I was on my laptop now, trying to find a new ballet school when there was a knock on my door. I doubted either of my ‘brothers’ would knock so politely, so I assumed it was either Mr. or Mrs. Ferguson. I hopped up from my bed and opened the door.
“Well, aren’t you adorable!” A skinny blond cooed as she nudged past me to walk into my room. “Your pictures don’t do you justice.”
“Um…” my eyes widened as she spun around and lifted my chin.
“And those big beautiful blue eyes! I bet you have a trail of men following you everywhere.”
“I’m sorry, but who are you?” I asked in confusion.
She gasped dramatically. “I’m Ella,” she told me as if that were supposed to mean something. “Didn’t your mother tell you I was coming this morning?”
I shook my head. So Nina had resigned herself to admitting I was her daughter and not her sister? Shocking. I bet Richard had something to do with that.
“My assistant will be up in a minute,” she assured me as if I should be concerned as to why she was alone. “She’s bringing up some fabulous pieces that I just know you’ll love.”
A lightbulb went off in my head. This must be the stylist that had filled my closet before I had even gotten here.
“Uh, thanks for getting all that stuff for me,” I said awkwardly. “Did my mom ask you to, or did Richard?”
I wanted to ask who was paying for it - but I couldn’t think of a way to phrase that without sounding rude. If Richard was paying, I felt a little guilty and didn’t want to take any of it. But if it were my mother, I felt the urge to run up the bill as high as possible. She missed sixteen years of child support payments. While I doubted she would have sent Ella here unless she could afford it, I still felt the urge to hurt Nina through the only thing she cared about - money.
Ella waved her hand at my thanks. “I’ve known your mother for years. We both started at IMG models before her career took off, and I decided I preferred to be behind the scenes in fashion.” She looked at me curiously. “You look older than fourteen.”
I rolled my eyes. Nina had obviously lied about my age so that she could lie about hers. I should do the same and tell Ella I was even older than my sixteen years just to get under Nina’s skin. Regardless of how old Nina said I was, she would still have to admit that she had me when she was scandalously young. She had been working as a model since she was sixteen, and the racy photos used in most of her print ads and magazine covers would show that she was definitely not pregnant during that time.
Ella’s assistant came into my room, wheeling a rack filled with clothing and boxes of shoes. I was shocked at the mountain of things she’d brought with her.
“Let’s start with her measurements, Stacy,” Ella demanded. Stacy dug through a giant bag to find a small tape measure and handed it over to Ella. “You can keep your panties and bralette on,” Ella told me. “But I need everything else off. I’ll have everything specifically tailored for you.”
“Oh,” I said as I blinked in surprise. “Everything in there has fit fine.”
Ella laughed. “Let your fairy godmother do her job, darling.”
I sighed. I had to strip down in a locker room full of girls on a daily basis. Plus, we were all measured for costumes together, so I was used to nudity in front of strangers. But this was just a whole new level of awkward to have a personal stylist come to my house and tailor my clothes.
Ella and Stacy both stared at me expectantly, so I shrugged and slipped out of my sweatpants and took off my shirt. I stood in front of Ella as she talked excitedly about some dress that would look ‘absolutely breathtaking’ against my skin. I highly doubted anyone would use those words to describe me. Not that it mattered, I usually didn’t care about making myself look attractive unless it was for an onstage performance.
Ella measured my hips and waist first, then asked me to hold my arms out to my sides so she could measure my almost non-existent bust.
Of course, it was at that very moment that Kingston swaggered into my room with Maverik close behind. I hadn’t seen them in days, and this was the moment they chose to appear out of nowhere? My initial urge was to hurriedly cover myself, but when I saw the smirks on their faces, I refused to give them the satisfaction of knowing they got to me. So instead, I relaxed into a casual stance and tried to look bored.
“What do you guys want?”
Maverik ran his eyes over my nearly naked body and circled around me. “Everything you have to offer.”
It was obvious that he was trying to intimidate me, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
“I’m not offering anything,” I said with a yawn. “Get out.”
“That’s not nice, Kitten,” Kingston said with a smirk. “We just want to spend some time with our new little sister.”
Ella looked uncomfortable, so I wondered if she’d had run-ins with them before. Stacy was frozen in place, her eyes darting back and forth between Maverik and Kingston.
“Not now,” I told him irritably. “I’m busy.”
I kept my eyes on Kingston, but I could feel my blood heat and my breath coming faster just from Maverik being in the same room with me. I refused to look in his direction even though I could feel the weight of his eyes on me.
“Can you guys wrap up the harassment?
