Chapter 18
Mia
I ADMIT I AVOIDED everyone the next day, telling Archer that I’d eat breakfast in my room after his daily tap on my door.
Plus Ms. Prim and Mr. Bos needed me in their pathetic state.
Misery loved company, right? Their wilting leaves matched my state of mind.
I was a mess, my heart jumbled, and my emotions unchecked.
I even kept Franny away from Rosy for snacks because I didn’t want to discuss anything.
Somehow, I felt like she’d ask or pry and be a friend.
What could I say without being embarrassed? That I screwed around with our boss, agreed it was a distraction I didn’t care about, and then yelled at him for not parenting correctly? Also, could you please divulge what’s in that pretty door near his room and why he won’t let me in?
I was a freaking mess … so, yeah, avoiding felt easier.
Not only that, but it was Friday, and we all knew what that meant: Valerie would be here in the evening for her glorious show with Jameson. But not before he casually interrupted the teaching for the day to tell us we were going to play tennis.
How could I object after yelling at him last night? I was only the teacher who had a schedule for his daughter. The library could wait, especially when she jumped up and screamed in joy.
So, I went with them to the country club and endured the torture that it was.
And it was torture for me. Jameson being completely appropriate and fatherlike in his perfect tailored suit in the car.
Then, he changed into a polo and shorts to play tennis with his daughter while I opted to sit out this time.
Franny having quality time with her dad was more important.
I told myself that same thing when he promised her tennis time every other day of the week.
He hugged her and mouthed a “thank you” to me as she squealed.
Damn it, did he have to be an actual good dad underneath the tough exterior?
My stomach flipped, and my mind cursed him.
He couldn’t be great while also being elusive and an ass.
It wasn’t fair. And it made me volatile.
I went from wanting to act out and yell at him to wanting to jump his bones to thinking having a professional relationship was best.
Screaming at him to stop being the perfect father while teaching Franny how to hold the tennis racket seemed unfair. Although, my ovaries were screaming at me the whole time that banging him and having his children might be okay.
That wasn’t at all what I needed in my life.
But the bastard laid it on thick when he asked for a locker room key for me specifically like I’d be there longer than the summer.
And then I had to deal with the female attendants bending over backward to accommodate him. They knew his favorite drink and Franny’s too, and I’d never seen women sprint so fast to get him a freaking towel.
Each woman’s eyes were on us—or mostly him.
He could be in a pressed suit or dripping sweat in a polo from a match, and they buzzed toward him like honeybees searching out pollen.
Maybe they were obsessed with his single dad parenting skills, or maybe they were all obsessed with his Diamond emblem, which I now saw everywhere.
I tried to ignore both their advances and that little symbol I would catch glinting on a bracelet or a ring or sometimes embroidered on a shirt.
They all had them, and now I knew what it must mean.
They all belonged, but I didn’t.
Hurrying to my bedroom after saying bye to Franny was for the best. I wrote a fast report and emailed it off to Jameson before I laid in bed considering what expenses I could put on the card Jameson had given me.
I’d need earplugs to get me through this summer. I glared over at the vent now. Somehow, it had become my nemesis in the last day or two. I had been staring at it for the last hour, contemplating if I should close it somehow—cover it with a pillow and run the shower for hours while Valerie visited.
What Jameson and I had done in his basement shouldn’t have mattered after what we agreed upon, but somehow it did. Him offering to fly me out to see my sister and then also taking Franny to the country club mattered too.
The knock at the door stopped me from buying a thing. “Yes?”
“We’re taking you out.” Rosy burst into my room without any food. It was near dinnertime, and I expected Archer to come bother me soon about a meal, but not her.
Or Pink or Olive, who followed her in.
“Out?”
“Yes. We’re bored, and the boys want to talk business.” Pink waltzed in with a duffel, plopped it on my bed, and started unzipping it immediately.
“What’s that?” I pointed to the bag and then frowned. “What boys and what business?”
“Our outfits, plus accessories.” She threw off her top as she smirked at me. “Rosy has options for you too. And our boys. Bane, Dimitri—Olive’s husband—and I’m sure Archer and Hades are there. Who knows who else? They should have a—” She stopped herself.
Rosy jumped in to cover up whatever she was about to say. “Please don’t say no. You’ve been avoiding me, and I can’t take it.” Rosy walked over to my bed with an armful of dresses. “We’re the women of the house, and we need each other.”
“You are … I’m just here for the summer,” I grumbled.
“Maybe, but for the summer, we’re a team. And when the house manager decides, it must be done.” She winked at me.
I bit my lip because I couldn’t help but wonder … “How did you get this job, Rosy?”
She pointed at the dress, ignoring my question. “I’m wearing the red, but you can pick whichever other one you want.”
Then both her and Pink started changing immediately. Olive shut my door for them and shrugged. “I’m keeping this on if you don’t want to dress up.” Her skinny jeans and crop top made all my clothes look less than average. “Why are you avoiding Rosy?”
“I’m not. I’m just … processing some things.” I hesitated, questioning whether any of these women knew what was really going on.
“Right. Processing the syndicate?” Rosy lifted a brow as she pulled her dress on and then sashayed over to me.
I opened my mouth but wasn’t sure what to say, so I shut it and waited. I guess she knew that I knew.
She chuckled. “I got this job because I was born into it … and the syndicate. My mom took care of his mom’s life, and Jameson needed more taking care of than anyone else in his family now.
Plus, he’s easy to manage. Jameson’s all rough around the edges, but he means well.
He told me you knew. Thank God, because I was over keeping that secret. ”
“He’s talking about me to you?”
“To all of us … And only when he’s trying not to.” Olive rolled her eyes. “He’s literally the worst at expressing his emotions.”
“Anyway, I have dinner all ready for them, so we don’t need to be here.” Rosy rearranged the dresses on the bed. “What do you want to wear?”
All three of them stood there looking at me expectantly, as if waiting for my response to that rather than the freaking ginormous elephant in the room. “So you all know he’s a part of the syndicate? That it’s completely dangerous? And you’re okay with it? Was he—”
Rosy held her hand up. “Let’s get this over with.
No, we don’t care. Why? Because we’re all a part of it too.
Sure, it’s a bit dangerous. Yes, we’re willing to take our chances.
Most people are. And to get in, well, you’re either born in, work your way in, or marry in.
” Rosy shrugged, not really explaining herself as she straightened a fuchsia dress on my bed. Pink and Olive held up shoes.
Or you stay out of it. “But why try to be a part of that?” I asked instead, shaking my head as I stood there, frowning at the heels Pink threw on the bed.
Rosy pointed to the dresses. “You realize that most people are a part of something. Why not be part of a protected society that has maintained an elite status for centuries?”
“Might be a little weird for you, but I’m just happy he told you about it. Would have been awkward if I’d been the one to have to tell you while out drinking,” Pink said as she turned, presenting her friend with the back of the dress she’d wiggled into. “Zip me, Olive.”
For some reason, this was more surprising than anything else they’d said. “You all really would have told me?” I asked as I walked over to my favorite color dress. Fuchsia would have to work even though I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to squeeze into the one they’d brought.
“Of course. I let you into my kitchen every day. We’re friends,” Rosy answered simply.
My heart twisted at her words. Friends. Did she really find it so easy to put her trust into someone? Like people didn’t put themselves first and sweep others’ emotions under the rug.
Maybe I was still raw after the conversation with my sister, after thinking of my mother’s response to Felix coming on to me.
My throat tightened looking at these women.
They’d come purposely to get me ready for a night out instead of stuffing me into a corner when I didn’t even belong in their society.
Pink cleared her throat. “And by the end of the night, you’re going to be friends with Olive and me too. Probably best friends if you drink tequila straight.”
When I turned to smile at that comment of hers, my mouth dropped. The black leather bodycon zipped up was lethal. Her pink hair and pink shoes popped perfectly, and I immediately realized: “I don’t think I can go out with you guys. I’ll look like a doormat.”
“Please.” Pink waved me off and pointed to the dress I was running my hand over. “Wear that dress with those heels and you’ll outdo us all. Plus, I want to see Jameson’s face when we tell him we’re going out.”
“He won’t care. It’s Friday, which means …” I glanced at the stupid vent and then stopped myself. “It’s the weekend. I can do whatever since Franny is going to her grandmother’s.”
“Right. He won’t care,” Olive mimicked as she looked at her lip gloss in the mirror over the dresser and fluffed her perfect curls.
“Dimitri will be mad too,” Rosy informed Olive as if she were unaware, but the girl was smiling like she knew exactly what was about to happen. “And, honestly, Bane’s not letting you go out with that dress on, Pink.”
Pink did a little shimmy in the mirror. “My husband can get fucked if he thinks he’s stopping me from shaking my ass in this dress. It’s too perfect to not.”
I chuckled and chewed on my cheek, considering my options. I could stay in and let my mind wander about the syndicate, or go out and learn about it with new friends.
And bonus: I didn’t have to listen to whatever Valerie and Jameson might end up doing later. I sighed as I grabbed my dress and walked toward the bathroom, but before I did, voices were heard from the vent.
It couldn’t be.
Jameson didn’t go into his office ever before dinner. It was a time he spent with Franny and his mother.
But I heard deep voices, ones belonging to men that must have been the husbands. I hurried over to the vent, but it was too late.
Pink stepped in the way, and her smile was wicked as the murmur coming through the vents grew louder and each of the women’s eyes shifted fast directly to where my nightstand had been moved.
“Oh shit,” Pink whispered. “Yeah, I think you just got promoted to best friend status without the tequila.”