“You are a gold-digging fool! I knew I should’ve never trusted you. I raised you! You know what? Go to hell, Stella, just like your mother.”
I knew that last dig was due to her being upset, but it still stung.
After I climbed out of the car and closed the door, Catherine peeled her tires in her ruse to leave.
I stood outside, taking a few deep breaths, shaking off the words that the upset woman delivered about my character and about my mother. I wouldn’t take that energy into my home.
Nothing she said held any truth.
I knew myself.
I wasn’t a gold digger.
I wasn’t a monster.
And my mother wasn’t in hell.
If anything, Heaven had a special section carved out for Mama and her heartbeats. I hoped so deeply that Kevin was right beside her, too.
When I crawled back into bed next to a snoring Jeff, my phone dinged.
Damian: Meet tomorrow at Roe Real Estate office. My lawyer will be present to go over the final details.
It appeared that Catherine wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been sleeping lately.
6
Damian
* * *
My driver pulled up to Kevin’s home on Thursday afternoon. I spoke with Stella, who told me she was moving her things in on Wednesday. Since I didn’t want to cross paths with her move, I waited a day to get my things inside the home. More than a home, it was a mansion. The kinds of homes I sold on the daily to wealthy people who made absurd amounts of money. The kinds of homes I’d mocked my whole life, saying no one needed that much space to live in.
Over twenty thousand square feet of land, right on the coast with a beautiful white sandy beach. There was a massive outdoor swimming pool, a basketball court, a tennis court, and even a sauna house. Also, there was a guesthouse where Kevin’s former housekeeper, Maple Woods, lived in.
If sixteen-year-old Damian would’ve pulled up to the house, he would’ve believed he was in an alternate universe. Grown-up Damian still felt the same way.
It slightly pissed me off, seeing how much some people had when so many others suffered. Life was such bullshit sometimes, and it wasn’t fair how it all worked out. I didn’t deserve to live in a place like that house, and I damn sure knew it was fucked up that a man I never knew was forcing it to be my temporary home.
I wasn’t a stranger to temporary homes. Truthfully, they were all I’d ever known.
Before I entered the house, I shot Stella a message that I’d arrived. I felt it was only right to give her a heads-up that I was in the house. I’d be creeped out knowing a stranger was just walking around the place I was supposed to live.
She texted back right away. With emojis. Almost every single message she sent me had an emoji attached to it. That pretty much summed up the type of person she was. You could tell a lot about a person based on their usage of emojis. For Stella, it seemed as if she was trying too hard with the number of smiley faces she sent after every sentence. I was more of a solid period kind of texter. I used short words and got straight to the point, unlike Stella, who wrote paragraph after paragraph as if she was crafting the next great American novel.
I told her I was heading over. She told me okay, along with what she was unpacking, what she was ordering for dinner—asking if I wanted anything—and then she told me how many rings were around Saturn. Okay, maybe not the latter, but it seemed like it.
I began unloading some boxes from the car. The rest of my crap would be coming in after the wedding, so I only had a few things to take in.
My driver helped with the boxes, then headed out for the night.
I knew Stella was somewhere in the house because her car was parked outside, but it took hours for us to even cross paths. When we did, it was as I sat at the dining room table eating my dinner. Stella’s meal arrived at the front door, and she went to retrieve it. When she came back toward the kitchen, there was no way for her not to cross my path.
She looked at me and paused, seemingly shocked as she took a step back.
This was it. The perfect opportunity to invite her to join me for a meal, so I would seem less like a dick and she’d be more likely to finish the six months of the deal.
Go ahead, Damian. Offer her an invite.
“You just gonna gawk or sit?” I spat out.
She frowned. “Not with that attitude.”
“Then stop staring, Cinderstella.”
“No problem, Beast.” She walked away in a hurry, leaving me sitting in the darkened room.
I couldn’t blame her. That wasn’t the warmest invitation I’d ever extended. Then again, I wasn’t one to invite people to eat with me. Over the years, I’d learned to enjoy my solitude. For so many years of my life, people sent me away. Now, I never let people close enough to have that opportunity. Besides, I liked being alone. Loneliness was safe. People couldn’t hurt you when you were by yourself.
Stella plated her meal in the kitchen and came back into the dining room.
Please keep walking.
She didn’t, of course because Stella liked to talk.
“I think we need ground rules,” she stated, picking at her food with her fingers.
“I thought our rules were to avoid one another?”
“Yes, but we can’t do that all the time.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s silly.” Solid reason, Stella. “Plus, roommates have rules. Like grocery shopping. Do we do that together?”
“Absolutely not.”
“And laundry?”
“I do my own.”
“What about guests? If you are going to entertain women, or men, or well, I mean anyone in a romantic way, you can let me know, and I’ll stay in my room the whole time.”
“And same with you.”
“I won’t be having Jeff over, actually. I think it might be too odd.”
I nodded because I didn’t care.
She raised an eyebrow. “Is there…?”
“Is there what?”
“Someone in your life?”
“You’re asking if I’m single?”
“Yes. Not that it matters, but, well, if your person—”
“I don’t do relationships.”
“Says the man about to marry a stranger.”
“It’s a marriage, not a relationship. Two equally different things.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “But don’t you kind of wonder why Kevin chose to put us together? I mean, I know there’s a reason, but I’m unable to connect the dots.”
“I have no desire to know his reasoning. I’m only in this to get the money. After the six months, I’ll be on my way.”
She lightly snickered as if I said something amusing. “Come on. You have to be somewhat curious about why he did this.”
“Not in the least.”
“But—”
“Why do you keep talking to me?” I snapped. “It’s clear as day that I don’t want to engage in conversation.”
“You’re so rude.”
“And a jerk and an asshole, yes. How many times are you going to echo your thoughts on me before you take a hint and let me be?” Her mouth parted, and I tilted my head, cutting her off before she could reply. “Good night.”