Edge of Obsession (SKALS #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

stubborn or ungrateful. It’s just that in my uncle’s house, it was always a fend for yourself type thing. No one else knew how to pick up after themselves or do anything.”
    “I get that, kiddo,” Josh soothed. “I grew up with the same sort of deal. What you need to realize though, is that’s not us. We look after our own.”
    “That we do,” Monique agreed. “Speaking of, I need to run in to town for a while after we finish cleaning up. Do you want to come with me, or do you want to hang out here with Sebastian and Tay?”
    “Is that a trick question?” Josh asked, snapping the end of the dishtowel at her butt.
    Monique yelped as the pirouetting end missed its intended target. A pout crossed her pixie-like features as she attempted to rub the sting out of her thigh.
    “That will teach you to try and avoid me,” he teased.
    “I wasn’t trying to avoid you, Josh! I didn’t even move. Jesus! I hope for my brother’s sake that you’re better with a gun than you are wielding a towel. That hurt!”
    “Love is a painful thing, gorgeous. You’d do well to remember that.”
    The declaration rang far more true than Taylor cared to admit. Hanging her head, she grappled with a painful onslaught of memories, both past and present. Her father leaving, her mother dropping her off on her uncle’s doorstep, the way she’d always felt like an outsider lo oking in until Sebastian pulled her into his arms and welcomed her into his family…and even that had not come without its fair share of heartache and struggle. Frowning, she cast those thoughts aside.
    “I would love to go if Josh doesn’t want to,” Taylor said, eager to change the subject.
    “Uh…” The blonde’s eyes darted to her brother, her expression no longer playful but pinched and pleading.
    “No .”
    Sebastian’s curt answer took Taylor by surprise. Even Josh glanced between the two of them, his playful demeanor fading beneath a frown. She bit her lip, struggling with a conflicting wave of hurt and anger. The hard glint in Sebastian’s eyes warned her not to question his decision. He’d already made his impatience quite clear, and she had no desire to go upstairs for an attitude adjustment.
    She swallowed against the lump in her throat. Monique had shown her true colors as well. Taylor sighed. Sebastian held his sister to very high standards. Maybe the woman was just worried her substandard behavior would rub off on her. It was a very justifiable concern, given the way the morning was going so far.
    “ Make out a list of the things you want. I am sure Monique would be more than happy to pick them up for you while she is out,” Sebastian suggested.
    “Absolutely.”
    His sister offered another one of her sunny, reassuring smiles. Lowering her head, Taylor picked the corner of her thumbnail beneath the table.
    “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary. I forgot about all those meals you stuck in the freezer. Those should be more than enough to get us through,” she said, looking for an easy way to salvage her dignity. “I could really use a hot shower though. Excuse me.”
    Silence followed on her heels. She was grateful when Sebastian made no move to stop her. Padding up the stairs, she struggled to keep her tangled emotions in check. Why had he bothered asking what she wanted to do if he was just going to shoot it down? Obviously going into town wasn’t an option either if he wanted her to give his sister a list. As much as she loved Sebastian, sometimes, the man was beyond frustrating.
    The th reat with Laychee was over. She’d spent weeks under a virtual lockdown before the attacks and weeks after recuperating behind the walls of SKALS’ headquarters. Too much more confinement and she stood the risk of going insane. Taylor grumbled to herself. Her proximity to Crazy Town was already questionable enough as it was.
    After turning the shower on full blast, she stripped out of her clothes. A wince escaped her as she stepped beneath the