“The maid?” I scoff, lifting a brow.
“Spoiled,” Sully reminds me. “Their daddy is loaded.”
“Hmph. Better get to it, maid.”
Sully tosses me an incredulous look. “Seriously, dude? I’m not the only one who can order groceries and shit around here.” He angrily starts tapping on his phone, though, because someone has to do it.
This isn’t fun.
This is work.
Fuck Scout.
Heathen races out of the closet, whizzing past Della, and darts out the door. She chases after her, clearly having forgotten about being hungry. I’m sure the neighbors below us are hating the back and forth of her running through the apartment.
It won’t be long before someone complains and we’re found out.
“Can you make her sit still?” I grumble, motioning toward the door. “You’re already used to her. Make her behave.”
Sully snorts out a laugh. “She’s a tyrant. Nobody can make her behave, especially not me.”
He walks out of my bedroom, thankfully, and I’m hoping it’s so he can locate the kid. When Landry is allowed to leave Scout’s room, she can take over babysitting the little monster. Then, I want to know every damn detail about what Scout did to get them to run away. I’m working with half a picture here and it’s getting old.
After pulling on a white T-shirt, I saunter down the hall and make my way into the kitchen. Della is standing on the counter, with two cabinet doors open, surveying her options which are pretty limited. She plucks out a chocolate chip granola bar, studies it, and then tosses it back into the cabinet.
“Maybe you should make her some scrambled eggs,” I tell Sully who’s leaned up against a counter. “Kids like scrambled eggs, I think.”
“I ordered eggs,” Sully states. “And those juice boxes she drinks.” He signs something to her and she responds to which he smiles. “Oh, and graham crackers. She likes those.”
He knows a lot about Landry’s little sister. It makes my chest ache. While I was falling for Landry at school, he was imbedding himself in her world, learning things. I want to know things too. Even if she does call me a dummy. She said I was good looking, so I already like the kid.
“How long is Scout going to keep Landry holed up in his room?” I ask, irritated that they still haven’t emerged.
“Knowing him…forever.”
“Why are we letting him make the rules anyway?”
Sully crosses his arms over his chest as he studies me. “I don’t see you signing up for the job.”
“Fuck off.”
“You know she’s going to hate us now.”
Don’t I fucking know.
I sigh heavily, eyeing the kid who’s now rummaging around in a bag of cookies. “Maybe not…”
“There’s no maybe,” Sully grumbles. “There’s no coming back from this. At least you got laid.”
Problem is, I want to get laid again. I want Landry in my bed, naked and whimpering and writhing in pleasure. I’d have gotten my wish too had Scout not pounced when he did. She’s not going to willingly crawl into my bed anymore. Not when we’ve taken her and her sister, keeping them sequestered under lock and key.
Della throws a cookie at me and I barely dodge it. Damn, she’s feral. She starts signing frantically to Sully who frowns as he tries to keep up. Her face is turning red. Either she’s pissed or about to have a meltdown.
“What’s she saying?” I demand.
“She wants to know where Landry is and she wants real food.” He bites back a grin. “If we don’t give her what she wants, she’s threatened to eat the cat.”
“Does she know how much we hate that cat?” I ask, amused.
“I’m not going to spar with her. This kid can go all day. It’s best we give her what she wants.”
“What’s that?” a deep voice says from behind me.
Della is back to inspecting items in our pantry, so she doesn’t notice Scout’s approach. He’s dressed for the day and his hair is damp from a recent shower. While I feel like I slept like shit, he appears to be well-rested, missing the dark circles both Sully and I are sporting today.
“Landry and food,” Sully says. “Make it happen.”
Scout walks over to the fridge and pulls out some liquid eggs, cheese, and bacon. If we didn’t have him to cook for us, we’d probably starve or would have had to ask Bryant if we could have a maid to make us meals.
“Landry?” I ask as Scout locates a skillet. “Do I need to untie her from your bed?”
Scout smirks over his shoulder. “You’re the freak in this family, not me. She’s sleeping. Unbound.”
I don’t deny the fact I’m the freak because neither of my brothers have restraints installed on their beds. I may be the freak, but he’ll always be the psycho who takes everything just a little too far.
“Last night,” Scout says, his back to us. “She said some shit last night.”