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"Phillip Kincaid ishiiants in between hi "

"Please, Gin," she said, a pleading note creeping into her voice "I care about Philly too He's my friend "

I thought he was a littleat him earlier on the Delta Queen, but I didn'tabout Eva's crush on Kincaid No ht of the casino boss, he had tried to protect her tonight, by hiring me to cater the fund-raiser In his oay, Kincaid cared about Eva just aspoint in his favor

"We don't have a deal if Philly isn't a part of it," she said

Despite the situation, I smiled When she put her otiator as her big brother was

"I'll do what I can for Kincaid, providing he decides to play nice with reed?"

"Agreed," Eva said, somewhat mollified "Thank you, Gin "

"Now go back to bed," I said, sidestepping her thanks "Try to get some sleep "

Eva nodded, slipped out of h the walls, I heard the floor creak and the bed frame squeak as she walked down the hall and crawled back under the covers in the bed in the guest room

I let out a breath and lay down As much as I would have liked to, I couldn't fall asleep Too s for , wondering just howto cost me in the end

Chapter 17

Breakfast the nextwas a tense, quiet affair

I made chocolate chip pancakes, ss, whole wheat toast with horapefruit punch for Eva and Owen We gathered around the wooden table in the nook that branched off the kitchen

The three of us ate in silence, except for the rattle of our dishes and polite mutters to ask sonored Owen's atte to sink any deeper into the sibling quicksand I was already up to my neck in it

We finished breakfast and split up Owen had to get to his office, Eva had to get to class, and I had to get to the Pork Pit