Surviving Love (LarssonSiblingSeries#6)

CHAPTER NINE

LAINE

I give Theo two apartment options: a cute two -bedroomed place looking over the Regent Lakes, and the funky townhouse near Dexter's house. We're weighing up the pros and cons of both, with him grunting at the price, and me worrying that he'll think I'm acting like a Rich Kid.

"I can't do over a grand a month," he signs, pushing the laptop away from him.

I grab the laptop closer to look for something else. "There's other places."

We're huddled in the almost finished playroom with the strong scent of paint gripping to every piece of me. It really shows his talents, as he's completely converted the place. It's truly magical, and the twins approve as they keep coming into the room to set out their toys in the girly section, Elisa reprimanding Nina when she seems drawn to the smelly boy bit.

Dad's in here too, trying to set up the dolls house. "Oh, I forgot to say. The prices are way off on there. It's usually more than half of advertised price."

Since, when?

Every part of my fathers businesses are run to a military standard.

Theo frowns at my dad. "Izit?"

I get a warning look from dad when I go to ask some questions. "Our people in charge of internet sales are lapse sometimes," he replies, going back to putting the tiny bits of furniture back in their places.

Elisa isn't going to be happy with grandad— organising is her job.

"How much are we talking?" Theo signs.

"Four hundred?" Dad says, not seeming happy with where he put the fridge in the kitchen.

"I pay just under that now, and there's two of us. Why is it so cheap? A bad neighbourhood?" Theo replies.

Dad drops all items in his hands when he hears tiny patters of feet. "Oh, no, client safety is paramount to me. I always do a crime rate check. You don't need to worry about that. We just price competitively."

Elisa sprints in here to place her hands straight on her hips. "Gwandad, you neber listen to me!"

Dad holds his hands out to her. "I do. I was just helping you."

She spins around to look at me. "Auntie, tell me twuth."

It's hard to lie to those beautiful eyes that are going to cause so much trouble for her father when she gets older. One sky blue, and one chocolate brown. Stunning.

"Grandad is lying, baby."

"Laine!"

I giggle when Elisa runs for dad to jump into his lap. "Oh, I'm only playing."

Dad shakes his head to try to stop her little fingers from tickling under his chin. It looks like she's scratching more than anything. "Can you show me how to dress your house then? Incase I do it wrong?"

"Wes," she replies on a lisp, climbing off his lap to plonk herself on the floor next to him. "I want it to wook wike my woom."

There's a sudden energy at the door in the form of Nina. She surveys the room with an uneasy frown until her eyes land on Theo who spotted her before she did him. Going shy, she tilts her head to the side before watching him sign something.

I can't help but watch him. "Hey, little one."

She does a semi-run towards us before stopping halfway. "Hi."

Theo points to the doll house. "Do you want to help?"

Her wide eyes lower a fraction. "No." She's pointing to the Avengers toy box.