“I’m not.” I laugh at his assumption and at hisI’m totally good with thistone of voice. “I mean, if I were, I’d say so. But, no, I’m definitely seeing a man.”
A man with enough dick and stamina in bed fortwomen, in fact, but I leave that part out.
“Okay.” He laughs nervously. “We just thought since you hadn’t wanted us to meet your roommate, maybe it was because—”
“No.” Olivia and I aresohaving a good laugh over this conversation later, but for now, I need to get into the office. “Hey, I need to go into my office now, but if you and Mom want to come visit soon, you can meet my…um…boyfriend and my roommate.”
I just called Nix my boyfriend. That was weird. He’s kind of intense to be anyone’sboyfriend.
“We’d love that. We’ll text later with some dates.”
“Okay.”
“And we can talk some more when I’m there, if you want to.”
“I’d like that. Thanks, Dad.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too. Tell Mom I love her, too.”
We hang up, and I put my phone in my bag. I just sit on the bench for a few seconds and watch people walking by, everyone absorbed in their own train of thought.
I can’t believe I just told my father about the resentment I have toward him. I’ve never said those words out loud to anyone. It felt good.
When I get up and walk into Beans to an End, I feel lighter. I get a coffee and head for the Greenlight office, still replaying the conversation in my head.
The office is quiet when I walk in. There are a few agents sitting at their desks working, and many are in a meeting in a glass-walled conference room in the center of our office space.
Maybe I’ll be able to focus on writing reports and get them all caught up. I still haven’t finished my report from the Dubai trip.
“Hey,” I say to Rae as I walk past her desk. “What’s up?”
“Not much.” She shrugs. “How’s the eye?”
I pat my makeup-covered black eye. “It doesn’t really hurt.”
“What’d you tell Phoenix about your weeklong absence?”
“That I was visiting family.”
She gives me a skeptical look. “Did he buy it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, I’ve got good news about him.” She passes me a sheet of paper from her desk.
My lips part in surprise as I see a mugshot of Coco, Nix’s friend. She’s got dark eye makeup beneath her swollen eyes in the photo, and it’s obvious she’s been crying. She was booked under her real name, Caroline Dunning.
I scan the booking information, and my heart sinks. She was arrested for theft. I wonder if Nix knows. But worse…I wonder if he’s next.
“What did you mean when you said you have good news about him?” I ask Rae.
“She’s his protégé.”
I scoff. “I wouldn’t go that far. More like his aspiring protégé.”
“Well, now we have leverage.”
