Going in Deep (Billionaire Bad Boys 4)

He bit back a grin. “Let me take this guy upstairs and cancel my nine a.m. appointment and we’ll go eat. And talk.”

“Can I pet him?” she asked.

He nodded and while he pulled out his phone and called a long-time client, Alex petted and talked to a very happy Steve. Luckily the client understood he had an emergency come up. They agreed to reschedule and touch base later. He ran upstairs and crated Steve, who was tired from his morning exertion. A cab ride was apparently a lot for the dog.

Julian returned to find Alex standing where he’d left her. “Ready?” He glanced at her, but she didn’t rush to start walking. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t have any money.” Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“And I didn’t ask you expecting you to pay. Now let’s go eat. I want to know what’s going on with you.”

When she hesitated, he placed a hand on her back and nudged her forward until she was shuffling her way along with him.

A little while later, they were seated across from each other in a booth. Julian had handed her a plastic menu and told her to order whatever she wanted. If she hadn’t ordered a large stack of pancakes, bacon, and orange juice, he’d have placed a similarly big order for her. His gut told him she was hungrier than she’d admit to being, which brought out the same protective instincts he’d have if his sister looked as lost and afraid.

“Why aren’t you in school?” he asked, then realized, for all he knew, she’d graduated. “How old are you now, anyway?”

“Eighteen.”

The waitress poured two cups of coffee, and he looked down, adding some cream to his.

“When do you graduate?” he asked her.

“Next year.”

His gaze shot to hers. “Shouldn’t you graduate this year?” he asked.

She swallowed hard, her eyes large and luminous in her face. “When Billy went… away, I got sent to foster care.”

“I know.” And if he’d been in any shape to help her, he would have.

At the time, he’d been addicted, and though he’d decided to kick the habit, it hadn’t been an easy road. He’d holed up in a pay-by-the-day hotel, shivering and puking his way to sobriety. By the time he’d come out the other end, he’d been hanging on by a thread.

Determined to do right by his sister at last, he’d found an NA meeting. It hadn’t been easy, admitting his addiction, fighting his demons, staying clean. And in the process, he’d all but forgotten about Billy’s sister.

Guilt consumed him now, but he pushed it away, focusing on what he could fix. “What’s going on?” he asked her.

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger… around and around until she was pulling at the hair on her head. “In all the shuffling around with foster homes early on, I kind of lost a year. So I’m a junior.”

He nodded. “And where are you staying now?” he asked. Because at eighteen, the system would be finished with her.

“I aged out, and my foster mother threw me out the door on my birthday a little over a month ago.” She glanced down at the table, not meeting his gaze.

Fuck. He clenched his hands into a tight fist beneath the table, determined that she didn’t see how upset her words made him. “Where have you been staying?”

“With a guy I know who aged out ahead of me. But his friends are druggie assholes.”

Fuck and fuck.

Just then, the waitress came by with their meals. She placed the plates in front of them.

“Do you have a plan?” he asked when they were alone again.

Alex shook her head, tears in her eyes. “Last night they stole money I had saved from working after school. I won’t go back there.” She curled her hands into fists on the table. “I’ll sleep in Central Park if I have to.”

“So you came to me.”

She shrugged. “You were always decent to me. You didn’t try and cop a feel like some of Billy’s other friends. But if it’s a hassle, I’ll just go.” She started to push herself out of her seat, her untouched meal in front of her.