“Well, it is prison,” I said. “He’s lucky that things didn’t turn out worse for him.”
By which I meant that he was lucky he wasn’t dead. We were all lucky Zane and his men had handled the situationprofessionally and that there were no fatalities, even though several people on both sides had been injured.
“How’s everything going with cleaning up the beach house?” I asked, hoping to move on to happier things.
Papa sighed heavily. “There isn’t much to clean up, really,” he said. “The representatives from the police have been so helpful in removing evidence and giving advice about how to tidy up.” Papa paused, then said, “Your dad and I are thinking of selling the place.”
A wealth of mixed feelings hit me with that statement. “Really?”
I’d spent childhood summers at the beach house and had so many memories of the place. Some of those memories involved Lucas nearly drowning me or pushing me out of trees, but some were good. The memory of Saint giving me a little taste of his kinky world in the garage put a smile on my face that I was glad no one else could see. That had been amazing.
“We’re thinking of selling and dividing the profit from the sale three ways for you, Lucas, and Eloise,” Papa went on.
Another jolt of mixed feelings hit me. “You know that if Lucas gets his hands on his share, he’ll squander it,” I said.
“Oh, I know,” Papa said in a wary voice. “That’s why your dad wants to put it into a trust with you as the trustee.”
My brow went up. “Um, wow. I don’t know anything about being a trustee.”
“But you’re clever with money, dear,” Papa said. “And I trust you to keep your brother from doing himself more harm once he’s free.”
I rubbed the prickles that broke out on the back of my neck. If I was honest, I didn’t love the idea of being around Lucas much in the future, especially if I ended up having kids, which was almost a certainty at this point. But it was early days still, things might change. And I had Saint now to help me deal with him.
“Maybe you and that handsome alpha of yours could use your share of the proceeds from the sale for a wedding?” Papa suggested. I could hear the smile in his voice. “Or perhaps a house of your own?”
I smiled with him. “Yeah, maybe. We’re still talking about what we want to do.”
In fact, I’d already started packing up my apartment and moving things into Saint’s house. It turned out that he lived surprisingly close to the school, and the practice where he did his counseling was in a building only about three blocks from me. We couldn’t have planned it better if we’d tried. But then again, that’s what fate was all about. Considering my line of work and his, Saint and I might have met because of a troubled student if we hadn’t met at the omega auction.
“I’ll let you know what we decide,” Papa said, pulling my attention back to where it should be. “Are we still meeting for lunch tomorrow?”
“Yep,” I said. “Saint and I will see you and Dad then.”
Papa and I exchanged our goodbyes, and I ended the call and put my phone on the desk with a happy sigh. Papa had originally asked if Saint and I would be available for supper that night, but it was Friday, and I had a few other things in mind.
I tried not to think about those things as I went back to grading papers, but now that I had an amazing, sexy alpha, once my thoughts started down that path, it was hard to bring them back to where they belonged.
I’d heated up so much thinking about what I had ready for Saint that night that when Roger knocked on the open doorframe of my room, then walked right in, I jumped a little.
“Hey, Linus,” Roger said in that needling voice he had when he wanted something. He sidled up to my desk like he was about to make a deal. “So, what are you doing next Thursday?”
I worked to hide my grin, knowing exactly where the conversation was headed. It wasn’t leading toward an invitation to do something fun for me.
“I’m not sure,” I said honestly.
“Great,” Roger said. “That means you’ll be available to take my study hall shift. I’ve got my eye on a fantastic woman who I’m just dying to ask out, but she works every evening but Thursdays. Should I put your name on the schedule?”
“Actually, no,” I said, smiling serenely up at him.
Roger looked like he hadn’t heard me right. “But I need you to cover study hall.”
“I’ve covered study hall a lot for you already this year,” I said. “I can’t do it this time.”
Roger snorted and flailed slightly, like he didn’t know what to do with me setting boundaries. “You always cover for me.”
“Not this time,” I said, still smiling.
“But—”
