“What? Are you being serious? Why have you changed your mind?”
“I just am, okay? Do your father a goddamn favor!”
Pain laced his words. Where was this coming from all of a sudden? Unfortunately, there wasn’t any time to find out. Rather than fight with him, leaving things on a bad note, I agreed.
“I will, I promise.”
“Thank you. I have to go.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, Temp.”
Not long after, we hung up. His request concerned me -- hell, it freaked me out. What would possibly make him want to say something like that?
I looked out over Dorian’s estate again, sunlight shining in on me. It might’ve been more than one hundred degrees beyond the window, but inside, my dad’s strange request left me ice cold.
A couple of hours passed.
I managed to put my dad’s strange behavior out of my mind. I had to. There wasn’t anything I could do about it at the time.
Instead, I decided to run to my old apartment and get my mom’s ring. It wouldn’t be long before I saw my dad again, and with Dorian out of town until that evening, it seemed like the perfect time.
There was only one problem – I had absolutely no way to get there. My car was still at my apartment. The only option I had was to see if one of the security guys could take me.
After walking downstairs, I’d just about reached the front door when a voice called out from behind me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ainsley yelled.
My hand had just reached the handle of the front door. I pinched my eyes tight.
Bitch.
“Hey!” she continued. The soles of her shoes clipped and clapped across the marble flooring. I even hated the way she walked. “I know you can hear me.”
Peeling my fingers away from the handle, I turned and looked at her. Ainsley strutted in my direction. I’d seen that smug look on her face before when she told me Dorian put her in charge of keeping me medicated.
“Dorian may be on his way to deliver the case, but that doesn’t mean you’re free to come and go as you please.”
I glared at her. “What are you talking about?”
She closed to within a few feet of me, stopping and flipping her hair away from her face. “You’re not getting out of anyone’s sight.”
I scoffed at her. “Whatever. If you want to keep track of me then you’re going to have to come with me to my apartment. One way or the other, I’m going.”
Seriously, the last thing I wanted to do was get into a big fight with her. I tried to diffuse the situation.
“Look, it makes you feel any better, I was planning on having a couple of the security guys go with me.”
Ainsley shrugged. “No, actually, that doesn’t do anything for my feelings. I’m still going.”
I groaned. “Okay, fine. I’m going. Do whatever you want.”
We arrived at the security gate to the estate not long afterward. With two of Dorian’s men in the front, Ainsley finally got her way.
I hadn’t been to my place since this whole mess started. It seemed strange going back there. It was almost like I hadn’t been there in months.
My apartment wasn’t in the greatest neighborhood, but it was cheap, clean, and all I could manage on my cocktail waitress salary and tips. The ride wasn’t a long one, and soon we rounded the final turn, entering the apartment complex.
“Looks affordable,” Ainsley sniped.
I just rolled my eyes at her. There were more important things for me to focus on than her endless stream of snark.
“Which way ma’am?” Robert, one of Dorian’s security men asked.
I leaned forward in the seat, straightening my arm and pointing ahead. “It’s the last building on the left, building G.”
Robert pulled the vehicle into a parking spot, and almost before he put it into park, I started to get out, leaving my cell phone and purse behind.
“Hey!” Ainsley called out. “Do you want your stuff?”
With my hand hooked over the top of the car door, I glanced down at her and shook my head. “No, this won’t take long. You can leave your stuff as well.”
Closing the car door, I started to walk towards the building, both of Dorian’s security men and Ainsley following behind. I hurried up the stairs, holding the keys in my hand before pinching the house key between my fingertips and sliding it into the lock.
Opening the door, I groaned to myself.
What a fucking mess.
Oh well, there wasn’t anything I could have done about it anyway. In passing, I offered a half-assed excuse for the state of my apartment.
“Sorry about the mess. I wasn’t expecting to leave town in a hurry.”
“In a hurry?” Ainsley replied. “Did someone chase you out of here?”
She was really trying to push my buttons. I wasn’t about to get into it. I ignored her.
“Why don’t you guys wait out here? I’ll be right back.”
The security guys looked at each other and nodded. I didn’t bother to wait for Ainsley to say anything. I walked down the hallway and turned the corner, entering my bedroom to grab my mother’s wedding ring.
I kept it hidden, in the same small jewelry box my dad gave to my mom. I really hated the situation. It would have been nice to have some privacy. Making my way over to my chest of drawers, I opened the top one and reached in the back to get it.
I wrapped my fingers around the box and pulled it out, closing the drawer and turning to make my way out to the living room, when Ainsley walked through the bedroom door.
“What are you doing in here? I told you to wait in the living room.”
Ainsley didn’t even bother to look at me. Instead her eyes meandered around my room, invading my privacy with an annoying disregard.
“I’m just keeping an eye on you.”
I managed to conceal the box in my palm, wrapping my fingers around it and keeping it out of sight. While I stood there looking at Ainsley, she wandered, messing with my stuff and generally being nosy. I grimaced at her.
“Come on,” I grumbled. “Let’s get going.”
I took a couple of steps towards the door and noticed Ainsley picking up a photo off my nightstand.
“Put that down, and quit touching my things.”
She continued to ignore me and violate my space.
“Is this your family?”
She turned to look at me. With a quick motion, I crossed my arms, tucking my closed hand underneath an armpit and concealing the box from her. I might’ve been in a hurry to get out of there, but she certainly wasn’t. I didn’t answer her, so she continued probing.
“When was this picture taken?” She glanced at me and then at the picture again. “You don’t look that much older. How long ago was this?”
“Gee, thanks,” I deadpanned. “If you must know, it was taken a few years ago. It’s the last good picture of my mom before…”
“She got cancer?” Ainsley said, finishing my thought.
Jesus. Seriously?
“Dorian really does tell you everything, doesn’t he?”
She didn’t say anything, just turned around and put the picture back where she found it. Once she finished, she looked at me, pointing in my direction.