“Mm-hmm,” Elvira hummed.

Sidney looked to her.

“She’s kinda bullheaded,” she told Elvira.

“I hear that. My sister’s a nut and works my nerves regularly. My brother isn’t much better. If they got their shit together, though, I’d still be all in to listen to them,” Elvira replied.

Now it was Sidney humming, “Mm.”

Mag didn’t have much to do for work that day, being on light duty, which meant desk work, and that meant monitoring the screens to keep track of shit they had going on and running other shit on their systems the guys out in the field called in.

Even so, he was done with this visit with Evan’s sister.

“We finished?” he asked.

Her attention returned to him and he saw right away she wasn’t.

Fuck.

“Rob’s a good guy and he’s worried sick about Evie,” she shared. “He also needs to look you over and,” her eyes did a sweep of him, “I’m seeing you’re the kind of guy who would understand where he’s coming from with that. So, it’d be cool you didn’t make him wait too long to do that.”

“I’ll consider it and talk to Evan,” he muttered.

She nodded.

Then her gaze went to Elvira, to Mag, back to Elvira, she looked uncomfortable and Mag braced again even as he said, “Whatever it is, spit it out.”

“Maybe we can have some privacy,” she suggested.

“It’s my office,” Elvira pointed out.

“She’s gonna nag my ass until I share it with her anyway, so you might as well just say it,” Mag told Sidney.

“I don’t nag,” Elvira said to Mag.

He looked to her. “You nag.”

She considered that a beat before she shrugged one shoulder and owned it. “Okay, I nag.”

Mag returned to Sidney and raised his brows.

“Okay then, no offense, I mean, really, this is the case with about ninety percent of the population,” she said fast.

“What’s the case?” Mag asked.

She shared the case and she did it again fast.

“Evan is smarter than you. Like way smarter. Like there’s gonna be times you’ll feel like Forrest Gump kind of smart.”

Mag opened his mouth to say he already knew that, but Sidney kept going.

“Her ex, he couldn’t deal. He’s a programmer. He was a TA in one of her classes. He thought his coder shit didn’t stink. He didn’t become one with his games because he descended into that like people do who get lost in it. He did it because he’s a loser and he’s weak and she made him feel more of both of those because she is who she is, and in the end, he didn’t have the strength to cut her loose so he made it so she’d do it.”

“I’m not him,” Mag pointed out.

“It’s hard on her, to, you know, relate,” Sidney said, and Mag grew tense.

“I’m not findin’ that the case,” he said low.

“I mean,” she threw out a hand, “yeah. She can be normal, and she can be real, but you know, she shouldn’t have to be that all the time because she’s not normal. She’s special. And there’s gonna be times you’re gonna feel that, and if you don’t get off on her being special, then you need to cut her loose because she should be with someone who does.”

She’s special.

Well…

Shit.

Mag was shocked as all hell, but he was finding there might be one member of Evan’s family who he could put up with.

“Trust me, I’m into your sister,” Mag stated.

Sidney looked him right in the eyes.

“She’s gonna make more money than you.”

Mag stood still.

“I see you got your shit tight with this operation,” she said, tipping her head to the windows behind Mag. “But, I mean, if she wanted to, Evie could figure out how to put rockets in space. Like, every one of her teachers wanted to have a sit-down with Mom and Dad to share she needed to be in different classes, maybe even go to different schools, be more challenged to even come close to meeting her potential. She’s gonna get her degree, I know it. And then everyone is gonna want her and they’re gonna pay big to have her because she turned down like, a bazillion academic scholarships because, you guessed it, Mom’s crap, Dad’s crap and Mick’s garbage.”

She stopped talking and Mag did not start.

That was because he was fighting the need to tear Elvira’s office apart.

She’d turned down scholarships?

“Mag,” Elvira said carefully.

Mag took in a deep breath.

“Mag, hon, keep it together.” Elvira was now talking soothingly.

“What’s going on?” Sidney whispered.

“Now I gotta educate you, girl, seein’ as you don’t tell a protective alpha guy who’s fixed on your sister to make her his that your parents and brother fucked up her life even more than he already knew they did without, you know, cushioning that info. Or maybe not sayin’ that shit at all unless he’s somewhere he can rip a punching bag off its chain and toss it out a window,” Elvira replied.

“Oh,” Sidney mumbled.

“Mag.”

Mo was now there, probably due to Elvira giving him the signal.

“I got it locked down,” he growled.

He felt Mo stay close.

Mag forced himself to focus on Sidney.

“I know she’s special,” he stated. “I don’t know much about computers, and I don’t wanna know. She doesn’t know how to disassemble a gun, and she probably doesn’t wanna know. It doesn’t matter she could figure it out on her own. That doesn’t signify. She’s gonna have her strengths, I’m gonna have mine. That’s life. That’s a relationship. I couldn’t give a shit how much money she’s gonna make just as long as she’s happy in how she makes it. What’s gonna happen is I’m gonna teach her how to shotgun a beer and she’s eventually gonna make me watch all the Harry Potter movies. That’s not gonna blow us up, it’s what’s gonna keep us strong. Because that’s how I’m gonna make it happen.”

And again, Sidney was reminding him of Evie because she had big eyes and was muttering, “All righty then.”

“Now are we finished?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said.

“Talk to your sister,” he ordered.

“Will do,” she replied. She then gave an airy wave and said, “Laters,” before she started heading out.

“Later, girl,” Elvira called.

Mag got another look from Evan’s sister, a happy one, before she walked by him.

He then felt Mo get close.

“What happened?” Mo asked.

Mag looked to Mo.

“Evan was offered academic scholarships. And she’s stripping.”

Mo’s lips tightened.

“Yeah,” Mag grunted.

“Keep on,” Mo grunted back.

“I got no choice, worse, neither does she.”

“Just to say, my desktop at home is givin’ me fits,” Elvira put in.

Mag cut his gaze to hers. “Call Computer Raiders and request Evie.”

She was smiling broadly when she replied, “Will do.”