The Sister (The Boss 6)

His eyebrows rose. “You mean, you and I and Olivia?”

I hesitated. “Um…yeah? She’s a part of the family.”

“Of course she is,” he said quickly, almost offended at the suggestion that he thought otherwise. “I was just assuming we’d go away somewhere, the two of us.”

As nice as that sounded, would we be bad people for not taking Olivia on vacation with us? Would we stick her with Mariposa or Valerie?

“I don’t know… Both sound fun,” I answered vaguely. “We’ll have to discuss it down the road.”

“Yes, we will. We have more important things to worry about this week.”

We did. And I was so counting the hours.

****

Having a long-distance lover wasn’t always as sexy and romantic as it sounded. Because of our vastly different lives, we rarely saw El-Mudad. He split time between his home country, Bahrain, and France, where his daughters lived with their mother. The girls obviously came first, like Olivia did with us, and it had been a while since our custody schedules had synched up. Now that he was about to arrive, time had obnoxiously slowed.

“Will you calm yourself, woman?” Neil teased as I bounced on the balls of my feet, trying to watch the sky from one of the kitchen windows.

Disappointed, I dropped my heels and made a face. “I wish he would just get here already.”

I’d dressed up cute and everything, in high-waisted denim capris and a sheer white blouse over a black Bordelle push-up bra. I’d accessorized with a big red bow around my ponytail.

Neil tugged it as he passed me. “You look like a gift.”

“Do you approve the wrapping?” I teased, then changed the subject before we became consumed with trite present-related innuendo. “What time did he say they were leaving the airport?”

“He texted an hour ago to say he’d just landed. But not that they’d left.”

I mentally calculated the time it took to reach our house via helicopter. “So, he should be here, like, any minute, now.”

“Exactly. So, perhaps calming yourself slightly might be a good plan?” he suggested with a smile as he got a bottled water out of the refrigerator.

“Do you think he missed us?” I asked nervously.

Neil laughed. “No. I think he’s only coming here grudgingly for an entire week.”

I rolled my eyes. “You really don’t do anything for my anxiety, you know that?”

The phone rang, and Neil picked it up. After a few short all rights and yeses, he hung up. “They’re inbound.”

I strained to hear the sound of rotors, but depending on the conditions, our house could be soundproof. “Let’s go out to the helipad. Please?”

He nodded toward the door. “Let’s go, then.”

The beautiful morning had blossomed into an explosion of sun and color. The crisp white light made the tops of the neatly clipped grass shimmer, and the sky was a shade of blue that seemed to exist only on truly happy days.

“Perhaps we should take a car,” Neil suggested. “He’ll have luggage.”

“Oh, but it’s such a nice day,” I protested, but even I wasn’t selfish enough to ask a guest to lug their suitcases across our lawn. “What do we have here?”

We crossed the large paved circle between the kitchen door and the eight-car garage, and Neil punched in the security code to open a door. Eight cars was just a sliver of his ridiculous collection. Most of it was housed in a huge hangar we’d had custom built on the property, but he did have some lovely practical options kept handy near the house.

“What about the Maserati?” he suggested, walking around the front of the nearest vehicle. “It’s a convertible.”

“Oh, yes, please!” I begged, hopping up and down a little.

Neil laughed. “We’re only going to the helipad.”

“But we’re going in a convertible.” No matter how much money we had or how many neat toys we bought, I would always be awed by some of them. Convertibles were a Midwestern sign of luxury and decadence, due to their impracticality as a year-round vehicle.

Neil found the key in the cabinet on the wall, where each hook corresponded to a numbered space in the garage. For some reason, he could keep everything neat and orderly, except paperwork and desk drawers. We got into the car, and I sighed as I settled into the comfy seat.

“Put your belt on.” We weren’t leaving the property, but Neil’s fear couldn’t be reasoned with.

As we pulled out of the garage, the air pulsed. I looked up, blinking in the blinding sunlight, and a shadow passed over my face. The helicopter glided above us, quickly outpacing us on the way to the helipad.

“He’s here! He’s here!” I squealed, clapping my hands. Neil laughed, and it struck me that, for the first time in a very long time, he appeared truly carefree.

I’d missed that.

“I’m not going to drive all the way down,” Neil explained, raising his voice to be heard over the chopping thunder. “I don’t need grass and leaves blowing into my lovely car.”