Unharmed.
Untouched.
Chapter Three
McKenna
“I hope you don’t plan to sit around all day and do nothing.” The sound of my father’s deep voice makes my shoulders rise up to my ears. I can feel my body shrinking into itself under the weight of his disapproving tone.
I bite my tongue against what I really want to say because I know my dad is just worried about me, more so after everything going on with Kelsey. I let out a sigh and look up at him. He’s dressed for work in his standard navy blue suit with a sky blue tie.
“It’s my day off, Daddy. I’m not doing nothing. I’m recharging my batteries.”
He snorts as if that’s really such an unbelievable thought. “I didn’t realize selling pizza is such hard work.”
“You sit at a desk all day,” I remind him, knowing it’ll cause more trouble for me. “I’m on my feet dealing with entitled jerks all day. It’s not like I have no stress at my job.”
It seems as if the more money customers have, the more likely they are to behave as if they own the place.
Daddy looks down at me, his blue eyes full of disappointment with a heaping dose of judgment. “It’s time for you to consider getting a real job. The market is rebounding. I’m sure you can find something that fits your skillset, whatever that might be.”
“You’re the one who forced me to go to college when I told you I didn’t want to.”
School was never my thing, was never something I’d been good at. That’s Kelsey’s strong suit.
His jaw clenches, and I know I’m in for a lecture. “It wouldn’t kill you to get a better, higher-paying job, McKenna. I’m sure someone will hire you to be their executive assistant or even just a receptionist.”
“All respectable jobs, even if it’s just a receptionist. They also pay minimum wage So what’s the difference? And I’m not interested in being at some executive’s beck and call.” Those guys treat their secretaries like wives only without all the benefits of being a wife. “I’m perfectly happy with where I work, Daddy.”
He shakes his head and lets out a low grumble. “At least your sister’s only postponing her education, understandable after what happened to her.”
I open my mouth to tell him what the biker in the hideous green sunglasses told me yesterday, but I snap it shut. Daddy blames me for the kidnapping as if I had the power to stop it. Yet, I still want to tell him what Kelsey has been through, so he can force her to come back home where she belongs.
“That’s right, Daddy. Kelsey can do no wrong.”
He glances down at the expensive watch on his wrist just as his phone chimes and then vibrates. “I have to go. Some of us actually have to work for a living. We’ll continue this conversation when I get home this evening.”
We won’t because I’ll make myself scarce long before then. “Sure thing, Daddy.” My shoulders remain tense even after he walks out.. It’s not until the sound of his sleek black Mercedes engine starts to fade that my shoulders begin to relax.
I don’t know how long I sit on the sofa staring into space, but when I glance at my phone again, the screen tells me it’s well after nine o’clock. I smile, just thinking how upset Daddy would be if he knew.
“How’s that for lazy?”
For a brief moment, I have a flash of the pressure Kelsey must constantly feel with our demanding father. She is the smart daughter, the one with such a fantastic future laid out for her, but I know the pressure from Dad increased due to my lack of life direction.
And that’s why I have to get my baby sister back home to safety. Once she’s healed mentally and physically from what happened to her, she’ll go off to medical school, and maybe Daddy will stop pestering me to do more with my life.
Kelsey and I are not the same.
The doorbell rings, and I freeze the same way I have since watching my sister get kidnapped from a parking lot. It only lasts a second before I’m on my feet since the house is empty.
Once Kelsey decided not to come back, Daddy decided we didn’t need the housekeeper to come until after he left for work. I look at the newly installed security camera and smile at seeing Kelsey.
She’s lost some weight, and instead of looking gaunt, the weight loss makes her cheekbones and jawline look sharper, more exotic than a woman has any right to look. I open the door with a genuine smile.
“Kels, I’m so glad to see you.”
“Is Dad around?” Her arms wrap around her waist tightly as she looks over my shoulder.
“He’s already left for the office. Come on in. No one’s here but me.” I step back and take in the rest of Kelsey’s appearance. Dark denim clings to her long legs capped off by sexy strappy stilettos at nine in the morning. The billowing black top she’s wearing is modest, another symptom of her trauma. The sister I’d grown up with never had a problem showing off her body. Or maybe it’s Coop who doesn’t like her to dress sexy.