“You wouldn't ever get your money back from Del,” she countered. She knew Ari had paid up, so that threat wouldn't work anymore. His eyes narrowed.
“The deal was I pay for you, you have to work for me,” he reminded her.
“Exactly – work for you. Not be sexually harrassed and annoyed and practically stalked. That voids our 'contract',” she informed him.
“Jesus, you're stubborn,” he cursed, raking his fingers through his hair. “Are you gonna let your pride stand in your way now, of all times? You needed help with your case, I put the fear of god in IDHS. Are you really gonna throw all money and help away, just because you 'don't wanna listen'? Just because you're mad at something you think I might have said?”
God, she hated him in that moment. She wanted to say “yes”, to everything. Fuck him and fuck his deal. She didn't care about anyone or anything, so long as it meant teaching Ari who was really in control, once and for all.
Hate him because he's right.
As she glared up at him, her grandmother's face floated across her mind, and even her roommate's, Bailey. She'd hardly been home at all to spend time with the girl, so she'd become even more of a hermit. With Ari helping to solve some of her problems, Valentine would have a little more time for the people in her life. And of course most important of all, Gam-Gam – she absolutely couldn't turn down any kind of help that involved her grandmother.
I'm so angry at him, and the world, and life itself, that I'm willing to spite the nose off my face. When did I become this person?
Valentine hung her head for a moment, feeling defeated. She was suddenly tired. Exhausted. Of pushing and fighting and just trying to survive. She didn't want to be this bitter person, but she didn't want him to be the reason she got better.
Any port in a storm, Valentine. Suck it up and accept the help you desperately need and get over your anger.
“You're right,” she breathed, finally looking back up at him. He looked stunned at her response.
“I'm sorry, what?”
“You're right,” she repeated herself. “I'm ... angry at you, and ashamed of myself, and because of all that, I ... I'm just angry.”
There was a long pause, and he had a strange look in his eyes. She couldn't quite place it. Confusion? Or possibly ... hurt? Could Ari Sharapov get hurt? Three weeks ago, she wouldn't have thought so. He finally let out a long sigh.
“I'm sorry I made you angry,” he said simply. She gave him a weak smile.
“Thanks.”
“And I shouldn't have called you a whore, even if I didn't mean it,” he continued. She held up her hand to stop him, but he kept going. “I know you don't understand the relationship I have with my father, but it is what it is; I'm working on changing it, but it takes time. I should've ... stood up for you. And I didn't. And I will regret it for a long time.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. Her brain warned her not to believe him – he was literally a professional liar. But her heart was already turning over, and that scared her more than anything else that had happened. She quickly tried to think of something to turn the situation around. “Do you think this is what Del meant when he said we needed closure?”
That startled a laugh out of him, and he chuckled as he shook his head.
“I don't want to give Del that much credit. Are we good now?”
“I accept your apology, if that's what you mean.”
“And you believe everything I said?”
“I think I do.”
“Good. Can we start having sex again?”
Her jaw dropped, but then she saw the smirk at the corner of his lips, and she started laughing.
“No,” she shook her head, as well. “You can't afford me now.”
“We'll see about that.”
“So what are we doing here, Sharapov?” she asked, holding out her arms.
“I told you, I bought this apartment so -”
“No sex.”
“You're so boring now,” he sighed. “I bought this apartment as an investment – I have plans to eventually buy the whole building.”
“God, it must be amazing to live your life. Twenty-five thousand here, a whole building there.”
“It would be a lot better if the women in my life were more compliant.”
“Women?” she questioned the plurality of the word.
“Jealous?” he teased, but then his smile quickly fell away. “I read your grandmother's medical records, had a doctor friend explain some things to me. Valentine ... I know it's none of my business, and I didn't know her well. Have the doctors spoken to you about releasing her to your care?”
Three weeks of anger and resentment had trained her to snap at anything he had to say, so she just barely stopped herself from telling him to mind his own business.
He wants to help. In his bossy, nosy, controlling way, that's what he's doing. And you need help. Let go of control a little, and let him take it a little.
“Not indepth,” she was honest. “Doctors in real life aren't exactly like they are on TV, she's got several, it feels like I rarely see the same people twice. They tell me what conditions she has, which new ones pop up, what treatments she's receiving, but that's about it. I know I'll need to have round-the-clock care for her while I'm working, things like that.”
Ari nodded and rubbed a hand against the side of his jaw. She realized he must not have shaved that morning, he had the beginnings of a five o'clock shadow. It looked good on him.
“I also looked into the care facility she's in,” he went on. “It's highly rated by the state, she's receiving excellent care there, the best a state-run facility can provide. The notes I saw from her nurses, it seems like she's also well liked there.”
“Are you saying I should just ditch my grandmother in some home?” Valentine asked. They may have made peace somewhat, but this was going a little too far.
“No, that's not what I said at all. Obviously you'd be involved in her care and all her medical treatments, and you could still see her whenever you wanted. But Valentine ... you need to consider the fact that maybe Gam-Gam is home now.”
“No,” she shook her head. “No. I won't be that person who just abandons her because she takes a little work.”
“You're not abandoning her,” Ari rolled his eyes. “She needs dialysis, Val. She needs twenty different kinds of medication. She needs to be in a memory care unit because if she walks out a door, she won't remember where it is or how to get back to it. You've taken amazing care of her, everyone knows this – everyone. But there's only so much you can do.”
“Why are you saying all this?” she demanded, suddenly wondering what was motivating this little speech.
“Because you live in that house where all three bedrooms are on the second floor, which she can no longer climb,” Ari pointed out. “But if it's just you and Bailey, you only need a two bedroom.”
Much like the apartment I'm standing in right now.
“So all I have to do is forget I have a sick grandmother, and I get a free apartment?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.