On and on and on until we were too broken to run any longer. On and on and on until he died, or I ended up being taken like Lachlan had explained in such graphic detail.
Maybe both.
The entire room stares at us. Not directly but from underneath their lashes or behind their fringes or around the books and magazines they’re only pretending to read.
My heart thumps loudly in my chest. My vision grows fuzzy at the edges. I want to run home, curl up in bed, and cry until I fall asleep.
But there’s no home. Not with the threat of the debt collector returning. There’s no bed except for Lachlan’s. The only things I have left in the world are at his expense. If he changes his mind, comes to his senses, I’ll have nothing, no one. My dad is running again, this time by himself.
My new job is great, but it’s hardly separate. Patrick might continue to employ me for a while just to tease his cousin buthe’d never choose me over him. Not given how their family operates.
Without Lachlan, I’m out on my arse. No home. No job. No prospects.
Fear clutches at my lungs until I can’t breathe. How did I let this happen? I pride myself on my self-sufficiency, so how did I let him take over every aspect of my life, leaving behind nothing that’s truly mine?
I struggle to my feet, trying to keep whatever scraps of dignity I have left, walking out of the room, then fleeing along the corridors until I can barricade myself behind the safety of Lachlan’s door.
Inside, I check my phone but there’s no new message. Before I can think, I put a call through to Patrick, desperate to know if my job with him is just a family affair or if I have some value outside of my connection with his cousin.
All of which I blurt out the moment he answers the phone.
“Woah,” he says when I stop to draw breath. “Just give me a minute.”
There’s a momentary pause, long enough to ratchet my nerves up to eleven.
“Okay. First point, no. I wouldn’t have hired you if you hadn’t gone out with Lock because I wouldn’t have met you, therefore the girl crying next to the rubbish skip would have been left to sort out her job situation on her own.”
I nod, though he can’t see me. Just as I thought.
“But if we ignore that hurdle, you won’t lose your job based on who you go out with. Get a nice polycule going, have a pack of men at your disposal, or get a nice girl, I don’t care. You’ve found your place in my business and I’m rather fond of keeping you right where you are.”
I’m so grateful, I can’t speak. A few gibberish noises flowfrom my mouth. Patrick interprets them with increasing concern. “Has something happened? Where are you?”
“I’m at sc-school. My dad—”
But I cut myself off. I can’t talk about my dad. If I put my worries into words, they might manifest into reality.
“Are you okay? Do you need help?”
“No, I’m fine,” I say in a deliriously un-fine voice. “I just… my dad left town, that’s all. I can’t afford to stay in our rental, and I just panicked.”
“Shit, we’ll have somewhere for you to stay. That’s no problem. We’ve got real estate all over.”
“Oh, no. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere.”
“I’ll buy you a house if you want.”
He sounds serious but must be joking because that’s completely insane. Nobody just goes and buys a house because their employee got evicted. It’s ridiculous.
“Thank you,” I tell him with far more enthusiasm.
“Are you still seeing Lock? If he’s causing you problems, you have my permission to kick him to the curb.”
The idea makes me chuckle then I break off as someone pounds on the door.
“Lock!” A new bout of furious hammering follows, immediately filling me with tension. “Open up.”
The thumps are so loud, even Patrick can hear them. “Are you all right?” he asks in a far sharper tone. “I can come and—”
