“No cameras in your home. And no spying,” I promise, trying to convince myself that, technically, watching her from the tree outside her window isn’t spying. Right. “Not if you don’t want me to.”
Tell me you want me to. Tell me you want the cameras, tell me you want me watching you.
Tell me anything.
She chews her lip.
“I don’t know.” She fluffs her hair nervously. “How much would this cost? It feels a bit over-the-top, and I’m not sure we can afford a full security upgrade right now.”
“Sterling will pay for the entire thing,” I assure her. “I can move the money around in a heartbeat. No cost at all to you or Jade.”
She shifts on her feet, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
“Sydney,” I sigh. “Be reasonable. This is a drop in the bucket for him. For us. Ash spends more on hair care products than this will cost me to set up. Just let us do this for you. For my own sake of mind.”
She stops shifting.
“Does he really?” she asks, interest piqued.
“Does he really what?” I ask, flicking a twig out into the dark.
“Does Ash really spend that much on hair products?” she clarifies, a small smile curving her lips.
“Christ, you have no idea.” I chuckle into the phone. Sydney laughs, hand coming up to cover her mouth like she’s trying to hide it. “Every month, he manages to spend a little more, too. It’s a nightmare. That idiot is an incorrigible fucking narcissist.”
She laughs again, and it twists something in my chest to hear it.
“So, the security?” I press.
“Yeah… Yeah, okay. You can put it up. But nothing in my apartment, okay?”
I tell myself the emotion that floods me at her acquiescence is relief, not anticipation. Not a carnal desire to watch her, whenever I want, while she’s at work. Not the ephemeral joy in knowing that if I can’t have her, at least I can havethis.
Even the smartest of us lie to ourselves when we need to.
“One other thing, while I have you.” I pause, not sure how to broach the subject. “Ash said you called him the other day.He was really worried about you. I just want to make sure everything is okay. Did anything else happen?”
“Oh, that. Um, it was silly. Just a traffic incident. I was a little shaken and I…I didn’t mean to call him.” She takes a breath. “Ishouldn’thave called him.”
“You’re sure everything is okay?” I ask.
“Yup.” She smiles when she says it, that big fake smile she wears so poorly.
She’s lying. I know she’s lying.
I just need to figure out why.
17
SYDNEY
Overnight,the weather shifts. When I drag myself out of bed, the usually bright Fortune City sky is dark, full of black and gray storm clouds thick enough to blot out the sun. You can feel it in the air, that current of electricity that precedes a storm. It doesn’t rain often here, but when it does, it’s torrential. Months’ worth of water pouring from the sky in just a few hours.
By the time I’m ready to leave for work, the first raindrops have just started to fall. I close my door, frowning up at the clouds, and estimate I have maybe a minute to get downstairs before the sky really opens up and this drizzle becomes a downpour.
The soft click of another door closing draws my attention, and I pause, keys still in hand, peering down the walkway at the empty apartment next to mine.
Someone’s in there, I realize, taking a step closer. I can hear the shuffling sounds of someone moving inside, just beyond the door.
