Page 57

I bite my cheek. It’s been two days since he and Elias moved in, and while I don’t truly understand why, I’m thankful to have more people in the house.

Sophie leaves today ahead of a massive winter storm the news is predicting, and I’m not sure if I could survive being snowed in with only Lucien and Stanley as company.

“Thank you,” I tell him as he hands me the mug. It warms my hands as I watch him round the desk and plop into a chair in front of it.

“Why are you in here? I checked your room first, but couldn’t find you.”

“I’m trying to keep my mind busy. I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“You should try opening the balcony doors; that’s what Elias does. He said the sound of the ocean helps him. Though with nighttime temperatures dipping, I don’t think it’s a suitable thing for him to continue doing.”

I smile and take a sip of the coffee; it’s not as perfect as my own, but it’s warm nonetheless. Maybe it’ll chase away the cold fingers of the past I can’t seem to escape.

“While you’re here,” I lead in, grabbing the folder I’ve dreaded handing him, “I need you to take a look at this.”

“What is it?” he asks, opening it and taking glasses out of his shirt pocket to put on. He can’t be any more than thirty, but the action seems to age him in a very pleasing way.

Kyrin, while not as muscular or buff as Elias, is very attractive, with his light brown, curly hair kept faded and his bright blue eyes.

His face hardens as he reads.

“I’ve been searching for explanations for the transactions over the years, and that’s why I hadn’t told you, but I can’t find any. Nor can I find any information on the man he’s paying.”

Kyrin clears his throat and closes the folder. “Consider your message delivered and drop this.”

“I—what?”

“I don’t need you looking into this matter any further. Use your talent and time elsewhere.”

I set the coffee down on the desk. “I’m sorry. You paid me to come here and live in this… grotesquely deranged estate of yours, to find out where your brother was mismanaging not only his time but Valdrich money. I’ve found one major misuse of said money, and now you seem annoyed at me for doing so?”

“I’m not annoyed at you, but this is a non-issue.”

“Alright?” I hadn’t meant it to come out as a question, but it had.

I register Elias by the door, but I’m seething and confused, so I don’t acknowledge him.

“What portion of my job would you like me to do, Mr. Valdrich? Tell me that, so that we can avoid another misunderstanding in the future.”

Kyrin stiffens. “Excuse me?”

Elias clears his throat and walks into the room. “I could handle this, if you’d like.” He slaps his hand on Kyrin’s shoulder, and the implication of Elias handling me pisses me off to an entirely uncontrollable level.

I stand. “Excuse me? Handle what? Me?”

A knot forms in my stomach, telling me to sit back down, lest I lose my job. But I’m too tired, and far too over this fucking estate and this arrangement for these two to be fucking with me.

“Yes, you, petit corbeau.”

Flashes of the bathroom, where he last called me that name, wriggle in my brain.

“I’m nothing that you or anyone else can handle.”

“Oh?” Elias says, shoving Kyrin back down in his chair when he tries to stand, “I assure you that I can, Ms. Thomas.”

“Elias,” Kyrin warns, an edge to his tone that I can’t decipher.

A nagging feeling tells me there’s something else going on here, something I’m not quite grasping. I know it’s not about the money trail I found, either.