She was nearly in tears as the direness of her situation hit home. For the last few days, she’d stayed at Silas’s and had existed in a dream world. One where she mattered to him more than any other neighbor did. And she hadn’t even considered the possibility of her losing one or more of her jobs. Her bosses weren’t the most understanding people in the world.
“Don’t cry,” Jax said desperately.
If she hadn’t been so upset, she’d have found amusement in the panicked looks on the three men’s faces.
Thane plopped down on the couch next to her and gently put his arm around her shoulders and then squeezed.
“Silas took care of all that, Hayley. There’s no need for you to be upset. I promise everything is okay.”
“Worked out what?” Hayley demanded.
“He spoke to all your bosses and to the school the day after your attack. You were in no shape to go to work or school and Silas knew how important both are to you. The school was more than happy for you to take a few days to heal, and your bosses said to take as long as you needed. They’re even paying you sick time until you go back.”
“What? They don’t give any employee sick leave. The only leave they give you if you’re sick and can’t go to work is the permanent kind of leave, and that definitely doesn’t come with a paycheck,” Hayley said acidly.
“Apparently they do,” Jax offered lightly. “They told Silas that you could pick up your paycheck at the end of the week and that you would be paid full wages.”
She stared at all three men suspiciously but none of them so much as flinched.
“Which means that today you aren’t going to so much as leave your apartment,” Maddox said smugly. “And if you must return to school tomorrow, fine, but I’m putting my foot down about work. You have to at least take off today and tomorrow and rest as much as possible.”
“Putting your foot down?” Hayley mouthed. “Who died and made you king of the castle?”
“Darlin’, if you think any of us is going to face Silas and tell him we didn’t follow his very explicit instructions regarding you, then you’ve lost your mind. Silas is not a man anyone ever wants to piss off,” Thane said cheerfully.
Hayley threw up her hands. “Whatever. Y’all are just going to have to listen to me practice, then. It’s not like there’s anything else to do.”
“We’d be honored,” Maddox said. “Silas said you were very good.”
Hayley flushed. Why couldn’t she be attracted to one of these guys? They were definitely hot with a capitalHand they were cute when they flirted. But she felt... nothing. A big fat zero—nothing. She bet money they were single, unlike Silas. It figured she’d finally start noticing men the way a woman notices a man like Silas only to discover he’s off the market.
Her appetite gone, she leaned forward to put her plate down on the coffee table. She sucked in her breath sharply when pain lanced through her abdomen.
“Whoa there, honey,” Thane said, easing her back onto the couch. “Better take it easy. Those ribs need to do some more healing before you abuse them further. Maybe you should think about taking a nap and practicing your violin later this afternoon? You’ll need to get into bed early tonight if you plan on going back to class tomorrow.”
Despite the fact that a nap was the very last thing she wanted, she got up with Thane’s help and shuffled like an old woman toward her bedroom. At least she could be alone with her brooding, and she also planned to have a very long conversation with herself about falling for the wrong guy.
17
To Hayley’s surprise, Thane, Maddox and Jax not only remained in her living room the rest of the afternoon, but they also spent the night sprawled all over her tiny couch and the floor. But before everyone had said their good nights and Hayley had been ordered to bed to rest, they had encouraged her to play her violin for them. After nervous hesitation she agreed. What shocked her the most was the obvious appreciation for her talent in their eyes and expressions.
Granted, no one should be judged on their appearance, but still, these men did not look like classical music fans at all. They were a rung or two above street thugs, no doubt. Not to mention a hell of a lot sexier and more badass. But they looked like they’d prefer heavy metal or hard rock over Tchaikovsky or Bach.
When they applauded her last number, she flushed to the roots of her hair and peeked shyly up at them as she bent down to secure her violin in its case. Unable to help herself, she ran her fingers over the glossy wood one more time, marveling for the one hundredth time that this was hers.
God, it had cost Silas a small fortune! She knew exactly how expensive the violin was. God knows she’d spent enough time mooning andpining over fine instruments, looking but never touching. Never in her life would she have imagined owning such perfection. What exactly was it that Silas and his partners did anyway?
Silas certainly wasn’t the older retired gentleman she’d imagined owning the apartment building. And surely even owning the entire building wouldn’t allow for him dropping thousands of dollars on a whim to replace her broken violin that cost a mere fraction of what her new one did.
She studied the men’s manner of dress with a thoughtful expression. Definitely higher than a rung or two above street thugs. She wasn’t even sure why that had popped into her mind. Their clothing was impeccable and very expensive. At first she hadn’t noticed the designer clothing because the men who wore it weren’t flashy in aGQ, preppy, polished manner. They were all gruff, with big bodies and bulging muscles—that just happened to be adorned in very expensive, exclusive clothing from designers she couldn’t afford even in a secondhand shop.
And there was the fact that Silas had said he’d be out of town on business. After she’d awakened from her nap, Jax had gone out for supper while Thane and Maddox took turns asking her questions. One of which had been where she was from. Thane had said he’d noticed her southern accent—as if it were that hard to miss—and said that he too was from the south and hadn’t realized how much he missed it until Evangeline had dropped into their lives.
At the mention of Evangeline, Hayley had gone completely rigid. Maddox had shot Thane a fierce look of reprimand that Hayley pretended not to notice but was definitely intrigued by. Did they know about Evangeline after all? This was getting more humiliating by the minute.
When she’d very nonchalantly and in a very innocent voice asked who Evangeline was and if she was from the south too, Thane had mumbled, “No one important.” All the while Maddox had been glaring him down.
She’d never been so tempted in her life to blurt out,What the fuck?Why was everything such a huge freaking secret around these guys?
