You Are Mine Little Sister (by Syra Tucker) novel Chapter 105

RALI

I sliced through the onion like I was handling a glass heart — slow and careful.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't the chef here. That apron still belonged to Veronica. I was just her mildly terrified sous-chef, doing what I could without setting anything on fire.

She assigned me to dicing duties, claiming she couldn't chop and cook for me at the same time. Mean girl.

This was day four of pretending to be employed. So far, Void hadn't sniffed out a thing. The plan was to keep this charade rolling till weekend, then stage a believable exit. The story would be Fable & Fabric had become a toxic mess and I needed 'space' to 'find myself.'

At least this would be more believable than abruptly quitting the job in one day.

Everything would play out fine.

The scent of Oud Wood slipped into the kitchen before he did. My nose caught it first, and then came Blayne, waltzing in with that unbothered confidence only tall, good-looking men with perfect jawlines and zero shame could pull off.

"Wow. Look who's hard at work," he flashed me a smile, striding toward the fridge.

I mirrored his smile. "Hi, Blayne."

"Hi, Rali. You look lovely today."

I rolled my eyes, but inwardly I knew he wasn't lying. Void had picked it out himself. It was a green dress that stopped right at the knees – structured enough for a boardroom, flattering enough for a dinner date.

"Thanks," I muttered to Blayne anyway.

I watched him as he pulled out a chilled Minute Maid from the fridge, then grabbed a glass from the top shelf. The guy was quite tall. I mean, he effortlessly took that glass, meanwhile Veronica and I would've been tiptoeing like ballerinas just to touch the shelf.

Since my supposed job had relocated to my and Veronica's shared apartment, I'd been seeing more of Blayne. Apparently, he and Veronica were... a thing. And not the 'N*****x and chill' kind. More like the loud, unapologetic, 'Oops-we-shook-the-walls-again' kind of relationship.

I was still trying to erase yesterday's horrifying soundtrack from my memory. I was sure that shameless girl must've gotten her bed broken.

Silence fell over the kitchen for a moment as Blayne chugged the juice then calmly returned the carton to the fridge. To my surprise, he started peeling oranges and feeding them into the juicer.

"You making something?"

"Yeah. Some fresh squeeze for V."

I snorted softly. Of course, the queen was stretched on the couch while her man squeezed her juice like she was pregnant.

"You from around here, Blayne?" I asked after a beat of silence.

It wasn't an interrogation, just a casual nudge. The guy was the first human my sister was taking seriously. I figured I might as well know the man behind the earthquake sessions.

He shook his head, already halfway through peeling another orange. "Nope. Born in New Portland. Moved to Stonebridge a few years back. Though my mother's from the Philippines."

Oh. He was born in New Portland. The city of my foster parents. What a coincidence.

"You've got family here? Or they're back there in New Portland?"

He paused, just for a second, but I caught the flicker. His face gave a small twitch as the last fruit hit the juicer. I stilled mid-slice, wondering if I'd hit a raw nerve.

He pushed the start button on the machine before he spoke again. "I don't have any family left. Been on my own for a while now."

Something in my chest pinched. Oh, my God.

"I'm so... I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

He waved it off with a shrug and a polite smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.

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