“That might be a good idea until we handle this threat. We should leave no stone unturned.”
I’ve been mostly radio silent around the apartment and pretending that Knox doesn’t exist. Today is the first day that we’ve returned to some normalcy.
“Speaking of background checks, you never told me how you discovered that Ben’s name used to be Jake? As a matter of fact, how did you know I worked with someone named Ben? Did my dad already do a background check on my coworkers and didn’t tell me?”
“Uncle Cam and Aunt Jade are giving you a wide berth to live your life the way you want; it’s my dad who had me do background checks on everyone you work with.”
“Oh. My. God.”
“Relax, everyone checked out except the new guy, Ben aka Jake. The university did not hire him through normal procedures, so it threw up an immediate red flag.”
“Normal procedures?”
“He wasn’t interviewed by anyone in human resources and magically became a standardized patient overnight. That doesn’t sound right.”
I admit it sounds fishy. I had to apply and interview twice before I was given a probationary period on the job. Ben (I mean Jake) never mentioned his process of getting hired at all. Even so, if he was up to something, wouldn’t I have sensed it?
“If he’s been in jail, then perhaps that explains it. Maybe someone did him a favor and got him the job so he could have a decent second chance. Uncle Stone and Ariana have done work to help ex-convicts. There are probably dozens of those sorts of programs.”
Knox pulls two small white dinner plates out of my cabinet and serves up some sort of scrambled egg, pepper, and cheese dish with sliced Polish Kielbasa and sourdough toast on the side. It looks and smells incredible.
“Or maybe someone with some pull planted him in that program to get closer to you,” he says. “I bought some orange juice, you want some?”
“Just water for me.”
I scoop a forkful of my food into my mouth and my eyes almost roll into the back of my head. It’s that damn good. I wonder when Knox learned to cook like this. He’s going to make some woman very happy one day… or he’s going to drive her completely crazy.
“Your theory works well for a James Bond movie plot, but in real life, what would someone like Ben gain from purposefully befriending from me?”
Knox mutters something sarcastic under his breath as he shoves a piece of toast in his mouth.
“Speak up,” I challenge him to repeat himself. “Say what you said again.”
“I said you’ve never known your own worth, Gigi. That’s always been your problem.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“When we were kids, if the girls didn’t pick you for teams first or tell you a secret before they told another girl, you thought no one liked you.”
“That’s normal kid stuff.”
“In high school, you were always trying to flirt with guys who had the worst reputations. Guys that clearly didn’t know you or give a shit about you.”
“They were the only boys who weren’t afraid of you, so I had to make the best of it.”
“And now, you can’t even fathom why someone would bother insinuating themselves into your life? Think about it. Why the fuck wouldn’t they? You are the daughter of a man who owns a lot of property and a lot of people in this town. Whether you like it or not, accept it or don’t, by birthright, you are a powerful woman. You are worth much more than you can imagine.”
Knox and I lock eyes and for a moment I see something different in those bottomless pits of his. Is it actual sincerity? I can’t be sure. We’ve been at odds with each other for so long that I’m not sure I would even recognize it.
I drop my gaze onto my plate and change the subject.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?”
“You like it?”
“I don’t usually eat breakfasts like this, so yes.”
“You were raised on smoothies and chia seeds right?”
