“I’m never drinking tequila again.”

Libby groaned as she stretched her arms out, reclining in her white sun lounge. Instead of going out to one of Saint Clare’s many restaurants or cafés for lunch, we’d opted to hang out on her penthouse suite balcony and order room service. That way we could nurse our respective hangovers in the restorative island sunlight without everyone staring at us and wondering why we looked like zombies.

“How many shots did you have after I left last night?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

Libby let out another groan. “I don’t even remember.”

I grinned. “Welcome to my life. I don’t remember anything from last night at all.”

She snickered. “I’m not surprised.”

“Yeah, yeah. But we all had fun, right?” I quirked a brow.

She made a thumbs-up gesture. “Hell, yeah.”

I pushed my sunglasses up my nose. “How’s Bobby holding up?”

“He’s fine. He went out fishing with his groomsmen at eight. I don’t know how they all managed to get out of bed so early.”

We paused as a room service attendant delivered us coffee, sliced fruits, and freshly-squeezed green juices. Libby held her juice up. “Now this will make us feel better. Apparently kale is super good for your brain. You might even get your memories back.”

I groaned. “I’m not sure I want to.”

She gave me a cheeky smile. “You were pretty out of it,” she said. “But Nate was so great. He took really good care of you.” Her cheeks turned slightly pink. “I messed up, though. He asked me to watch you at one point so he could use the bathroom, but I lost you and you almost got arrested.”

“What?” I threw her a scandalized look.

“Oh, he didn’t tell you? It wasn’t like, the police or anything. Just the casino guards. But still...” She snickered. “Boy, do I have blackmail material on you now.”

I poked my tongue out. “I’ll get something on you eventually. One day you’ll mess up, Little Miss Perfect.”

”Maybe, maybe not.” She giggled and took a sip of her juice. After swallowing her mouthful, she fixed me with a serious expression. “You really should hang on to Nate. He was so amazing, the way he looked after you all night with no complaints. And he isn’t even getting laid!” She grinned, then lifted one brow. “Or have you relaxed your ‘no sex’ policy now?”

I chewed my lower lip and looked at my lap. “No,” I said. But I sure as hell wouldn’t mind doing so now, I silently added.

“Well, hopefully the wait is worth it,” she said. Then she let out a sigh. “I just really hope he and Bobby can sort out their issues one day. It’s been so awkward.”

That was the understatement of the century.

I finished my juice, then put the glass down and replaced it with the coffee mug. “That would be nice,” I replied, choosing my words carefully. I didn’t want to say too much in case I offended her somehow. “What do you think about the whole thing? Do you think they’ll ever resolve it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Nate is a really smart guy, from what I’ve heard from Bobby. So it’s not surprising he thinks Bobby took all that money, because logically, that’s what it looked like at the time. But I know he didn’t do it. I just wish Nate could have as much faith in him as I do.”

I nodded slowly.

Libby went on, obviously rather fired up about the issue now. “I mean, for god’s sake, Bobby even used to warn him all the time about leaving his personal laptop in the office in case something like that ever happened,” she said. “He’s always tried to help Nate. Nothing else.”

I sipped my coffee as she spoke, not quite knowing what to say. I didn’t want to say I agreed with her, because I still wasn’t sure about Bobby after Nate’s revelation the other day. On the other hand, I didn’t want to say anything that could be construed as me having doubts about him, seeing as she was set to marry him in a week. “Maybe they’ll sort it out one day,” I offered cautiously.

“Hmph. Maybe.” Libby sniffed as she removed her sunglasses and looked at me. “I just don’t get why Nate doesn’t believe Bobby. He’s done everything he can to prove it wasn’t him. Like, sure, he has a lot of money. But it’s all money he earned at the company and through his own private investments.” She sat up and pushed her hair behind her ears, determination to convince me flashing in her eyes. “Even just the wedding stuff—obviously he’s spent a lot on it. All of this.” She waved her hand around us. “But I’ve seen the transactions myself. He’s always been totally open with his finances, and every cent he’s ever spent was from his own money. And I’m not stupid. I think I’d know if my life partner was a criminal hoarding a ton of cash in some offshore account.”

“I know you aren’t stupid. Far from it.” I cocked my head to the side. “But what about Bobby’s new company? I know Nate took it as an affront when he started that. You have to admit it looks a bit—”

“A bit weird.” Libby nodded as she cut in. “I know. But Bobby didn’t start it to be a dick. He was thinking about creating his own brokerage for a while. It was getting awkward working with Nate, seeing as they didn’t really get along.” She paused and inspected a fingernail. “And what about the NDA stuff?”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember how they wanted to keep the whole theft from Nate’s account quiet? They were worried the CryptX investors would pull out if they heard about it, even though it was just Nate’s personal accounts that were targeted.”

I nodded. “Oh, right. Bobby signed an NDA and never said anything.”

“Exactly! If he had some sort of agenda to destroy Nate, he could’ve easily said something to someone and totally tanked CryptX.”

I nodded slowly. I’d had the exact same thought last week. “I guess Nate sees it as a manipulation technique,” I said. “Because if Bobby did tell everyone, it would make it obvious he had a serious problem with his brother and was directly trying to ruin his life. But if he kept quiet, he would look more innocent.” I paused, then held up a hand. “Not saying I think that myself. Just saying how Nate would view it.”

Libby sighed. “Don’t worry, I get it. It’s so awkward trying to stay neutral with those two, right? Always tiptoeing around everything when they’re both in the same room.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I don’t even know what to think half the time.”

She gave me a pleading look. “I know you feel like you have to be on Nate’s side, seeing as he’s your boyfriend and all. I get that. But I know Bobby would never steal a cent from anyone.” She pressed a hand to her heart. “Deep down, I know it. I wouldn’t marry him if I thought he was even remotely capable. I know he and his brother have had their fights in the past, but that’s it. They were just stupid fights.”

I wondered just how much she knew. Was she aware of the comments Bobby had once made to Nate in regards to their mother’s passing? Did she know he was capable of such cruelty?

I didn’t know if I should bring it up, or how. If I did, Libby might feel as if I were trying to trash her fiancé and turn her against him. Also, Nate told me that story in private, so it wasn’t really mine to share.

I decided to settle for diplomacy and wait until I’d had a little more time to think it over. Right now, my mind was still too cloudy from last night’s cookie encounter to think straight. Whoever said pot didn’t cause hangovers was damn well lying, because I felt like a hot mess.

“I’m sure Bobby feels bad about whatever fights they’ve had in the past,” I said delicately.

Libby nodded. “He does. He told me he’s said and done some awful things to Nate, and he regrets it all the time. I even came home to see him crying about it once.”

Hmm. From that, it sounded like Libby was aware of Bobby’s past actions toward his brother. So that meant she was well aware of what he could be like, but they’d talked it through and she trusted him anyway. I guess it could be the case that he deeply regretted what he said and did to Nate all those years ago, and he truly had nothing to do with the missing money.

Feeling a little lighter, I excused myself to the bathroom to splash my face with water and search for sunscreen. The hot sun had been beating down on us for half an hour now, and I was starting to turn pink. After rummaging through a cupboard, I found a bottle of SPF50+ and decided to take it outside for us both. The last thing my sister needed was a sunburn right before her wedding.

The French doors leading to the balcony were open and Libby was engrossed with her cell phone. She didn’t hear me coming when I padded up behind her with the sunscreen bottle. “I brought this out for you,” I said.

“Jesus!” She jumped in fright and her phone clattered to the tiled floor. “You scared the hell out of me. I thought you’d be in there for longer.” She began to scramble around for her phone.

I laughed and leaned down to grab it for her, seeing as it landed closer to me. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare… hey, what the hell?”

Her phone screen was still on, and I could see a text she’d been in the middle of writing: No, he doesn’t.

From the name at the top of message, I could see she’d been about to send it to Justin Byford, her ex-boyfriend.

I raised an eyebrow and held the phone out to Libby. Her cheeks flushed a deep pink as she hastily snatched it back, and she averted her eyes. “I wish I could say this isn’t what it looks like, but I guess it’s exactly what it looks like,” she mumbled.

“Yeah. It looks like you’re texting your ex,” I said sharply, narrowing my eyes.

What the hell was my little sister playing at?