Love in the Dark (LarssonSiblingsSeries#1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - EDWARD

EDWARD

I'm halfway through reading an email when my sister interrupts me. It pisses me off because my to-do list is way too long already having neglected it today.

I don't look up from the screen, equally annoyed at her for embarrassing me in front of Delilah. There was no need for her comment about the sheets being warm. It isn't true. Those sheets have been stone cold for weeks, months, even.

"Will you ever settle down?" she says, crossing her arms over her chest in a defiant move.

My fingers tap on the keyboard at about a hundred miles a minute. "I'm not having this conversation right now."

The snarl in my tone isn't strong enough to warn her off as she takes a step forward to antagonise me further. "You know that the thought of you sleeping around upsets mum, right?"

I have to backspace several letters because she's making it hard to concentrate. Of course, it would upset my mother to know that I don't do monogamous relationships. But Christ. It's not like I throw it in her face. I never took a one-night stand at home, booking a hotel room or going back to the girl's house if not the flat above the agency.

I struggle to calm the distaste on my face when my eyes land on her. "I said not now, Laine."

"It only takes a woman to google your name to find out how rich you are and poke a hole into a condom to trap you," she says, arms moving around her middle to cradle her growing bump.

I run with my mouth way too quick to think about the consequences. "Like you trapped Trevor?"

She doesn't respond for a long time with words. It's painful to see as she gasps so hard it knocks her off balance, the floorboards creaking as she stumbles back with the big gasp turning into lots of little ones. I regret the words immensely and when Noah storms in here to catch Laine before she falls to the ground; it sends me to my feet.

Noah manages to get her into the armchair in front of my desk, cutting his ferocious glare on me. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

I'm making my way over there, only stopping when Noah bashes me out of the way. I speak anyway. "Laine, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Her wild, yet teary eyes fall on me. "I don't have to take this from you."

It makes me uncomfortable to see that much suffering in her eyes, knowing that I put it there. And when Noah tells her to come through to sit with him in his office, it makes those feelings ten times worse. I don't get to dwell for too long before the front door chimes as a woman holding a big brown paper bag steps through the door.

The first thing I notice is how attractive she is, and the second is how flustered my brother suddenly becomes. Interesting. Noah pulls at the bottom of his suit jacket, fiddling with his tie at the base of his neck about ten times until she makes herself known to him.

She gives him a sweet wave before Laine is climbing to her feet to embrace her once she waddles over to her. "Bailey, you're a lifesaver with all of this food. You do not understand how much I crave your oat and banana honey smoothies."

Bailey reaches into the bag to bring out a beige-toned smoothie and a big straw while my gaze is still on Noah. The poor guy doesn't know where to put himself as he folds his arms over his chest, then fiddles with his cufflinks, all the while trying and failing to keep a carefully blank expression on his face. There's something not right here.

Bailey's giggle is soft for my sister until she notices the wetness around Laine's eyes and her happiness dims a bit. "Are you okay, honey?"

Laine slices her uneasy eyes across to me, not ready to forgive me just yet. "I'm fine, thank you."