He gave a smile that didn’t quite reach his cold, dark eyes. He didn’t respond and instead, pulled two syringes out of his pocket and held them up. ‘It’s time to get you two clean.’ He popped the top off one syringe and inched toward them. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve adjusted it. This time you shouldn’t pass out.’

CHAPTER 9

Andie and I pulled out white cardboard boxes of rice and several larger containers of noodles and curry that I’d ordered for us from our favorite Thai place down the street, The Blooming Buddha.

‘Thanks, dude. I’ll Venmo you,’ Andie said.

I smirked at her, ‘Will you, though?’

‘Yeah, probably not,’ she replied with a mischievous laugh, biting into a spring roll.

‘So, tell me, what were they like?’ Travis asked excitedly after we opened all the takeout containers and dug in. ‘I know I’m not in this family,’ he glanced at Andie with a mouth half-full of noodles and winked, ‘yet. But the small details you gave me over the phone just aren’t gonna cut it.’

‘Yet?’ Andie said, wiggling her eyebrows at him. Travis smiled but said nothing. ‘Hey, it’s not our fault you’ve been working late and haven’t been able to come over until now.’

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard this complaint before. But you know I’m trying to make partner. Not gonna happen if I’m not working as much, if not more, than my coworkers. Don’t you want me to make partner?’ Travis said, looking at her pointedly.

‘Uh, yeah,’ Andie said dramatically, hoisting her fork in the air for effect. ‘I plan on becoming accustomed to a lavish lifestyle. So, go earn that paper, Trav!’ She laughed while Travis rolled his eyes. I took a bite of a spring roll while I waited for their banter to come to an end. It could be hard to get a word in once Andie got going. ‘Anyway, you should have seen Liz’s aunt. She was like someone straight out of Leave It to Beaver. Her hair was perfectly styled stiff, and she wore an apron over a flowered dress. She even wore some cute little vintage heels. It was adorable.’

‘She was pretty proper,’ I conceded, seizing on the opportunity to talk as Andie took a bite of her pad thai. ‘But very sweet. I’m not sure what I was expecting but they were both welcoming and nice. My grand uncle is a little awkward, not as enthusiastic as my grand aunt, but he opened up a bit about where I come from. Their house is beautiful, you can tell they spend a lot of time upkeeping it. There’s even an elaborate rock garden; it was so pretty and peaceful,’ I said, a warmth spreading through me as I talked about my newfound family.

‘What about your grand uncle? Did you look like him?’