Chapter 2
Judge
A flash of pale blond caught me off guard when I entered the kitchen, my entire body instantly reacting in a way it hadn’t in three fucking years. My heart gave a painful thump the moment I saw her standing there, savoring a cup of coffee.
She was too damn beautiful for her own good. Too young. Too sweet. Too perfect.
Ellianna Chambers grew up right beside my sister, just a few months older than Lyla. I’d watched over her from the time she was born, making sure my bastard of a father didn’t turn his temper on her. I’d seen her go from an adorable, chunky baby to a graceful little girl, and then an awkward yet pretty teenager. Sometime around the time she and my sister were able to start driving, things began to change for me, though.
I felt like a sick perv with how potent my response was to her. I sentenced men to the max time in prison for acting on those same thoughts I had in my head. I couldn’t control it, and I was a man who thrived on total control in every aspect of my life.
The only solution I could come up with was to get temptation as far away from my depraved thoughts as possible. She was so damn smart and had her choice of colleges. I’d known she was considering an East Coast school to be closer to her mom, but I made a few calls, ensuring that those universities didn’t accept her.
Her disappointment had been nearly too much to withstand. To make up for it, I’d contacted her West Coast school of choice and made sure that her costs were covered under the guise of extra scholarships. When she’d decided she didn’t want to live on campus her second year, I’d made sure the apartment she had chosen was safe and then paid her portion of the rent under the same pretense of the cost being covered by a scholarship.
Once she’d left, I’d made the mistake once and only once of being home when she returned for a visit. Since then, I’d ensured I was away whenever she did make the rare trip.
No one had informed me that she would be home now, however, or I would have found somewhere else to sleep for a few days until she returned to California.
“Good morning,” Mabel greeted from the stove. One of the first things I’d done when my father died was have the entire kitchen redone, giving her free rein. That stove alone had been over twenty grand and required a specialist to travel down from Maryland to repair it whenever something went wrong. Not that she knew that. I hadn’t let her look at prices, because I knew if she did, she wouldn’t choose the appliances she truly wanted.
She’d turned the kitchen into a chef’s dream, and my mother had arranged for some magazine to come in and do a photoshoot of the room afterward, pretending she’d waved her creative wand and redesigned the entire space.
“Good morning,” I clipped out, keeping my eyes on Mabel’s daughter, who was still standing beside her, sipping her coffee like she didn’t have a care in the world.
While I struggled to simply keep my breathing under control and my hands to myself.
Fuck.
My housekeeper lifted her brows at me. “You must have an unpleasant case this week.”
“I spoke to Lyla last night,” I announced, forcing myself to walk to the table and pull out my usual chair. “She’s coming home for the fall semester.”
“That’s wonderful news!” Mabel gushed, plating two omelets.
I nodded, trying to turn my mind toward my sister coming home rather than the little beauty whose presence was filling my entire kitchen. Maybe I’d call Howler and fuck with his head by letting him know Lyla was going to be home for at least an entire semester so I wasn’t the only sick bastard who couldn’t focus today. My goddaughter would enjoy having her favorite person home for more than a few days, and I was already trying to figure out a way to keep my sister home for good.
The toaster popped up, and I caught the scent of burned bread. Ellianna put her mug down and began buttering the charred slices.
“Elli,” Mabel admonished softly.
“Sorry. I guess I forgot how finicky this toaster is,” she said with a shrug as she tossed two pieces of toast onto a plate.
“Weird that it only gets finicky when you’re here,” I groused, not fooled for a moment that she hadn’t done it on purpose. She enjoyed making my life hell way too much.
She flinched at my tone but gave her mother a tight smile. “We shouldn’t let it go to waste.”
Mabel sighed but carried my breakfast over to me. “What would you like for dinner tonight, Judge?”
I grimaced down at the overly dark bread. Ellianna didn’t know, and I sure as fuck wouldn’t tell her, but I had a deep aversion to burned toast for a reason. My old man had once thrown a toaster at Lyla when she’d tried to make herself breakfast. “Don’t worry about me. I won’t be home tonight.”
“Are you working late? I’ll send you something for dinner so you don’t have to worry about food.”
“No.” Cutting into the omelet, I took a large bite, putting an end to the conversation.
Placing the second plate across from me, she stepped back. “Elli, what would you prefer for dinner?”
“I’ll cook,” she offered. “I’m here to help, not have you wait around on me, Mom.”
“You’re filling in for Patricia, and I only expect you to work from eight until five, honey. Besides, I want to cook for you. I miss making your favorite foods.”
I nearly groaned as I listened to mother and daughter. I’d known one of the housekeepers was going on vacation and had told Mabel to hire a temp service to help out until Patricia returned. But she didn’t like strangers in the house any more than I did. She’d assured me she would figure it out, and I’d trusted her not to overwork herself in the process.
Her hiring Ellianna to fill the gap hadn’t been a possibility that even entered my head. Ellianna was too delicate to do housekeeping. I didn’t like the thought of her dusting, let alone scrubbing floors and bathtubs.
“Doesn’t the summer semester start soon?” I gritted out. She typically took extra classes so she could graduate faster. I wasn’t sure I liked her overworking herself so much, but it kept her away from home, so I didn’t let myself think about it too hard.
Ellianna picked up a slice of toast and crunched into it, taking her time before answering. My stomach tried to revolt, but I pushed it down, locking away the bad memories so I could make it through another day. “I’m sitting out this summer. Mom needs help, and I need the extra cash.”
My eyes narrowed on her. “Don’t your scholarships pay for all your needs?”
She shrugged. “Rent, my courses, labs, and books. But I still have to eat and pay other bills.”
“What other bills?” I demanded, wondering what kind of trouble she’d gotten into that she had other “bills.” “And I thought one of the scholarships gave you a food allowance.”
Her eyes turned to slits on me. “Why would you think that?”
I took another bite of my omelet, ignoring the toast on my plate. “Mabel must have mentioned it.”
“Well, I don’t know why she would tell you that, because it’s none of your business. But she was wrong. I don’t get any extra money from the scholarships. My rent is paid every year, but that cost doesn’t cover utilities. My roommate and I split the other costs, but she doesn’t seem to understand we live in a state that is in a constant drought.” She made a disgusted face. “Julie thinks that the air conditioning should be set to arctic temperatures in the summer and sauna in the winter. We have the same argument every month over how the bills should be split.”