𝓥𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓽

Clara wasn't at Mini's, but she did offer an explanation to who she was seeing. Maverick, a police officer.

This fact alone kept me from wanting to call the police, but Dominic did anyway.

To my relief, Maverick was the one who called him back. Clara was there with him. He, in fact, was driving her back home now.

Where was her car?

Questions filled my mind as I hovered near Dominic's shoulder, anxiously listening to their conversation.

A hand slide around my waist, pulling me into his lap.

He hung up.

"She's on her way," he replied enotionlessly, tossing his phone onto the couch cushion.

"She's okay?" I asked, worry still thick in my voice.

He nodded, resting a hand on my hip. This act made me more aware of where his hands were. One on my hip, the other snaked around into the curve of my waist.

I nodded, letting out a breath of relief. Why hadn't she answered her phone? Why hadn't she come back yesterday night? Where was her car?

These questions tossed around in my brain as I watched the door. Waiting for the turn of the knob, listening for the sound of a car in the driveway.

"Violet," he took my jaw in his hand, bringing myself to look at him. "She'll be here," he said simply.

I nodded. I just wanted to know, to see she was okay. "I know," I replied quietly and looked down.

His hand slowly fell from my face and back to the station on my hip. "I don't understand."

I looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"This... thing you two have. You're inseparable. If Katie was missing like that, after just one night, I wouldn't care. She's an adult, and if she is making money by selling nudes online, then... Go ahead."

My eyes widened. Had he no care for his sister? "I don't understand how you can say something like that."

"Look, Katie and I haven't exactly been sunshine and rainbows, but we've learned to live our own lives. She doesn't need me to look after her, and I don't need her to look after me."

Dominic's voice was firm, his gaze steady. "Maybe it's hard for you to understand because you and Clara are so close. But that's just how it is for me and Katie."

I looked at him, searching his eyes for some sort of care or reservation, but found none. "She's still family," I replied quietly.

He opened his mouth to argue, but just then, a car pulled into the driveway.