Page 40 of Caging Liberty
My jaw tics. I pick up the pear core and walk to the trash can.
“Where the hell is your brandy?” he asks, his head inside the cabinet while he searches.
“You drank it.” The pear thuds as I drop it in the can. “And it’s ten in the morning.”
“I’m on vacation.”
“Right.”
He pulls out a bottle of gin and grabs two glasses from the cupboard.
“I’m good,” I say, picking up the folder.
He looks at me, waving the bottle. “You sure?”
I rattle the folder. “I need to get this faxed over.”
“It can’t wait twenty minutes?”
I just stare at him.
Sawyer gives me an annoyed expression before he pours a quick shot and knocks it back. He slams the empty glass on the counter and walks my way without putting the lid back on the bottle. I grind my molars together but let the sloppiness go. Two years of rooming with him in college, and I’m still not used to it.
“All right, fine. I’ll walk to the manor with you. Buy a new damn fax machine, though. And some brandy.”
“I’ll put it on my to-do list.”
We walk out my back door, starting on the path to the manor. My house sits a quarter mile away from the massive brick building, and Sawyer’s sits a quarter mile away on the other side.
When we first moved here, there was nothing. It was a private island Sawyer had the opportunity to buy, and he’s turned it into this. I thought he was insane at first, but I was bored with the city life and thought it would be nice to have an ocean view for a little while. Never could I have imagined what the sixty miles of shoreline would become.
“You know you put two of my biggest problem girls together last night?” He tries to come off lighthearted, but his irritation blares through.
“Did I?”
“Ivy and April, yeah. I went to correct the mistake this morning, and they were already scheming together.”
My lips lift into a half grin. “How could you know that?”
“I can tell these things, Angel. Don’t be surprised if the manor’s burned down when you wake up tomorrow.”
I chuckle. “Surely you can handle a couple of girls.”
“I can if youletme handle them.”
My smile falls. “What are you suggesting?”
Sawyer glances at me, then watches the ground as we walk. I can tell he’s trying to word whatever he wants to say delicately, but his indirectness only irritates me further.
“Nothing. Forget it.”
“Sawyer.”
“What?”
“She’s just a girl. She’s not going to burn down your empire.”
“Because you say so?” He gives me a pointed stare before relaxing his expression and giving his head a shake. “I don’t know… Just forget I said anything. Take care of shit while I’m gone, though. If I come back to a revolution, I’m blaming you.”