It was an eight-mile walk home from here. I had enough time to think about what I would do the rest of the week since I no longer had houses to clean.

Mase

My phone rang as I was pulling into the house after a long day at the stockyards.

It was Rush.

“Hello,” I said, not used to getting calls from him.

“Nan’s back home,” he said, not sounding real happy about it. Couldn’t say I blamed him, but then, I thought he loved his sister.

“Yeah,” I said, wondering what this shit had to do with me.

“You know anything about a mirror at Nan’s house?”

Shit! I had forgotten about the mirror. And Nan being home. Motherfucker. Reese would have gone to clean yesterday. Suddenly, her headache made a hell of a lot more sense.

“First morning I met Reese, she fell cleaning the window, and the fucking mirror crashed down around her. Sliced open her hand. I had to take her to get stitches. I forgot about that damn thing. I figured Nan wouldn’t even notice.” But I knew she had. Because Rush was calling me. If she’d been cruel to Reese, I’d be paying her a visit, and it wouldn’t be one she fucking wanted.

“She probably wouldn’t have. Except Reese told her about it and promised to pay her back,” Rush said, still sounding annoyed by something.

“Shit! I should’ve replaced the damn thing. I just got . . . busy with stuff and forgot.”

“Yeah, you should have. She brought Nan a check for two thousand four hundred dollars today after Nan had her fired from the agency. My guess is she lost all her jobs. And she’s fucking broke. I was going to take the check away from Nan, but I was afraid she’d press charges against Reese or some stupid shit like that. I’m thinking Reese might need a little help right now.”

“Two thousand? What the hell! How much does Nan want for the damn mirror?”

She was the meanest, most vindictive bitch I had ever met. When she’d offered to help Harlow with a blood transfusion after Lila Kate’s birth, I thought for a moment that she’d found a heart. But apparently not.

“She’s claiming it cost five grand and came from Paris. I’m calling bullshit on that, but she’s determined to get her money for it. I figured I would stop this if you didn’t. I just know that if it was Blaire being fucked with, I’d want to be the one righting the wrong. Not someone else.”

“I’ll be there by morning. Don’t let Nan get near Reese again. I’m coming to settle this shit and bring Reese back with me. I can’t get things done, because my mind’s always on her. I want her here.”

“Nan will stay away for now. I wasn’t happy, and she knows I’m pissed. I also informed her that she’d just fucked with your girlfriend. She didn’t take that info well. I believe when I left, she was ranting about ‘not believing this fucking shit.’ ” Rush chuckled. But my mind was already on to the next thing. I had plans to make and a girl to persuade to move to Texas with me.

After ending the call with Rush, I started packing and made phone calls to my stepdad and Major. I told them there was some stuff I needed to handle out of town and left them with the list of things I needed help with while I was gone.

Then I headed to the airport and took the first flight out.

Not going directly to Reese was hard. But I was going to deal with my “dear sister” first. The plane touched down close to midnight. I had arranged for Rush to send the truck I usually borrowed when I was in town to the airport.

It was a little after two in the morning when I pulled up to Nan’s gate after plugging the code into the security box. Lights were still on in the house. She was still awake. Good. I wouldn’t have to wake her up.

I didn’t bother knocking, I just used the code and went on in. I could hear the television and laughter in the media room. I walked through the foyer and headed straight for the noise.

Nan was on the sofa with a glass of wine in her hand, telling another girl who sat across from her about something that was apparently hilarious. I didn’t see Nan as the funny type. Or a good storyteller.

Her eyes caught mine, and she jolted right before the anger flashed in her eyes. “You can’t barge into my house like this, Mase. I’m calling the cops,” she snapped.

“Please, do. I’ll just call our father and let him deal with them, since this is his house. He’s let me know more than once that I’m welcome to use it whenever I want to.”

Just like I knew they would, my words stopped her cold. She hated any reason to involve Kiro in her life. And she also knew I was right. This wasn’t her house. She didn’t pay for it or one damn thing in it. I found out that last bit when I called Kiro while waiting for my flight. He paid for the house to come furnished. That mirror wasn’t something she’d even bought. Bitch.

Mean bitch.

“I can’t believe you’re here because of her. She was my housecleaner, Mase. Surely you can do better than that. It’s kind of low for Kiro’s son. Does Daddy Dearest know you were banging the help while you were here?” There was a bitterness to Nan that I had never seen in anyone her age before. It ate her up. Made her cruel and heartless. And so fucking shallow.

“This is your only warning, little sister. You say one more negative word about Reese, and I’ll make sure you regret it for years. Do you understand me? Because I swear to God, I am dead serious.”

Her lip drew up in a snarl, and she turned to look at her friend. “I’m sorry about this, Laney. I’m sure he’ll be gone once he’s done bitching.”