Valerie
“And you . . . you’re perfectly okay with that?” Natasha scrunched up her nose when I nodded, ducking her head to dig into her ice cream. Hope blossomed in my chest, and she fished for the perfect bite, the one with the brownie piece in it. “I mean . . . whatever. It’s not like I’m the one dating him. You don’t need my approval or anything. I just think you shouldn’t go all gung-ho considering you almost got blown up yesterday. You were already a romantic bitch, but that might’ve agitated yo—”
“Shut up.” Shoving her weakly with my shoulder, I smiled broadly, but my burst of relief didn’t last as I cleared my throat. “Um . . . the other thing is he wants me to look through these.”
Tapping the folder on the coffee table with my toe, I dug into my own ice cream as my sister reached for it. This conversation hadn’t gone too bad, but I didn’t expect it to in the first place. Natasha and I were great sisters, very understanding and level he—
“What thefuck!” Natasha’s shriek rang in my ears, and I glanced over as she dropped her half-eaten carton in her lap to hold the folder open with both hands. “What the fuck is this, Val? He’s giving you ahouse? Is this a joke?”
“It’s the guy who runs the gang of the guy who sent that bomb to me.” Wide eyes met mine, and my sister sat back with a huff as I snatched the folder from her. “Carlyle scared him. Bad. Anyway, that was what he said, that since my apartment got destroyed, I could have one of these— or three— or all of them. I definitely don’t want the one in Chile, though. I skimmed through it briefly.”
“What the actual shit? That’s . . . wait a minute. How come you’re so damn calm? Not that I thought you’d throw yourself onto a bed and weep like a Disney princess, but . . . ” I hummed softly around my spoon, savoring the crunch of chocolate chips and the grainy cookie dough as I contemplated her question. Reaching for my glass of wine, my mind puttered along leisurely, but my sister didn’t rush me. The silence deepened, and I blinked hard under furrowed brows.
“I guess, no matter what, I know it’ll never be turned on me.” Pressing the cold glass against my cheek as Natasha flipped the page out of the corner of my eye, I sniffed a harsh breath. “Everything he’s capable of, the lying and the violence, he won’t do that to me. I’m safe.We’resafe. He knows about what happened back then. He asked me if I thought I should continue therapy.”
“You can lie to that therapist, but you can’t lie to me, Val. You blocked it all out. What if that explosion and being targeted brings it back?” I only shake my head because I didn’t have an answer to that. If it happened and I went a little off the rails, then it happened. There was no way to avoid it, and I wasn’t going to just break up with Carlyle becausemaybe. . . “Well, I mean, you’re a grown-ass woman. I’m not gonna stop you from doing what you wanna do. I’m just gonna tell you when I think you’re wrong.”
“You’re a great sister, Natasha.” Nodding firmly, like she already knew that, Natasha huffed, and I smiled broadly as I leaned my head on her shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever it is, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing it on the news.”
“We have a bigger issue to think about, honestly.” Flipping the page to a beautiful balcony and kitchen, Natasha strafed the pictures with her thumb. “Since you two are fucking, and I’m a collateral casualty, do you think Carlyle will give me an allowance? I wanna be rich and spoiled.”
A laugh escaped me, and I set my wine glass down to take another bite of my ice cream. The doorbell trilled shrilly, and I unfolded my legs from under me to head down the short hallway.
“Oh, hey, guys.” Fred and Marshal stood on the other side of the door, with Carlyle behind them, and I nodded as I stepped aside. “Come in.”
He shot me a surprised, quizzical arch of his brow, but Carlyle didn’t question me as the three shuffled past. Shutting the door behind them, my fingers itched, and I grabbed his ass and squeezed. He tensed, glancing over his shoulder, and my smile widened before I moved to sit on the sofa.
“So, I was going through all the stuff last night, and thank God we weren’t too far in. All my paper shit is ruined from the sprinklers, but I’m confident I can get all the info on my tablet back.” Speaking up first, Marshal perched on the armrest of the sofa, and Carlyle sat on the ledge between the kitchen and the living room. “Did you guys hear from the manager of your apartment?”
“Yeah, the fire marshal said there’s no structural damage, but we’re not allowed back. Which . . . I guess . . . at least he’s not suing us.”
“That’s good. I really don’t want to delay because of this. Like Marshal said, we’re not really taking a hit from this, and I already called my mom’s hospice worker and let her know I’m on an emergency trip.” Fred leveled his gaze on me, and my brows furrowed as his lips thinned. “I’m sorry about all your drawings.”
“It’s okay. I can always do them over. It’s not like they were set anyway. We’re still going through all our stuff, but I’m sure my drawings and supplies are in there somewhere.” Turning expectantly to Carlyle, I nodded when he did, and he cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. Clasping his hands in his lap, he rocked back, and his narrowed eyes swept the room.He was born to be in power. How sexy. . .
“As I’ve said, you’re going to be working across the bridge. There are some rules you have to follow. Work stays at work. Like all of my employees, you’re not allowed to bring materials over the bridge. If you do and I find out, you’ll be fired on the spot. Once you decide on a concrete plan for your living situations, you can decide among yourselves whether or not you want to move to another building. You two, specifically, I want to make clear that you’re not prisoners here.” Pointing between Fred and Marshal, Carlyle held both their gazes. “You can leave any time you want, no questions asked. The only thing I demand of you is that anything you witness here, you keep quiet about.”
“I didn’t see or hear shit,” Fred grumbled in agreement with Marshal, and my lips twitched up at the pleased smile stretching Carlyle’s face.
“Good. As with any investment, I’m providing you with a marketer who works exclusively with mobile apps. You’ll be meeting with her next week, so get yourselves sorted by then with a loose campaign. It’s all fairly ambiguous at this point. If you need anything for any reason, you can contact my assistant. Her numbers are posted on the refrigerators in your apartments. She’ll make it happen.” Carlyle’s expression fell flat, and the atmosphere became dense as he tapped his heels against the wall just above an outlet. “Now, I’m not in the habit of giving gifts, but considering the circumstances, I believe it’s appropriate. Pedro is responsible for the bomb, and he and I do business together. To some degree, I’m responsible for being negligent. Natasha, this is for you, as well. If you have a reasonable request, I’ll grant it.”
“What? This wasn’t enough?” Waving around the folder, thefwop-fwopof laminate flooded my ears, and I stuck my spoon in my ice cream as Carlyle shrugged.
“That’s not yours. Whichever or however many she chooses, they’re Valerie’s.” A shit-eating smirk crested my cheeks, and my sister shot me a mock glare and nudge of her shoulder.
“You said yesterday that you could buy anyone, right?” Speaking up, Marshal’s question sent a jolt through me, and he cupped his chin thoughtfully. “My wife and I haven’t even been to mediation yet. She just served me a few weeks ago. She thinks I don’t know she’s been cheating on me, and she’s trying to take everything I have. She filed a restraining order against me and put my apartment address as hers, so I can’t even go get my stuff. I’ve been wearing Fred’s clothes.”
“You want a lawyer.” His wasn’t a question, but Marshal nodded mutely, shame dragging down his features. “Your wife sounds like a cunt.”
“She wasn’t when we got married. She’s having a mid-life crisis, and her boyfriend is twenty-two. She is a divorce lawyer, and I’m having trouble finding someone to represent me. I don’t want to do anything drastic because I know that she’ll see she’s making a mistake and watching her be miserable when this guy bails because she’s pregnant is revenge enough.” I nearly choked on my melting ice cream, and Marshal sniffed hard as he hung his head a little, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. “She doesn’t think I know about that, either, but her sister talks a lot.”
“I’ll handle it. At least you’re not one of those guys who tries to have her murdered.” Nodding gratefully, Marshal deflated a little, his shoulders curling, and Natasha held up her hand as if we were in grade school again. Carlyle smirked slightly, pointing at her, and embarrassment bubbled in my chest. “Yes, Natasha.”
“Within the realm of possibility, right? Can I have these ones Valerie doesn’t want? If they’re all up for grabs, there’s no reason not to, right?”
“Fine. I’ll let Pedro know. I’ll do the initial cleanup, but after that, they’re your responsibility. What are you going to do with them?” My sister's fist pumped the air with a hiss, and she sat up a little straighter.
“I’m gonna open an Airbnb.” She sounded so proud of her idea, and I sniggered before she swatted at me, a pout forming on her face. For a brief second, everything felt normal— the old normal, when it was just us and no one else. “Hey, it’s a good idea! Do you know how much that would cost a night? And as long as we put in a day between bookings to clean up, we can just hire a crew locally. We’d never have to go there unless we wanted to party.”
“What about you, Fred?” Marshal’s question drew all attention to Fred leaning against the wall by the television, and he shrugged carelessly.
“I don’t really want anything. I’m pretty alright for now. This offer has a timer on it, I assume. Maybe I’ll think of something before it runs out, but it’s not like you can stop my mom being eaten by dementia.” I thought maybe Fred just didn’t want anything to backfire on him if he took a freebie, and I frowned under furrowed brows. “Besides, it’s not like I’m not working anymore. I could go back home if I wanted. It’s just more convenient to stay here for the time being until we decide whether or not to do something else.”
“Alright.” Accepting Fred’s reasoning, Carlyle slid off the ledge to nod firmly. “I’ll have someone show you to your office so you can get to work. I have some things to get to myself. If you need anything, again, refrigerators.”
