The closer we got to the city, the more focused I became.

CHAPTER SEVEN

We had to be flagged through a gate for the community and then again when we got to Denton’s house. I was impressed. There’d been no security measures like that when we lived in the neighborhood, but I was even more impressed because Denton had his own private one installed. A lot of the other houses didn’t. When we were flagged through and drove up the driveway to Denton’s house¸ the car in front of us and the car behind us stopped. Security guards swept out and immediately began canvassing the area.

I asked my dad, “How many staff members do you have?”

He didn’t bat an eyelid. “As many as it takes.”

Oh-kay then. “Good to know.”

Denton opened the door and leaned against his porch’s railing as he waited for us to come up. Crossing his arms over his chest, he tilted his head back with a smirk appearing on his face.

I shook my head. Only Denton could get away with wearing red khaki pants, loafers, and a buttoned-down white and red striped shirt with sunglasses on top of his head. As I went up the stairs to him, I said, “You know it’s one in the morning. You got paparazzi skulking around in your bushes? You need to look cool at all times?”

“Didn’t you hear from the tabloids? I’m so vain that I have mirrors on the backs of every door? I constantly have to reassure myself that I’m still good-looking enough.” He laughed, raking a hand through his dark hair and dislodging his sunglasses. Taking them in his hand¸ he held his arm out and gestured for me to come closer. I did and he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. “Damn. It’s good to see you, Jeneve. I thought the next time I saw you would be with you behind bars.”

I laughed, but stepped back and delivered a strong punch to his chest. “Not funny, douche bag.”

“Oh, come on.” He made a show of looking me up and down. “Orange could be your color. It brings out those precious lips of yours.” He flicked a hand to my lips and shot me a grin. “And really. You should be thanking me. I normally have a butler open the door. Good for you that I figured out how to let you through the gates or you would’ve been sitting in those very securely-looking and heavily guarded cars of yours.” He frowned over my shoulder. “Do they have guns?”

“Don’t worry about them. I think they’re more for show than actual harm. They won’t murder any of the paparazzi you pay to take your pictures.”

Denton barked out another laugh. “Damn, Sheldon. Just like always, you got cutting remarks.”

“I try.” A slow grin was forming the longer we traded jokes and jabs. I agreed with him. It was good to see him, too. It felt like too long. Then the reminder of why it’d been so long since we last saw each other filtered in—nope, not going to the last night I saw him. It was too serious. I needed to bring the light-hearted banter back so I made a show of looking around.

“And are you serious?” Not only had he added a security gate, but skimming over his house, I saw he had added almost an entire house onto his. It was a mansion now. I waved a hand at the renovations. “Did your house birth another home?”

He burst out laughing. “No, I’m not serious about the butler. I have no staff except a chef that comes in, and yeah, my house got pregnant.” He turned to look at the outside of his home. “Once the community put up the gate out there, I decided to add my own. I figured it was time to expand. I didn’t want to move and find a new home so there you have it. I did my own expansion. It was a bitch to plan, though. Some of the pictures were sold to a celebrity gossip website. They didn’t run the story. Nothing there, but still pissed me off. I had to fire half the construction crew to weed out the freeloader.”

I was still grinning that his house got pregnant. Feeling the rest waiting behind us, being polite, I allowed myself one more joke. “Your house got pregnant? All your orgies do that? Too much sperm flying all around?”

“Yes.” More laughter came from him. “What can I say? I’m fertile enough to infect my wood structure.”

Oh no. There was so much I could do with that, but Neil came up the stairs. He held a hand out. “Please stop, you two. Seeing you two joke like this is bringing back a lot of memories right now. Let’s keep the traumatic events to one thing right now.” He held his hand out, and the lines around his mouth softened into a small smile. “How are you, Denton? It’s been a long time.”

Denton withdrew completely from me and reached to shake my dad’s hand. He glanced sideways to me, but said, “Likewise, Mr. Jeneve. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah.” My dad stood there a moment, just looking at Denton. A sad look appeared in my dad’s eyes, and his mouth twitched before he turned away. “Your parents are well?”

“They are.” Denton snuck another look to me. “I’ve heard about your recent . . .”

My dad had gone missing, but he’d never been declared missing. Just wanting to bite any future awkwardness in the butt, I clarified, “Yeah. He disappeared. The details are still fuzzy, but my bet is that he owed money to the mob. Did you, Neil? How much do you owe them?”

“Sheldon!” Beth gasped from below.

“What?”

“It’s fine, Beth.” Neil lifted a hand to appease her. “And yes, Denton, I did move away for a while, but it’s not what my daughter is insinuating.”

I frowned. “No insinuation. I stated it for the record.”

He ignored me, a forced mask of politeness coming over his face. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to catch up. Thank you again for letting us into your home.”

“Ah. Yeah.” Denton stepped inside and held the door open. “Come on in, everyone. Do you guys have any bags with you?”

As he asked, Neil held a hand out to Beth, and she was the first inside. My dad rested a hand at the small of her back. Bryce and Corrigan came next, both meeting my gaze with their own mirroring smirks.

Bryce laughed softly. “Same old Sheldon.”

“Yeah.” Corrigan indicated for me to go ahead of him. “It’s nice to know that even being framed for murder doesn’t slow her down.”

They were talking to each other, but watching me. I pointed to my chest. “Yeah. Right here. Address all statements with the appropriate pronoun, me, not her. Wait. You, not her. Right here. Stating it again. No insinuations here.”