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I chuckled, side-glancing at Penelope to see if she laughed or even smiled. She didn’t do either.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean?—”
“Nothing you said was wrong, Brand. Maybe if I’d switched majors, I wouldn’t have fallen for the forgeries.”
“But then you wouldn’t have had the knowledge to start the gallery in the first place,” said Tara, joining us.
“We should probably talk about the financial ramifications of the hit we’re—I’m—going to face.”
My sister shook her head. “You were right the first time. If the gallery continued to be wildly profitable like it has been since we opened, all the partners would reap those rewards. Losses and setbacks work the same way.”
Penelope murmured her agreement, but neither Tara nor I believed she meant it.
“The five of us are only here for a couple of hours. Let’s not ruin it by talking about the forgeries. There are so many unanswered questions at this point,” said Tara.
“I need to inform the others, at the very least.
“I already did.”
Penelope’s fists clenched. “You did what?”
Her tone was my cue to step away, but when I attempted to excuse myself, Tara grabbed one of my arms and Penelope grabbed the other. Neither made eye contact with me since they were shooting death glares at each other. I looked over their heads and saw the other three partners in the gallery watching from a safe distance. Smart women.
Tara continued. “You would’ve led with how this is all your fault and, thus, your responsibility. I presented the facts. Plain and simple.”
“I asked you to wait because the FBI asked me to wait. Who else did you tell?”
“No one, and I don’t appreciate your insinuation.”
“Too damn bad. You could’ve gotten me in a lot of trouble.”
When my sister rolled her eyes, the last place I wanted to be was between her and Penelope.
“The real reason you asked me not to say anything to the rest of the tribe was so you could figure out a way to cover the cost of the reparations on your own. Admit it.”
Tara was right, not that I’d chime in.
“Brand? A minute?” Doc called from where he stood with Merrigan near the entryway to their house. This time, both women looked at me rather than each other.
“This, uh, may be important,” I muttered, excusing myself.
“While it appeared you needed to be rescued, there are a few things we’d like to discuss with you,” said Merrigan, ushering me inside.
I glanced over my shoulder to where Penelope and Tara still appeared to be in a standoff.
“Keep in mind they’ve been friends since they were kids. They’ve worked through things tougher than this,” said Doc, squeezing my shoulder.
My worry, while I’d listened to their heated discussion, was that either of them would expect me to choose sides. I was probably giving myself too much credit to think they would, and appreciated Doc and his wife giving me an excuse to bow out.
“Earlier, Kade asked if you thought Penelope was agreeable to your plan to go undercover as an engaged couple,” said Merrigan.
I waited for her to continue.
“After overhearing what little we did of the exchange between her and Tara, along with what Quinn has said, we have some worry that Pen may…”
“Take matters into her own hands?” I said when she hesitated.
“Precisely.” Merrigan turned to Doc.