you think you are.”
“Hey, Penny,” Ben says as he strolls up to our table and nods at Kylie and me. “You must be the sister?”
“Got a problem with that?” Kylie asks with a fierce look in her eye. “I’m the sister. I’m the woman who moved into your precious little man cave.”
“Easy,” I say, touching her arm gently. “This is Ben. He’s on our team.”
“I am?” Ben asks, looking surprised then pleased. “I am.”
“Hey,” Kylie says, ignoring Ben now. “You can’t just add people to our team. What do we even know about this Ben guy?”
“He’s cute,” I start, knowing this will send my sister into a fit of anger. “He wears those nice glasses that make him look smart. I once saw him pet a puppy in the lobby.”
“That is not the criteria for figuring out who is on our side,” Kylie says. “Puppy petting doesn’t cut it.”
“It was a really cute puppy,” Ben interjects.
“He’s one of the good ones,” I insist, this time more seriously. “Trust me. Ben has some skills you’ll be interested in.”
“I highly doubt that,” Kylie says dismissively.
“Ouch,” Ben said, but he was flushed as if he found her exciting rather than insulting.
“What do you do?” Kylie asks, moving right into a job interview.
“Programming mostly. Hacking as a hobby,” Ben answers vaguely. “The kind that can get you access to things you need and hide things you don’t want seen.”
“And you have no problem with a woman living in this building?” Kylie challenges, pushing her hair off her shoulders. “That’s not going to disrupt your little special man things?”
“My man thing prefers having women around.” Ben chuckles. “I think this is way overdue. Penny here held down the fort for you, and now I’m looking forward to how you make these living arrangements more permanent. What’s the plan?”
“Blackmail, extortion, trickery of all kinds,” Kylie says, smirking behind her drink. “No rules. Just winning.”
“I like it,” Ben says, arching a brow at me, and suddenly I feel like the third wheel. “I can be of some help.”
“We’ll see,” Kylie says, staying aloof. “Do you have a card?”
Ben reaches in his pocket and hands Kylie a business card, lingering in the exchange a little longer than necessary.
“Want to stay for a drink, Ben?” I ask, wondering what might smolder between these two if alcohol was added.
“Night, Ben,” Kylie says, offering him everywhere but here.
“Night,” he says, but leaves smiling.
“Well that was rude,” I gasp, eyeing her intensely.
“I’m not into nice guys.” Kylie grimaces.
She says the last word with undue venom. “What is wrong with nice?”
“Don’t you know? They always finish last.”
I roll my eyes then wonder if that’s how Dalton sees me. I haven’t seen him since our talk. He sounded willing to fight for me. But maybe he decided love wasn’t worth it.
“Call him,” Kylie suggests as if she can read my mind. “I never wait around or play games. If I want to know where I stand, I ask.”
“How does that work out for you?”
“It weeds out the weak, that’s for sure.”
“From the looks of it, it weeds out everyone.”
Kylie raises her glass and clinks it against mine as though she wholeheartedly agrees with my assessment. “Well once I’m done bringing down the patriarchy in this testosterone-laden men’s club”—Kylie raises her voice hoping someone at a neighboring table will hear—“maybe after that I’ll look for Mr. Right.”
“You really do have a plan, right?” I ask, thinking of my father and the threats that have been made against him. I don’t want to doubt Kylie. She’s always proven to be a capable fighter, usually seeking out a battle. But she’s never had quite so much collateral damage on the line.
“These guys have spent their lives screwing around, breaking laws, and shitting on other people. I don’t have to dig deep to the get dirt on any of them. You know who doesn’t have any dirt? Me. I’m squeaky clean.”
“But Dad isn’t,” I remind her sheepishly. I know I’m driving a point she’d prefer I’d let go.
“Dad isn’t a criminal,” Kylie says as she gestures at the bartender to bring us a couple more drinks. “He’s disorganized. I bet if we clean up his paperwork, we clear him.”
We? She wants me to help her? My euphoria is short-lived. “I don’t like that anyone is after him,” I say. “We’re putting a target on his back all because you want to fight these idiots? You can live anywhere. But you want to live here because they told you, you couldn’t.” A sharp pain forms in my stomach.
“I want to live here because I should be able to live wherever the hell I want,” Kylie snaps. “My money is as green as theirs. I’ve worked twice as hard to earn it. I told you I’d take care of Dad, and I will. Have some faith in me.”
I love Kylie, but trust is hard. It’s not as cut and dried as I made it sound to Dalton.
“Do you regret saying yes to helping me out?” Kylie asks, pushing my glass closer and encouraging me to indulge.
“Not for a second.” I put a hand over hers and take a moment to enjoy the fact that my sister and I are actually working together on something. Dalton might be teaching me about love as well.