Page 122 of From Drummer to Gamer

“Oh.” Her dejected voice came through.

My rigid hand closed around the phone in a tight grip. “Katy.”

“Hey, Matty.” I didn’t know if I was imagining, but her voice softened a tad bit.

“Where are you?”

“I’m out of town, my friend, Gale, you know her, right, the girl who started that tea business not too long ago,” she rambled. “Well, she was going to Vegas and invited me. I thought what other chance I could get, but don’t worry, I arranged everything for you guys tonight.”

My heart only grew heavier with each word. She was lying. My sister, my fucking twin was blatantly lying to me and it hurt.

“Hmm, have fun,” I replied.

“Thanks. But I gotta go now. We’re hitting the casino and the clubs later. It’s going to be so much fun,” she said in an overly excited voice that sounded so unnatural and fake. “Bye.”

“Bye,” I muttered, and the call cut off with a beep. The heaviness of it clung in the air like a blood-soaked weapon.

My jaw clenched as I stared at the floor. “She’s lying to me.”

“Yeah, I think that’s obvious. But don’t worry, I checked her GPS, she’s still in LA. At the Mandarin Orient, to be exact.”

That only made the sting worsen. What was so fucking pressing that she had to lie like that, unless…

My eyes snapped to him, and I fixed him with a glare. “Did you fucking do something? Did you do something to hurt her?”

Tension coiled the air like a tight noose.

“I would never,” he steeled, his eyes glinting with fury.

I scrubbed a hand over my face. Fuck, what was I asking? I knew he would never do anything to hurt her. He would kill himself before that.

So there was only one other possibility, and it was a question I’d been hesitant to ask. But with the way my sister just lied to me, I wasn’t sure I knew her that well after all. “Is it her then?” I asked through the thick of my throat. “Did…did Katy do something?”

He didn’t say a word as he regarded me with a blank expression.

It was neither a yes nor a no, and from the look on his face, I knew he wasn’t going to say anything. Lan was like that. He could quickly turn off his emotions without a second thought.

And I knew I would get nowhere trying to pick apart the issues between them. With whatever ounce of trust I had left for my sister, I hoped she would do the right thing and tell me whenever she was ready, and I would support her no matter what.

But until then, I decided it wasn’t my battle to fight.

“Just…I know she appears strong, but she is very fragile. One thing I know, she loves you too much to fuck this up. Just…just be gentle with her.”

“I know.” The hardness in his gaze softened like it did whenever he was with her.

At the end of the day, those two loved each other, and I trusted them to make it through whatever storm they were tangled in. It was their relationship after all.

“Let me go get my girl. I’ll see you tonight,” I mumbled as I rose.

He smirked. “You’re girl, huh?”

“Yes, my girl,” I said softly.

“You’re fucking smiling,” he said in disbelief. “Never thought I’d see the day you would smile for a girl.”

I shook my head, walking away.

“Wait, does Mikey know this? He’s going to have a field day with this little information.”