Money For Something

28 - Survivor

**Willow**

Ace was avoiding me. At least I thought he was. Or maybe I was avoiding him, and he just wasn't chasing me down the way he usually did.

He was conveniently giving me the space to think that I'd thought I wanted. I should have been ecstatic that he'd apparently read my mind and given me some breathing room in our rapid-fire relationship. It was great to have some uninterrupted time with my family, but I wasn't totally over the moon. It was unfortunate that now I had it, I wasn't sure that space was the best idea. Especially as it seemed to coincide with the arrival of his family.

Formidable wasn't a strong enough word to describe Eileen Whittier. She was one of the most polished, elegant, British women I'd ever seen let alone met. I don't know what I'd expected but the woman who'd walked through the front door wasn't it. In the film version of Ace and my life Eileen Whittier would be played by Dame Judy Dench. Ace had told me that she was the long-time executive assistant for the CEO of a bank, I was frankly astonished that she wasn't the CEO.

Eileen was perfectly polite to me. I'd even go so far as to say she was warmly kind, but I couldn't help but feel that she was holding something back when she spoke to me. I suspected that not much escaped Eileen's notice. And if that was the case, the lies Ace and I had told hadn't fooled her in the slightest. In fact, I'd caught her directing more than the occasional searching look in Ace's direction.

I was beginning to wonder if we'd fooled anyone. Surely Josh's extreme level of suspicion had sent up warning signs. He may have calmed down and made a tentative peace with Ace but his reasoning for his resentment – that he was hurt by his best friend excluding him from any information about me and our wedding – should have triggered all sorts of red flags with the rest of their friends. It seemed to have done so with his sisters.

"How did you meet my brother again?" Zoe, Ace's sister asked me as she eyed me over the top of her coffee cup.

"Zoe! She already told us. It was at a hotel." Dani another of his sisters rolled her eyes.

"That's right you said you were having a drink there."

No, that wasn't what I'd said. Was she deliberately trying to catch me out?

"No, we met in front of the hotel. I'd just gotten an early morning coffee from the coffee shop next door." I forced out a smile before gulping at my drink. Bad idea. Very bad idea. My iced coffee gave me a brain freeze that made me grimace.

"So not working the hotel bar?" she arched an eyebrow.

Woah. What the hell was she implying?

"Zoe!" Dani shrieked giving her sister a back handed slap right in the tit. Of Ace's four sisters Dani was the most like him. Minus the blue hair of course.

Hers was pink.

"Sorry," Zoe said. Her face said, 'not sorry at all'. It was clear that at least one of Ace's sisters was not a fan of mine. I wondered what specifically it was that I'd done other than, you know, existing.

Navigating relationships with the siblings of the people I dated was new to me. Jack's brother and sister were ten and eleven years older than him and were married and starting their own families before he and I even started dating. They'd had no interest in the girlfriends of the spoiled baby of their family. Maybe if they had, someone might have given me a clue about what a tool Jack would turn out to be.

"Don't worry about Zoe, out of the twins Zoe is the Danny DeVito." Dani jumped as Zoe reached across and pinched her arm.

My lips spasmed in weird non-committal half smile. No way was I giving Dani more of a response than that weird twist of my lips. It felt like a trap. The idea that either Zoe or Nat would be the Danny DeVito was laughable. They were both stunning. And identical. In fact, all of Ace's sisters were stunning.