Flynn stared at his luggage with distaste. The job of lugging it up the steps was on him. “Nice you two could get here so early. Some of us have to work.”

“Meet Abby,” Jasper said in a way that told Abella he’d taken a ribbing from Flynn before and had no interest in engaging with him again. Flynn didn’t leer at her exactly, but his eyes lingered on her longer than was polite. It made her uncomfortable.

Jasper did his best to keep the conversation going as they climbed the steps. By contrast, Flynn moped in silence the whole time. All Abella wanted was to get away from him and flop down on the couch with Jasper to savor their last few moments alone before she was put on parade. So she was thrilled when, as soon as they got to the house, Flynn went straight upstairs.

“There he goes, off to kiss Nana’s ass. Now do you see why I didn’t introduce you sooner? What a prick,” Jasper said. “He won’t let up.”

“On what?” Abella asked.

“On who. Flynn treats Ned like shit. I swear, he can’t control himself. If I’m not around he immediately goes searching for someone else to abuse. Actually, he does it whether I’m there or not.”

Ah, thought Abby. So that’s what caused Jasper to snap. He rarely talked about his siblings, and Abella had thought better of prodding. “Is he really like that?” she asked.

“An alpha male? A natural-born sadist? Yeah, he is.” Jasper blew out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s fine, I’m used to it. It’s just fucking embarrassing, that’s all.”

On the mahogany coffee table in the parlor a little clock ticked steadily. Abella could hear the flagpole clinking in the mossy enclosure that stood in for a front yard, the erratic snap of the Scottish and American flags that flew when Camilla was on the island.

“Maybe it’s a competition thing?” Abella said it carefully. She didn’t want to talk about his family. This was dangerous territory, and they were still in their honeymoon phase, when serious conversations were better kept at bay. “That’s how it is with me and my sister. She can’t stand it when I win.”

She was cautious with her words for another reason. Abella wasn’t supposed to know as much about her boyfriend as she did. He wasn’t one to brag, but her due diligence on the new man in her life had revealed a highly accomplished individual who excelled at everything, and always had. The Internet divulged that in grade school Jasper was a regular installment in his Westchester County town’s local newspaper, three-time winner of the district’s geography bee. When his middle school won the statewide math competition, Jasper took the individual first prize. His high school lacrosse team, one of the best in the country, won countless tournament titles. What older brother would be comfortable competing with that?

“Let me tell you a story,” Jasper said. Abella didn’t like his tone. She could feel his heartbeat through his ribs. His body heat was rising. “Flynn had just finished his junior year. School was over for the summer, and report cards were coming in. My parents called us both to the kitchen. Flynn wasn’t good at school. Usually they let that slide, but he was a year away from college and his grades were worse than ever. I guess they figured it was time to get real.” He snorted, as if he couldn’t believe it took his parents as long as it did, or imagine how Flynn could be such a loser. “They took away his car, gave him a curfew, did everything they could think of. On some level I think they knew it was meaningless, that they’d end up making a huge donation to Dad’s alma mater and the school would take Flynn no matter what. But they tried.”