I set the lunch down on the dinner table, the steam from the Alfredo rising between us. I took my seat beside Marcus, watching him out of the corner of my eye. He grabbed the plate, served himself a generous portion, and took a bite.
"Hmm..." He let out a low sound of approval that felt almost like a sin to hear. "Tastes divine," he complimented.
I blinked, staring at him. "Thank you. But Marcus... did something happen? To your brain, I mean?" I asked. I knew I sounded ridiculous, but his sudden sweetness was jarring.
For a fraction of a heartbeat—a milli-milli-second—I swore I saw him chuckle. "No," he said, his voice regaining its cool composure. "Nothing happened."
The tension was making my skin crawl. "Excuse me, I have to change," I said, pushing my chair back and retreating to the safety of my room.
I pulled on an olive green silk dress, the fabric cool against my skin, and headed back down to keep Marcus company. I didn't want him wandering around alone. But when I reached the bottom of the stairs, I realized the house was no longer quiet.
Evander was there, leaning back and chatting with Marcus. Sitting beside him was a girl I didn't recognize.
"Seems like we have a guest," I said, pulling out a chair and joining them.
"Hi!" the girl said, waving her hands enthusiastically. I looked at her, then at my brother, my confusion growing by the second.
"And she is ready to pay the six months' rent upfront," Evander said, his voice dripping with pride.
I was stunned. "How can you find someone so soon? I'm amazed," I said, desperately looking for a reason to back out of the plan.
"Today we will sign the contract, and tomorrow the movers will come and move your stuff," my dick-headed brother announced. I started wiping the table just to have something to do with my hands, my mind racing for a way to reply.
"No backing out, sis. Remember?" Evander's face was the definition of smug.
I felt trapped. I looked from Evander's grin to Marcus's watchful eyes. "Okay... I'll get ready," I muttered.
Oh God, I thought, the weight of the situation finally hitting me. Why did I ever agree to a deal with the devil himself?
As I walked back toward the kitchen, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a text from Evander, probably sent from two feet away just to annoy me:
𝓓𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓪 𝓰𝓻𝓾𝓶𝓹𝔂 𝓹𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓼. 𝓨𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝓼𝓮𝓽𝓾𝓹. 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓼𝓲𝓰𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼.