House Rules by Rebecca Brooke

on the way down just enough to pull my attention away from the last twenty minutes. My muscles loosened. I flattened my palms against the desk and pulled in a few deep breaths. I knew I needed to go out there and apologize. The more I calmed down, I realized that the only thing I’d accomplished was pissing off everyone in the room. Ashton was probably out there ready and waiting to beat my ass.
    Time was up. I ran a hand through my hair and walked down the hall to the dining room. It was hard to miss everyone’s eyes on me. Dad’s were expectant, mixed with a bit of lingering irritation, where Ashton’s were angry and annoyed. Elena looked cautious, like she was afraid to say anything else to upset me.
    Mom, on the other hand, had her arms crossed over her chest, waiting to see what came out of my mouth next. Elena was probably the only one at the table who wouldn’t beat my ass in some way, shape, or form if I didn’t get my foot out of my mouth and apologize.
    I made sure to keep my focus on Mom and Elena. “I’m sorry for yelling. It’s been a long day and you didn’t deserve it. I know you’re only trying to help. And you’re right—someday the woman of my dreams might walk through the door, but until that happens, I’m happy with the way things are. I’m not looking for any kind of relationship.”
    Glancing over at my father, I waited to make sure he was satisfied before I took my seat again. When he nodded, I knew I was in the clear. At least with him. Everyone else was a different story. A peek at Ashton and I noticed the tension in his shoulders had relaxed and he’d returned to his meal.
    “Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry you had a bad day.” Mom looked over at Elena. “We weren’t trying to rush you. We just don’t want you to be alone. Right, Elena?”
    “Of course not.” Elena shook her head adamantly. “From now on we promise to ask instead of just assuming.”
    Elena smiled, full of hope that I wouldn’t still be mad. Trying to lighten the mood I bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Around my family, I was usually the joker. They didn’t need to know how stressful life had gotten. If Dad truly planned on turning his business over, things were only going to get worse. I would just have to learn how to deal with it.
    “Keep your lips to yourself,” Ashton warned.
    “But she’s so sexy.”
    Ashton’s lip curled at the same time Elena and Mom burst into laughter.
    Ashton’s head snapped around to look at her. “What’s so funny?”
    “He’s just trying to rile you up and I can’t believe after all these years you still fall for it.”
    His eyes went wide when Elena couldn’t stop the giggles and ended up with the hiccups instead. The rest of the table joined in and, just like that, the incident was forgotten and the rest of dinner flowed smoothly.
    It was the same as every dinner we had together as a family, at least before Elena and Mom began worrying about my shriveled heart. The whole atmosphere was more relaxed than it had been in a long time, and I found myself thinking that, for the first time in months, things were finally getting on track.
    Until the next day, at least. Taking over more of Dad’s responsibilities meant a mountain of bullshit to climb. Dad’s in-house accountant took care of any monetary business that came through our doors. He came at a price, but that price was well worth it when it meant keeping us from getting caught. That still left me to deal with our clients and the regular customers. No easy task, given our brand of clientele.
    The clock on the wall continued to taunt me, while the piles of paper on my desk never seemed to shrink. It was like they were fucking rabbits, constantly multiplying. Dad had to take off early and I needed to get out the door on time. One of my best clients had requested a private Black Jack game for himself and a group of friends. With the amount he paid me for the privilege of using the back room at Orbit, not to