“Thank you,” Vee whispers as her cup is filled with freshly brewed coffee.
Kaz starts talking over Alexander, arguing about coming to Obsidian on Tuesday to oversee things.
Vee leans into me. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you had me pulled from the schedule for Tuesday.”
I bring my coffee cup to my lips, taking a slow sip as I eye her over the rim. If she thought I was letting her anywhere near that auction, she hasn’t been paying any attention. Maybe I should give her a few more lessons on who she belongs to now.
“Why did you keep her from work on Tuesday?” Elana pipes up, being the nosy little sister that she is.
Kaz stops arguing with Alexander and swings his gaze toward me. “You took her off the roster?”
“You knew she was on it?” I grip my fork tighter, suddenly wishing it was my younger brother’s neck.
“She’s an employee at the club; why would you stop her from participating?” Kaz grins, shoots Vee a wink, then shoves a piece of toast in his mouth.
“Don’t start with me about it.” Having them over for brunch was a mistake.
“I’m just pointing out that sometimes the company ink?—”
“You were going to be in one of those auctions?” Megan leans forward to ask across the table from where she sits beside her husband, effectively cutting Kaz off.
“I was, but I don’t need to anymore.” Vee lowers her gaze to her plate.
“She was never going to be in that auction,” I clarify, stretching my fingers over the linen tablecloth.
“Why is that exactly?” Kaz cups his ear, pointing it toward me.
“Why don’t you need to anymore?” Elana questions, tearing apart a Vatrushka on her plate until she gets to the part she really wants, which is the cheese in the middle.
“Because she doesn’t.” I push a bowl of berries toward Vee, keeping my gaze away from my brother, who is enjoying himself too much for my liking.
“Ah, it’s a secret, then.”
Elana nudges my arm with an exaggerated wink.
“You’re fully grown but still a brat.” I shake my head at my younger sister.
“She’s not fully grown yet.” Alexander cuts in. “An adult wouldn’t have dropped all of her classes and hidden it from her brothers.”
“You dropped all of your classes?” I let out a breathless laugh, part disbelief, part frustration. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“It was a bad semester. I can pick them back up next semester if I decide to,” she defends.
“Is that why you’ve been staying with Kaz? You’re not going to school anymore, so you moved out of your apartment?” We should’ve been paying more attention, made her answer when we asked about what was going on with school.
“I’m not going to argue with you about this.” She pops a piece of the Vatrushka into her mouth.
“There’s nothing to argue about.” Alexander fists his hand beside his plate. “You’re going back next semester.”
"We can talk about this later." Kaz barely flinches, but the way his jaw tightens as he reaches for a strip of bacon says enough. Even small movements bring him great pain.
“And he wonders why I didn’t come talk to him about it.” Elana rolls her eyes.
“I’m sure it’s fixable. It’s just an extra semester she’ll need to take,” Megan says, placing her hand on Alexander’s arm. His jaw relaxes, and he sinks back into his chair.
She’s his comfort, the same way Vee has become mine.
“Artem is here,” Yosef announces from the doorway of the dining room.
