Chapter Three
Erin
The next day, I get up to shower and get dressed in record time.
The high-end coffee machine with built-in coffee grinder might just have become my favorite appliance in the apartment.
After I gulp down two cups of the best coffee of my life, I ride the elevator down to the lobby and wait for Lily to pick me up.
Soon a car stops in front of the building, but apparently she is not the one driving.
A serious-ass driver jumps out and opens the car door for her, and Lily steps out.
We hug and get in under the professional politeness of the driver, who holds the door open and closes it again after we are seated.
Then he settles behind the wheel and pulls the car away from the curb.
Seeing my gobsmacked expression, she sheepishly explains that Damiano won’t let her drive for safety reasons, and that the driver-slash-bodyguard is now her permanent shadow.
“But you’ll get used to it.” She beams and pats my hand.
“I don’t know, it’s like you’re royalty. This is a bit unsettling.”
“Yeah…” She cringes and looks out of the car window.
“Lily.” I take her hand in mine and squeeze it. “As long as he makes you happy, nothing else matters, you hear me? And he’d better or else he will hear me.”
She looks up at me and tears start to trail down her smiling face.
“God, how did I ever deserve you as my best friend?” She starts to laugh when she sees my horrified expression at her tears.
“Hormones, Erin! I am happy, of course, and he is the best of husbands. Sometimes he can be a bit too controlling but I understand his concerns. Marriage is not always about love and passion, it’s also about compromising.
” She squeezes my hand back. Before I can say anything, the car stops in front of a cute stone building surrounded by a lush garden.
On the facade I read Sanctuary—Veterinary Care & Healing .
So here we are, my workplace for the next few months.
We step out of the car and Lily starts to proudly show me around and introduce me to the staff.
Yvette the receptionist looks like a sweetheart.
A fact I quickly confirm when I see her interact with patients and their owner.
Then there is Mira, the head veterinarian Lily met at her first job and hired as soon as she opened her clinic, and Sebastian, the vet tech assisting her.
Both greet me warmly, and I am soon looking forward to working with both of them.
Deborah, or Debbie as she insists I call her, and her assistant Piper are the other pair working here.
With Lily replacing either of the veterinarians when they are away, it is all the staff there is.
It looks more like a family-owned clinic than a pet hospital and I instantly like the vibes.
We head into Lily’s office and I can’t help but wonder, “But wait, if you only replace Mira or Debbie occasionally, what do you do the rest of the time? I thought you were practicing as a full-time vet here and I was to replace you at the operation table?”
She looks at me with that look, and I know I’ve been played. “Lily! Seriously?” I cry out in outrage. “You don’t really need me here, do you?”
“Erin, of course I need you, I really do!” she exclaims with a gasp and her gaze turns pleading. “But, well, the clinic is running pretty great on its own so I just need you to keep an eye on the overall management and make decisions when needed. You’re the only one I can trust.”
I let out a long groan. “So what am I supposed to do? I was working as a vet tech. When the others find out that I’m not qualified to be their boss and that I’m only twenty-five, this will end in a circus.”
“Of course you are qualified! You were overqualified for the last job you were doing anyway. After all, we took the same courses and you have your degree to prove it.”
“Yeah, but still…”
Lily’s quiet voice stops me. “I thought it was a good idea that someone I trust has an eye on the clinic, you know, to ease my mind. You can also do your other thing full-time—you don’t have to come in here every day.
We have an accounting firm and a cleaning firm working for us and Yvette handles the administrative side like a boss. ”
I sigh in defeat. “Okay, I guess I can try. But I thought I would be doing serious stuff, not merely show up to smile at your staff and check if the coffee maker still works.”
“My clinic is serious stuff! And I’ll have you know that the coffee maker is working fine.” She huffs with a playfully hurt look on her face and I laugh. I can’t be mad at her. No one can.
“Well, guess who just became the new temporary director here?”
She squeals in delight and claps her hands. “You’re the best! Now let’s go get lunch, I’m starving and the whole ‘eating for two’ thing is not a myth.”
A few minutes’ walk later, we are sitting in a quaint brasserie a few blocks away.
The staff seems to know Lily and greets her warmly.
What’s more, they don’t seem put off by the bodyguard taking up position by the door.
It is all a bit unnerving because it puts her situation under a new light.
I had assumed that her life would go on as usual with work, going home to her husband in the evenings, meeting friends on weekends.
But now that I see all the protection around her, I’m suddenly aware of the threat she must be constantly under.
It is as if darkness has taken hold of her life.
But still, she shines, as bright as ever, casting her glow over everything and everyone around her.
She has always been so strong and resilient, and right now, she glows like the queen she is.
She smiles at me. “So, have you settled in?”
“Yep, the place is seriously amazing. Did you know there is a pool on the rooftop, and a gym? That’s insane.”
She laughs. “Only the best for my friend.” She winks.
“Thanks for finding me a place. I could have stayed in a smaller place, though.”
“Don’t worry, I am the one thanking you. I was beginning to feel a bit anxious about leaving the clinic. Having you here is a nice compromise. Plus, you’re with me during my pregnancy, and you can’t possibly know how much it means to me.”
I feel my heart swell. Then a thought flits through my mind.
“Do you know if…what I could get Matteo as a thank-you gift for letting me stay there?”
She snorts. “Don’t worry about that, he has everything he wants. He owns half of the city.”
I cringe. There goes my gift idea of a pen with a Thank you, best landlord inscription.
“But…still. I feel bad about living there without any compensation.”
“Erin, you’re helping me, you make me happy, that makes Dark happy, and that, by extension, makes Matteo happy. I don’t know if that makes sense.”
I laugh. “I doubt that he’s that happy, but if you say he’s fine with it, I’ll take it.”
“You can ask him on Sunday, if he shows up to our weekly brunch.”
“You guys have weekly brunches?”
“Yes, we made it a tradition to meet every Sunday—Chiara, me and the boys whenever they can. Your presence is of course mandatory now that you live here.”
I exhale slowly. Shit .
I was prepared to run into him once or twice during my time here. But seeing him every week? That is an entirely different notion.
Should I go? Of course , I internally kick myself. He might not even be there, Lily said if he shows. It is fine, I will be fine.