My eyes go wide while my heart starts beating again. “A job?”
“Yeah. If you’re looking for one, or if you’re interested.”
I nod, but I’m not sure if I can really have this.
“You help me take care of this princess,” Haden says while pointing at Arianna. “You teach me what I need to take care of her, and you’ll take care of her when I’m at work. You’ll work for me.” His voice is firm, and his eyes are now on me.
“Are you serious?” I must be living in another dimension.
His lips part as if to speak but then they close again. A small crease forms between his eyebrows, and the hope I had begins to crumble like a sandy hill. I watch as doubt flickers across his face, and then his voice fills the silence. “Dead serious.”
I pause, uncertain. Is he pitying me? Is he offering because of what I said? Does he really want to help?
Does it matter? The question resounds inside my mind. And because I don’t agree fast enough it keeps pushing me. Do you really care? Take the fucking deal. My brain is now screaming at me, as if I’m an idiot… and maybe I am.
What about Jerr? You can’t save him if you don’t save yourself first. Again my mind provides an answer that shows a truth I don’t want to recognise.
Silence stretches between us while I debate, knowing the right answer but finding it difficult to say it.
“You—”
I interrupt him because I don’t want him to take it back. “You’ve got a deal.” Guilt eats me up, and I move the attention away from me and back to him. “I won’t go easy on you.” Against my will, happiness fills me up. It won’t be easy cutting off my past, but Haden is giving me a chance to change my life for the better, and I’m taking it with both hands.
My thoughts go back to Jeremy. I need to talk to him. I need to tell him that nothing is going to change. It’s still going to be me and him against the world, but this time we’ll have someone in our corner. I will find a way to keep him safe.
Haden places his hand in front of me so I can shake it, and after a moment of hesitation, I do.
Tears spring to my eyes and I don’t push them back. I own them, I embrace them, because for the first time in years, they’re tears of joy, of elation. I deserve them. I deserve every tiny bit of happiness that life gives me.
Everything has an expiration date. So this moment… I’ll be carrying it with me forever, because at some point Haden will realise I’m bad news.
Haden, probably sensing my inability to control my emotions from spilling through the cracks his offer has created, changes the subject. “Let’s go for a stroll. What do you think, baby girl?”
I’m amazed by the warmth he’s brought into a world that had gone cold.
“Can we invite this cry baby?” he says, tickling Arianna’s tummy and making her squirm.
A quick knock sounds through the flat and shifts our attention to whoever is at the door. When it opens, Kai’s always upbeat voice fills the room. His presence takes away some of the emotional turmoil we’re in right now.
“How’s my favourite patient?” he asks, and I snort, making him laugh out loud.
“Don’t do as you please.” Haden’s irritated tone has Kai smirking.
“Hey.” Jeremy’s voice has me squealing in joy, and I don’t miss Haden’s lips curving into a small smile.
I jump up, loving to see my best friend’s face even if through watery eyes. In a few strides I’m in front of him, and the next second I’m hugging the shit out of him. I’ve been so worried about him. “Jerr,” I whisper against his shoulder, while I pull him even closer. “How are you?” I ask while pulling away to check him over.
“I’m okay.” He takes my face in between his palms, and pulls me towards him until our foreheads touch. “I was so damn worried.”
“Didn’t your parents teach you not to swear in front of a baby?” Kai’s tells him in a sing-song voice, probably aiming to provoke him a little. Kai really has a knack for finding people’s weaknesses, insecurities, and pushing their buttons.
“Mind your fuc—” Yep, he completely missed the baby comment.
I stop him before he can finish the phrase by putting my palm against his mouth.
Jeremy glares at me, because he hates when I do that, but he’s trouble when he lets his mouth run loose. Not in a good way. He smiles and I recognise the smile. “Mommy didn’t teach you to mind your own business…” His smile turns cunning, and I recognise those little devil wheels turning inside his head looking for something that will hit his opponent where it hurts. “Old man.” I watch Kai like a condor, and when the other man’s eyes grow big, he laughs, and Haden joins him.
“I like you,” Haden says to Jeremy, and then grins at Kai.
