Dropping Willa off three houses from hers and having to watch her walk away from me, was by far the most difficult thing I’d done this week. Since we slept together, it’s like she’s in my bloodstream. I can’t function without her.

I need some distance.

Some perspective.

A thump to my moral compass that seems to be spinning out of control.

“In here,” Hugo calls out.

I close the front door behind me, sweeping my gaze over Hugo’s living room. It’s normally tidy, but since Neena isn’t around, Hugo and Spencer haven’t quite kept things clean. I follow the sound of Hugo’s cursing to find him in the kitchen, sitting on his ass in front of two open cabinet doors beneath the sink.

“Law firm not paying you enough?”

He grunts, glancing at me over my shoulder. “I wanted to see if I could fix it before I called a plumber.”

“Since when do you tinker on your own plumbing?”

“Since I’m now running for AG and the last thing I need is someone calling me a worthless rich prick who can’t fix his own pipes.”

“But you are a worthless rich prick who can’t fix his own pipes…”

He flips me off. “But they don’t know that.”

We sit in relaxed quiet as he fucks around some more. Eventually, he gives up and stands up, defeated and annoyed that he’s been defeated. My brother likes to win. It’s a family trait.

“So what brings you here so late and smelling like pussy?”

I stiffen and glower at him. “What?”

“I’m kidding, man. You don’t smell like pussy. I got a text from Dad, though, that you had a woman over. And to talk with you so you understand who you date now reflects on me.” He shakes his head and walks over to a cabinet where he keeps a bottle of whiskey hidden behind flour and sugar. “I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”

I scrub a palm over my face in frustration. “Gemma and Jamie just really can’t keep their mouths shut, can they?”

“Jamie tells Dad everything. Always has.”

“It’s just some girl, er, woman.”

Hugo lifts a brow and smirks. “Hope she’s not too young for your old ass.”

“She’s not,” I lie.

“Dad says we’ll get to meet her on Sunday for dinner.”

“Dad’s wrong,” I growl. “It’s not even that serious.”

The bitter taste of my lies sits on my tongue, burning with the need to tell him the truth. Of course I don’t. I can’t. He’d lose his shit.

“You brought her home,” Hugo says, brows furling as he goes into lawyer mode. “That’s something. You don’t ever bring women home.”

“Maybe because every time I do, someone in my family steals them away!”