The Insiders by Tijan

ELEVEN

“Mr. Colello.”

A woman was knocking on his front door. She had a shorter build, maybe around five foot four inches, with a stockier physique to her. Coming to the second-floor loft area, I stood there a moment. She had dark hair pulled back in a fierce bun. She wore a black shirt that resembled a scrub top my mother might’ve worn for her shift at the hospital. Dark pants. Dark shoes.

She was tough. I could tell. Her stockiness wasn’t from being overweight. It was muscle. She raised her hand to knock again. “Mr. Colello.”

“Coming,” Kash called from his bedroom. A second later, he came out from under where I stood, pulling his shirt down over his shoulders. There was a rippling effect over his muscles from the movement.

My mouth dried up.

Kash was opening the door, stepping back. “Morning, Marie.”

This was Marie?

A small churning of unease started in me. She was the only other person who knew who I was. Because, after last night, there was no way I was going to Kash for anything. Yeah, yeah. There’d been attraction. I couldn’t deny that. But that was done with.

I was way out of my league with him.

By the end of the night, I was in awe, but also slightly horrified that this was the guy I’d be living with for the next few months. He had sealed the cover with my half brother to perfection. He’d been so good that even I was starting to believe him.

I went to bed having to remind myself that I didn’t actually know Stephanie, and I never went shopping with her for a Thanksgiving tradition.

“Yes, she’s…”

They both turned to look at me.

Crap. I didn’t hide in time.

Marie had come inside, the door closed behind them. Neither smiled. Both just stared up at me.

I raised my hand, then remembered. “Is Matthew still here?”

He’d been the only one to get drunk last night, and when we went to our rooms, he’d been snoring from the living room.

Kash looked tired. “He took off around four this morning, said he wanted to feel like shit in his own bed.” He motioned to Marie. “This is Marie, Bailey. Come down to meet her.”

My legs felt like wood as I did.

This was real. After meeting this woman, another stranger, I knew what was next. Going to the main house. Seeing my other siblings, my stepmother … that f-word. Peter Francis. Meeting him. I wiped my hands over my pants. They were suddenly shaking.

“Miss Bailey.”

The woman’s hand was strong, just like I thought. She pumped my hand up and down with a clipped nod, and her dark brown eyes were hard on me. This woman was not one to mess around.

“Marie.” I was already terrified of this woman. “How are you?”

She didn’t respond, her eyes just went back to Kash, who’d been watching the exchange. He shifted back, his arms crossed over his chest. Raking me over, a troubled look in his eyes, he shook his head. The look cleared.

“Marie’s in charge from now on. You sleep here. You rest, do what you need, but other than that, she’s your go-to. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Seriously. I fought to keep myself from saluting him. That was not mature.

“Uh.”

Kash had started to return to his room, but paused and raised an eyebrow at my sound.

There those hands went again, jerking a little. I held them flat against my sides. “Is there a way I could get my old laptop?”

“Your computer?”

“It’s like air to me. I need it.” Did Marie know? “I’m a hacker, Kash. The fact I’ve gone this long without my computer is a miracle. Be glad I didn’t find one of yours in the house and go to town.”

Marie studied me, her head tilted to the side. I ignored her. Kash only narrowed his eyes before moving his head up and down in a stiff nod. “Yes. You’re right. Peter’s the same.” He turned to Marie. “I’ll have someone retrieve hers, but get her an extra desktop from the house in the meantime.” He began to move again, then stopped. “You don’t have work to do while you’re here, do you?”

“I was working on a new security program, but no, not really.”

And that was all he needed. He spoke to Marie again, speaking in that authoritative tone, like he was used to giving orders. “If there are projects you need done around the house, put her on it.”

Marie’s face sharpened. Heavy disdain lined her words. “Projects? Like what? Printing recipes for the kitchen staff?”

“Like writing code for a robot rabbit that Cyclone is working on. Projects like that.”

A robot rabbit?

I perked up.

Tell me more.

I mused, “I thought intelligence was passed down through the mother.”

Kash snorted, leaving for real this time. Disappearing down the hallway to his room, he called over his shoulder, “Who said anything about you being intelligent?”

I started at that. Frowning.

He just burned me.

I jerked forward, calling, “Don’t be jealous, Colello, just because I could write a new program to lock you out of your own house and you’d have no idea how to get it fixed.” I was smiling. I shouldn’t have been, but I was. Then I turned to find Marie still studying me. Her eyes were harder than before, and that smile dropped immediately. “Hi.”

Yep. They were slits now. “Don’t you mess with Mr. Colello.”

“We were flirting. Foreplay.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

I heard another snort from in his room.

Marie didn’t get the joke. She turned for the door again. “You go and get dressed. Come to the main house. Be there in twenty minutes. Do not be late. You hear me?”

Definitely don’t piss her off. I nodded, knowing I already had.

“Yes. Got it.”

She harrumphed before leaving and I was alone, still in my pajamas from the night before.

“You’re fighting it.” Kash spoke from behind me. His hands were in his pockets and his head lowered. His hair was messed a little, giving him a dark and broody look, and it wasn’t affecting me at all. That little tickle in my stomach wasn’t from him.

Nope. Not at all.

I ignored it, and I also didn’t pretend not to know what he meant.

He added, “We’re not the enemy, Bailey. Those men who tried to kidnap you, they are. Don’t forget that. I get you don’t like how you’re being introduced to the family, but it’s unavoidable.” His head lifted up, his eyes never leaving mine. “You’ll see that too, eventually, and you’ll be grateful.” He indicated the door. “That woman is almost a second mother to me. You hurt her and you and me will have a problem. I don’t have problems. I eliminate them. Got me?”

Well.

Crap.

I nodded. “Yeah.” Then, “Are you sure my mother is safe?”

“Going after the mother would hurt the child, not the target. Peter Francis doesn’t tend to care about his exes once they part ways. He doesn’t do it to be mean. It’s just how he is. His mind works in a different way. He’s on to the next project.” He began to step back toward his room, leaving me with, “I have a feeling you might be like that, too.”

I wasn’t.

I heard his door shut a second later.

I wasn’t like my father in that way at all.