Chapter 5 #2
“Of course. You actually should compensate me a lifetime salary after putting my whole existence at risk.”
“A whole lifetime’s worth of your salary?” There was a smirk there, like he thought I was ludicrous.
“Why yes, Mr. Knight. Teachers are underpaid in general.” I lined my tone with snark, annoyed that he probably thought otherwise. A teacher’s love and devotion couldn’t really be covered, not when we were providing the basics of a human’s intelligence.
He shrugged. “You accepted that measly salary, Ms. Darling. You can only blame yourself.”
“I accepted what was offered because I needed the money.” And I needed out of that godforsaken town.
“Maybe I shouldn’t accept anything at all now and leave.
” It was an empty threat since I’d already told Franny I would stay, but he didn’t need to be reminded that he could pay me peanuts considering I was basically in witness protection.
He chuckled and pressed the alcohol wipe on my cut. It was more painful than I anticipated, and the pain burned through me fast before he removed the cloth just as quickly to blow on my skin.
The cool air somehow warmed every atom of my blood, lit me on fire, and I felt how my whole body blushed, how my thighs clenched at having his breath on me, over me, and brushing against me.
“Mia, you’ll stay because you love Franny. I think we both know that. Even still, I’ll compensate you with a lifetime’s salary of your silly paycheck for the summer if that means you’ll drop the attitude.” He didn’t smile or even blink at his offer.
“What?” I almost gasped the word. “I’m taunting you in anger, not actually negotiating,” I blurted out like an idiot.
“A small salary is nothing for me to pay for your life and my daughter’s.”
“It’s not small,” I whispered, our eyes locked on one another.
“What are you, twenty-five? Forty-five grand for thirty-five years? Round up if you teach and nanny here? Two mil for the comfort of my daughter and your life?” It was the first time he smiled directly at me.
He wanted to prove a point, and the point was he had ridiculous amounts of money and could control me all he wanted.
“Fine. The comfort of my daughter is priceless.”
I took note that he didn’t say my comfort was. Still, the money was unfathomable. Life-changing. Lifesaving. I should have just accepted it right then and there, but instead, I blurted out, “I was joking.”
“I’m not,” he said pointedly. “Drop the attitude and do your job well. I’ll wire you two million by the end of summer. Earlier if you need the cash.”
I touched my wrist where my sister and I had gotten tattoos the year my parents stopped talking to me. She told me she’d be there for me always, and I told her the same. That money would allow me to do that, would allow me to start anew too. “No strings attached?”
“Every single string is attached, Ms. Darling. You’ll follow my rules for the summer.”
After that, he bandaged my arm in thirty seconds and stood up quickly, like being near me was burning him. With that, he told me to wash up, that clothing would be delivered, and anything else I needed, I could text him for.
He even slid a new phone out of his pocket and placed it on the dresser.
So easily, he reorganized my life. “You should get some rest. And my team will keep you updated on your stay. We’re investigating the situation, but weekends off are fine, and as long as you take one of my guys with you around town, feel free to go wherever you need to go on your off-hours. Franny stays on the premises.”
“Like a bodyguard? That seems like overkill.”
“And yet I just killed a man who was willing to gut you, Mia Darling.” He said the words so casually, and it reminded me of the enigma that he was to me. I knew nothing about him, and that should have scared me a lot more than it did.
“They don’t care about me. They obviously wanted …
” I couldn’t even say Franny’s name. I’d bonded deeply with that little girl.
Out of all the kids I’d been teaching, she was closest to me.
She didn’t play well with others, and I think that was based on her being around adults most of the time, but that was a topic for another day.
“They didn’t get either of you.”
“I’m so happy no other kids were there. What about them? Who will teach—”
“We’ve got it covered.” I knew he meant I had been replaced, and I didn’t want to think about how that would affect the kids.
“Kids need structure.”
“Which is why you’re here with Franny.”
“The others need it too, Mr. Knight.”
“They’ll get it. All of us parents are resourceful enough.”
“Money doesn’t buy everything,” I grumbled.
“No. I never said it does. Resources aren’t only monetary, Ms. Darling.
But they do help.” He nodded tersely before sliding a credit card from his pocket and placing it on my nightstand.
“Utilize this for anything you may need. If you can’t order something, my number is on your phone to request it.
Other than that, you’re to teach my daughter during normal school hours.
Are you comfortable nannying after schooltime? ”
“At my salary, I guess I should be comfortable with anything,” I grumbled.
“Great. I can send a list of tasks to your new phone.” He smiled like we were all set. “Also, you can join us for meals if you’d like.”
“You going to give me a tour now, or am I to just stay in this room?”
It was like he couldn’t leave my room fast enough. “I’ll send someone to do that with you. Please don’t leave until then. Our dog isn’t exactly welcoming.”
“How kind of you.” My tone was so sarcastic I almost cringed. “Anyone else in the house I should be afraid of?”
He glanced at the wedding ring on his finger, and a jolt ran through my heart at remembering what Franny had told me—one day, her mother didn’t come to pick her up. Had he remarried? And why did my stomach tighten at the thought?
He cleared his throat once before saying, “Well, my late wife was formidable. But she’s gone. She’s been gone for four years now.”
“I … I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I couldn’t be snippy with an admission like that. I’d lost communication with both parents when they disowned me, but I couldn’t imagine losing a partner. “I know it’s not easy losing someone.” That was the only way I could relate.
“Yes, well, we’ve managed.” He shrugged, and I saw how the emotion shuttered out of him. Jameson wasn’t a man who wanted to be figured out. “When suffering a loss, you either fall apart or move on.”
I frowned. I wanted to tell him there were a million steps in between and that you could do both. My parents hadn’t died, but they were dead to me, and I went through every stage of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and then acceptance to move on. I’d fallen apart over and over again.
“You have something you want to add?”
“No,” I rushed to answer. It wasn’t my place to tell him how he should handle the loss of his wife. I wanted to ask more questions, pry in a way his daughter’s teacher shouldn’t, but I didn’t.
“Then, Hades will give you a tour in the morning.” He was about to swing the door closed.
“Hades?” As in the god of death? Might as well have sent me to hell right then and there.
“Yes. He’ll also be security to make sure you and Franny are safe. He’ll be at your door at eight a.m. tomorrow.”
“And let me guess. I should stay behind this door until then?”
“I wouldn’t want you getting lost, Ms. Darling … and wouldn’t want you talking to anyone unnecessarily, which is why I’m going to have to ask you to refrain from calling anyone other than me at this time.”
I jumped up and blurted out, “I won’t just stay locked in here all summer without communicating with anyone. I won’t cope well with that.”
His strong jaw tensed. “I don’t expect you to. All of Paradise Grove will be accessible to you in time. There’re tennis courts, restaurants, golf courses, and clubhouses. This is a luxury enclave. Everything you could want will be at your fingertips.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. How did anyone feel comfortable living like this? Always looking over their shoulder. “What exactly is it that you do for a living?”
“I graduated at the top of my class as a surgeon.”
“So that’s what you do? You’re a doctor at which hospital?”
He smiled. “Why don’t you get some rest?”
“Because I’ve been sleeping for a day supposedly.” My stomach rolled at the thought, and then I realized I was actually queasy. I abruptly sat down.
His jaw worked up and down. “You may feel a bit dizzy for a few hours.”
“Right.” I rolled my eyes. “Of course I will.”
There was more awkward silence between us, and I wasn’t sure if I needed to fill it. Was that my job too now? To make my boss comfortable so that he wouldn’t fire me or let me out of here to supposedly be killed?
“If I’m to stay here, I’d like to make a few requests.”
“Of course you would.” He flicked his gaze down the hall.
“You think I shouldn’t ask for anything?”
“I think you’re smart to continue negotiating.”
“And that’s all I’m doing?” I placed a hand on my hip. “Negotiating a business deal?”
He stared at me like I was dense.
“I have to live with a stranger who—”
“Drugged you and choked you, right?”
“No. Well, that too.” I shook my head because I didn’t like him finishing my sentences or putting words in my mouth. “But I don’t even know where I am.”
“Paradise Grove. It’s not a secret. Name your requests, Mia. Quickly.”
It made sense that, like most parents I’d encountered at Blackstone, he was rushing me. They were intelligent, successful, and thought they knew exactly what was best for their children. He must certainly think he knows best regarding everyone under his roof too.
“I’d like Archer to be here.”
“Archer?” His eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Yes. He was with me at the school,” I pointed out. They must trust him, and he must have known Jameson, because he seemed to have a direct line to him. “I think he’s capable. Does he know your house?”
“Yes, but—”
“I’d like him to give me the tour then, if possible. Instead of this man Hades—who I don’t know—ushering me around, I think Archer’s capable of continuing to keep me safe.”
“Over my recommendation and over me?” Suddenly Mr. Knight looked appalled. “He works with Xavier on a daily basis—and Xavier pointed a gun at you.”
“Archer wouldn’t have let him shoot me.”
“Mia Darling, I didn’t let anyone shoot you.” His words trickled down my spine and were laced with a sort of venom.
“I trust him,” I repeated, trying to stand my ground even though Jameson’s gaze was now wild with something more. “Honestly, it was Archer’s job to keep me safe over the past month. He succeeded in that.”
“I disarmed Xavier in literally a second and could do the same with Archer, Mia.”
Did he think this was some sort of competition? “Well, I think Archer could take you. And maybe Xavier was giving you the upper hand because you pay the bills and all.”
“Even if that were the case, which it’s not,” he made sure to clarify, “you shouldn’t want a man that’s willing to give you up for his paycheck as your last line of defense.”
“He’s not my last line.” I crossed my arms. “I, myself, am my last line of defense.”
“Are you trained in combat?”
“No, but I’d like to be. I want classes if I’m to stay here. Or at least someone to take me to a range of some sort.”
His smile was completely pretend as he said, “That’s not necessary.”
“That wasn’t an inquiry. These are my conditions. You can take them or leave them.” And if he was anxious to leave, I’d be fast to push him out. “That’s all. You can go.”
Instead, he grumbled under his breath, “You’re so concerned about having Archer here, you’re not even thinking of food? You haven’t eaten in over a day.”
The thought of eating anything made me queasy. I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not sure I can eat.”
“Well, you need to try,” he commanded, his blue eyes snapping up at me in authority. Then he sighed and offered, “If you don’t get food in you, the side effects will be worse. How about soup?”
I think my face probably turned green.
“Bread? It’s fresh from this morning,” he tried again.
“I can just eat something in the morning.”
His jaw was clenched enough to cut steel. I heard him swear under his breath before he glanced at his watch. “Ms. Darling, if you don’t give me an idea, I’ll have everything from steak and fries to ice cream brought up here.”
Brought to me? As if I was a prisoner here. “Whatever, then. Send bread. I’ll try to eat some, I guess.”
“Right.” He straightened his cuff links. “Be gentle on your wrist tonight. I’ll check it tomorrow. And make sure to eat something once it’s brought.”
He left me in the perfect room of a perfect estate with the perfect view.
Steak, fries, five different flavors of ice cream, and bread were brought to my door within an hour.
I didn’t eat any of it.