So she quietly went down the stairs again and returned to bed, troubled by her thoughts.

Since when had she completely lost confidence in herself?

How was it that she had no idea how to get it back?

Chapter Eight

Edie left early the next morning with a list of instructions for him to introduce the cats that involved room switching, sharing scents, and feeding with doors cracked. Over time, she explained to him between yawns, the cats would grow used to each other’s scent and then he could introduce them without fear.

He paid attention. Sort of. He mostly watched Edie and her sleepy expression, imagining that was what she’d look like when she was heavy-lidded with arousal. She’d have that same sleepy, soft expression when he was between her legs, licking her clit.

After imagining that, it made it hard to concentrate on cats. He should have gotten a fucking medal for retaining control as well as he did. Magnus even managed to be pleasant as he handed her off to his driver with a cheery good-bye and sent her with a travel cup of coffee (branded with the Warrior Shop logo). It was clear Edie didn’t do early mornings, and she yawned and gave him another wave before disappearing into the car.

Magnus returned to work, still stuck on The World. He had several of the civilizations mapped out, but the AI wasn’t as clever as he wanted it to be. There just weren’t enough concepts in the game to hinder kingdom growth and, as it was, things spun out of control quickly in his simulations. Levi was theoretically working on barbarian invaders and Huns, but without the curbing influences of those, one kingdom (and one player) could run roughshod over all the others with very little tweaking, and it left the game hugely unbalanced. He was missing something. The entire concept just wasn’t working.

Fuck this. He hated that he needed his brother. His brother, who was a complete and utter flake.

His brother, who was nowhere to be found. Frustrated, Magnus grabbed his phone and sent Levi a text.

Magnus: Where are you?

The answer came a few minutes later. Wow, when did you become my mom?

Magnus: Fuck off, man. You know we have deadlines. Are you coming home to work soon?

Levi: Not yet. I have a bit more time with Bianca before Edie returns home and ruins things.

Edie ruining things? Edie was ten times more willing to work than Levi was. She ran herself ragged trying to make the lives of her cats easier. Please tell me you fucked Bianca so we can get back to work.

Levi: I’m offended you’d say such a thing. Bianca’s not like that.

Magnus: You were with her all night. What the hell did you do?

Levi: We went and gazed at the stars and had a midnight picnic. It was magical.

Magnus: Jesus Christ. This needs to stop, Levi.

Levi: Can you see Edie again on Tuesday? Bianca wants to go to the symphony.

Magnus: The symphony? We have to fucking work. I’m getting emails from companies that are scheduling out their projects for 2018 and want to know where we’re at. I need your help on this shit.

Levi: I’m creatively blocked, Magnus. All my creativity is going to Bianca.

Magnus wanted to throw his phone across the goddamn room. He forced himself to put it down gently, walked away for ten minutes and did deep-breathing exercises, and then returned to his phone. I’m not happy with this shit, Levi. Not happy with all this pretending and running around. Edie’s going to be hurt.

Levi: Edie’s not a nice person! What does it matter if she’s hurt?

And Magnus had to put his phone down and walk away again. For some reason, Levi’s words about Edie pissed him off even more than his flakiness. Was Edie occasionally unpleasant to people? Sure. She was also fiercely protective of those she felt were weaker or couldn’t take care of themselves. He remembered the way she’d so gently cradled the cat, ignoring the fact that her knee was bothering her. She never put herself first. He wondered how much of her partnership with Bianca was Edie running the show and how much was Bianca letting Edie think she was running the show.

Edie doesn’t deserve to be hurt by these stupid games you’re playing, Levi, he sent back, imagining how Edie would react to the fact that Magnus was spending so much time with her because his job was to keep her preoccupied while her sister snuck around.

She’d glare at him furiously, shooting murder with her eyes. She’d probably wield that razor-sharp tongue and tear him to pieces . . . in public. In private, he suspected she’d lick her wounds quietly and bury her soft heart a little deeper.

Edie’d been hurt in the past. And Magnus would be damned if he was going to hurt her again in the future. This shit ends now, Magnus sent to Levi. It’s unfair to Edie.

What do you care? You don’t even like her.

He tossed aside his phone. He couldn’t talk to Levi when he was like this. He’d just have to talk to Edie instead. Break the news to her gently and hope she wouldn’t be too hurt.

***

“No, teaching the cat to use the toilet is not recommended,” Edie tried to explain to Mrs. Silvestri gently.

“They show it on the infomercials,” the frail old woman said. “I’ve seen it! The cat just gets up on the toilet and does his business. It’s all very polite.”

“I know,” Edie said, trying to keep her voice patient. Mrs. Silvestri was at least ninety and as frail as a leaf. “But trust me when I say it’s best if cats use a litterbox.”

“I’m too old to bend over and clean up a little box,” Mrs. Silvestri said, determined. “He will just have to learn to potty in the potty. That’s what I hired you to do.”

Edie kept the polite smile on her face, watching as Bianca slid out of the room, likely retreating to the car so Edie could deal with the cranky woman herself. Which was fine—it was easier to work without Bianca’s hovering. “I’m sure we can come up with a setup that works for both you and Skittles,” she said to Mrs. Silvestri. “Let’s see what we can do.”

Some time later, Edie emerged from the old woman’s tiny townhouse, satisfied. She’d shown Mrs. Silvestri a few ways to keep Skittles from climbing the drapes, and she’d managed to talk her into putting the litter in a box in a corner of the laundry room that had steps going up to it. That way the cat could reach the litter without too much effort, and Mrs. Silvestri wouldn’t have to bend over to clean it. It was a solution that worked for everyone.

Except Bianca, of course. Edie got into the passenger seat and shut the door. “I didn’t charge her.”

“Why not?” Bianca frowned. “She took up two hours of your time.”

“She also hired me just to show her cat how to use the toilet, and I’m not going to do that,” Edie said tightly. “Plus, you saw her place. I doubt she had two nickels to rub together to pay for a cat behaviorist. Let her keep the money for cat litter.”

“We barely have two nickels to rub together,” Bianca said bluntly, swiping her finger over her phone’s screen. A bell chimed, the tinkling sound of a game.

“What are you doing?”

“Playing Warrior Shop,” Bianca said. She put her phone down and smiled at Edie. “Ready to go?”

“Sure.” Edie glanced down at Bianca’s now-locked phone. “I didn’t think you were into games like that.”

“I’m really not,” Bianca said, a mysterious smile on her mouth. “But I’m intrigued by that one.” She shrugged. “Besides, there’s not a lot to do when you go on calls.”

“You know, you don’t have to go with me,” Edie said, tentatively broaching the subject. She knew Bianca hated house calls and it made Edie uncomfortable to have her sister hovering, waiting. “I can always call you for a ride or take public transportation or—”