Chapter 3
3
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I f you had told me this morning that I would be getting ready for bed with Elara in Leo Warner’s apartment, I’d tell you to fuck off.
But that’s the reality of my situation.
After I agreed to stay, I took Elara back to my car, grabbing her overnight bag. The only thing I brought from home was a little black dress for the job I was going to, so I’ll have to deal with sleeping in the clothes I have on.
When we get back to the elevator, Elara tugs at my arm. “Is Uncle Owen home now?” she asks, her light blonde hair falling over her shoulders as she looks up at me.
I shake my head. “No bub, we’re going to stay with Aunt Isla’s brother tonight, okay?”
She shrugs, as if she doesn’t have a care in the world. I didn’t expect her to. Elara loves being out and about, and Isla is one of her favorite people on this floating rock. She’s become one of mine, too.
“He’s nice,” Elara says, leaning against the cool metal of the elevator.
“Who?”
“That guy. ”
“Leo?”
She yawns. “Yeah. But his place is sad.”
I smirk a little. “Not a whole lot of color, is there?”
She shakes her head, pursing her lips. “I think he needs some help.”
“He needs help alright,” I grunt under my breath.
My daughter looks up at me in question, but the elevator dings, bringing us all the way up to Leo’s floor. We exit, making our way back to his place. I knock softly, and he’s there in a second, letting us in.
The second we’re through the door, his massive frame blocks me, and for a second I rear back, trying to figure out what he’s doing.
But I’m too distracted by watching his left hand rake through his hair to realize his right hand is outstretched, a shiny key between his fingers.
“You going to take it?” he asks with a smirk.
I narrow my eyes, deciding to ignore his comments altogether instead of defending myself.
Crosby’s don’t admit weakness.
Realizing I’m not going to address it, Leo turns to watch Elara run into the center of the room, turning back to watch us.
“I put clean towels in the bedroom for you guys so you can take a shower. Or a bath. Whatever you want. There’s a TV in there with all the streaming services you can possibly imagine. There’s plenty for her to watch if that’s something you do before bed. There should be toothbrushes and everything you may need in the bathroom cabinets.”
“Oh you’re stocked,” I tell him.
He shrugs. “I have a lot of guests over.”
I gag.
Leo rolls his eyes, turning and walking further back into his place. “Not like that. Family and friends. My parents bring a lot of friends here for games when they’re in the states. ”
I forgot that his parents moved overseas. I once had a whole conversation with his mom in the suite at a game about the highland cows she was contemplating buying.
Stopping, I turn back toward him, Elara’s overnight bag clasped to my chest. Strands of my blonde hair fall into my eyes, and I blow them out of the way before looking him over. “Are we going to be an issue here if, well, you know.”
“If you end up staying here more? No. I have plenty of space. I promise.” His hands are in his pockets, his hair disheveled. His lips are tipped up in a friendly smile, and when my eyes land on his boyish smile lines I force myself to look away.
Leo Warner isn’t bad news per se. If that were the case I would never accept this job. But to say that I want to be friends is a long stretch.
This is a job and nothing else. A means to an end. A way to pay for my daughter to have a better life. A far better one than her father has been setting her up for, that’s for sure.
I bite my lip, nodding as I turn back around toward Elara. “Thank you,” I tell him over my shoulder, placing my hand on the back of my daughter’s head as we head down the hall.
“Good night, Crosby,” he calls after me.
I don’t respond.
An hour later Elara is passed out in the large king-sized bed against the left wall, buried under what felt like hundreds of the most luxurious blankets. She was in heaven.
“Mom, I want to stay here every day. All day. Oh my go—sh, sorry. These are so soft!” She threw herself down, burying herself in blankets.
I didn’t know how to explain the situation to her. I still don’t. But it’s probably for the best until Leo and I get the details sorted.
The second Elara passed out, I was in the bathroom drawing a bath. She had taken a shower before climbing into bed, and the bathroom was still steamy and warm. After cleaning up the toothpaste she dropped on the counter and wiping up water on the ground, I strip off my dress, dropping it to the floor before climbing into the giant, deep egg-shaped tub, letting my head rest against the back as I watch the city lights across the inner harbor reflect against the National Aquarium.
It's a view I’ve been jealous of ever since I stepped foot in Isla Warner’s apartment right next door to drop Elara off. The sun was setting, casting the most romantic, beautiful glow off the water below.
If I were living here, I’d never want to move.
Dipping down into the water, I let the warmth cover my face as I think about Leo’s offer. I would be an idiot to turn it down. No, I would be irresponsible. But is the financial burden worse than possibly subjecting my child to whatever he has going on? There will have to be hard rules.
I may not like the guy that much. He may be a pain in everyone’s asses. But if there’s one thing about Leo Warner, it’s that he’s a brick wall. Once he’s made his mind up, there’s no moving him. Him telling me that he won’t let Tony get in the way of things is one of the biggest reasons I have to say yes.
The amount of jobs I’ve tried to take. The amount of heartache when I’m let go from every single one of them.
And Owen. Owen can’t know. The kid would beat the shit out of Tony, and I can’t have that. Not only that, but he’d worry too much. If it really came down to it and we were in a dangerous situation, I’d get him involved. But right now? We’re okay. Elara and I are doing fine.
But we could be doing better .
“Fuck,” I curse, staring at the dark ceiling above me. I’m going to have to take this job.
“What is this?”
Leo looks up from the counter, his green eyes widening as he looks between me and what’s laid out in front of him.
“I didn’t make it myself. Ordered you guys breakfast.”
Walking over to the counter, I take in the platters of pancakes, French toast, bacon, and the works before my eyes catch onto the fresh pot of coffee behind him. Catching my gaze, Leo quickly turns, grabbing a mug out of the cabinet and pouring me a cup.
“There’s creamer in the fridge,” he tells me, swiping his hand through his thick brown hair.
“I usually drink it black, but thank you,” I inform him, warming my hands up on the mug.
His face falls. “Oh.”
My brows furrow. “What do you mean, oh?”
“No reason.” He shrugs.
But I’m nosy, and I want to know the reason. As he turns, I march to the fridge, yanking it open.
And what meets me is about seven different coffee creamers.
“You drink all of these?” I ask him, counting them all. They all look unopened. Untouched.
“I uh, well I had them delivered,” he says tentatively. I look at him, watching as he winces, leaning against the back counter.
“When?”
“This morning. With all of this.”
“Why? ”
“I know I get grumpy in the morning if I don’t have the coffee I like and well,” my heart starts to melt into a puddle on the ground, “I just thought, you know, you can be a little grumpy all the time . I just wanted to make sure you were a little less grumpy.”
And just like that, it freezes once more.
“I am not grumpy all the time !”
His eyes grow round as he considers this, deciding—rightfully—that he doesn’t want to continue with the conversation. “Bottom line is I wasn’t sure what you liked with your coffee so I just got them all.”
I grunt, looking back at them one last time before grabbing the peppermint mocha creamer and pouring about a tablespoon of it into my cup.
“I didn’t take you for a peppermint mocha girl,” he mutters.
“Peppermint mocha year-round is the only way to go,” I tell him, leaning against the island as I take a sip. It’s bitter, but not in a way that makes it entirely unenjoyable. What matters is that it’s the perfect temperature, feeling like a warm blanket being wrapped around me.
“Let’s get down to business,” I start, cracking my neck. Elara will be up soon, and I want this conversation to be done before then.
“Let me hear it,” he says, rounding the island and taking a seat. He has his own cup of coffee, black, I notice, and takes a sip before looking me in the eyes.
“The very first rule. No girls here when we are. You need to either tell me when you’re going to have one over so we can be elsewhere, or you need to go to their place.”
He winces, like I knew he would. “Starting off strong, are we?”
I shake my head. “I’m not having my daughter around that.”
“Got it,” he says, nodding .
“Second, although I’d rather my brother not know, he’s going to know at some point. And I’m not telling Elara to lie to him. So if she decides to blurt something out like six year olds tend to do, we’re screwed. So we should probably tell him sooner rather than later.”
“Don’t think she would keep the secret?” he asks.
“No, I don’t teach her to lie to people she cares about, and I don’t teach her that adults can ask her to keep a secret. There are no secrets I can’t know, and Owen is important to both of us. I want her to trust him enough to tell him something if she needs to.”
He nods in understanding, his eyes twinkling in the morning sun.
“Finally, I don’t want to be mistreated simply because you know I need this job. If there’s a contract or something, I want my friend to look it over. She’s a lawyer. I want everything laid out so I don’t get screwed over.”
He looks me over, his eyes feeling heavy as they gaze seemingly right through me. “I understand,” he says simply, surprising me. From what I’ve heard, I’d think he’d put up more of a fight. “Is there anything else?”
“When you mentioned pay, how much are we talking?”
“I can finalize that with my people, but I can assure you it’s more than enough to pay for everything you need to, as well as set Elara and yourself up for the future.”
I freeze. “Leo, you don’t have to do that. I’d be fine with the pay of a normal job.”
“That’s why I’m not telling you right now.”
“Leo—”
He shakes his head.
“Next,” is all he says.
“What am I going to be responsible for?”
He thinks for a minute. “If I have anything important that needs to be done during the day that I can’t do, I’ll ask you. I may occasionally ask you to cook dinner if I’m running late, but most of the time I just pick up a pizza. I won’t lie to you, there may be a couple of fires you may have to put out. Otherwise, you’ll just help me organize my life. I have training camp during the week, and pre-season is starting soon. There’s going to be a lot to deal with and I need a bit of help.”
Okay well, that doesn’t sound too horrible. I’m a little concerned about the multiple fires part, but if it doesn’t happen too often that’s not that terrible, right?
“And I can bring Elara with me when I need to?” She’s going to be going back to school soon, which will be great, but if we’re living here most of the time it may become an issue. I may have to look at transferring her, and if I do that, I’m going to have to look for an apartment here in the city for when this little deal ends.
He nods. “Anything else?”
But I don’t think I have any other questions. I know that this is probably going to be a hard job. There’s no doubt about that.
“I think that’s it for now.”
“Then we have a deal?”
“We have a deal.”
The problem is, the deal was made with the devil.