Dissonance by Lindsey Sparks & writing as & Lindsey Fairleigh

Author:Lindsey Sparks & writing as & Lindsey Fairleigh [Sparks, Lindsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rubus Press

7

Tick & Boom

“Egypt certainly seems to have agreed with you,” Dr. Ramirez said after releasing me from a body-engulfing grandfatherly hug. His soft brown eyes scanned my face. “You look absolutely radiant.”

“Oh, well . . .” I glanced down at the floor and felt my face heat. Gracefully accepting compliments had never been my strong suit, a facet of my personality that appeared to intrigue Marcus.

“That’s because she’s pr—” Kat slapped her hands over her mouth. When I glanced down at her with what could only be called “a look,” I found laughter and apologies dancing in her eyes.

“Dr. Ramirez,” I said through a slightly forced smile. I placed my hand on Kat’s shoulder—she was seated with Dominic at the good-sized square table we’d claimed a couple minutes earlier, my chair beside hers and the extra for Dr. Ramirez opposite her currently empty. “This is my youngest sister, Kat.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kat,” Dr. Ramirez said, offering her his hand. She looked a little stumped, but just for a moment, before reaching out to shake hands. “For whatever reason,” he said when they’d finished, “I was under the impression that you only had the one sister.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Hmm . . . Jenny, if I’m correct?”

“I did only have the one sister,” I said, motioning to his free chair before pulling out my own to sit. “Or, at least, I thought I did.” I glanced at Kat, meeting her eyes and smiling fondly. “Kat’s my half-sister, and we just found out about each other a few months back.” I let out a breathy laugh. “It’s a long story,” I said, shaking my head. And complicated. And absolutely, completely unbelievable.

“It would seem that you’re full of long stories today.” Before he sat, Dr. Ramirez pulled a slender, polished wooden box out of his leather briefcase and set it on the table.

The feeling of waiting—what I was now starting to recognize as a strange mixture of dread and expectation—quadrupled with that single action. It was like a timer was ticking, counting down to something, only I didn’t know how long it would tick for or what would happen when it stopped. It just kept on ticking and ticking and ticking, silent and unsettling.

Dr. Ramirez rested his bag on the floor and eased himself down into his chair. My eyes were glued to the slim wooden box, but he didn’t notice, as he was too focused on something else. I forced my gaze to break away from the box to see what had captured his attention.

It was Nik. Of course.

Walking around with Nik was the opposite of camouflage, but in some ways, that was better than trying to hide. He was one of those people who was always gawked at, but those same gawkers usually went out of their way to ignore him. The same thing that made him stand out often rendered him all but invisible. He was the guy with the piercings and tattoos. That was all most people saw.

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