Chapter 16
Stefan
“V oila!” Francesca exclaimed. Happily shooting her hands up into the air in celebration.
I leaned over and took a look at what she'd been working on most of the afternoon. Somehow, she'd made, drawn, and filled in three new pieces to complete the puzzle. Her homemade ones were still fairly obvious. But fuck if she didn't do an excellent job.
“Unbelievable. Where'd you learn how to draw like that?” I carefully touched the smooth top of one piece with my finger.
“Oh, careful. I still need to add some clear glue around them.
So they don't get ruined right away.” She stood and crossed the floor to where her backpack sat.
And yes, I stared at her ass as she bent over and picked it up.
“I swiped some medical grade glue.” She grinned and headed back to the couch.
She unzipped her backpack and riffled through it and pulled out a small bottle.
A piece of paper peeked out and I pulled it out the rest of the way.
“Hey, don't,” she said, and tried to grab it back from me. I held her back with my arm while I read the letter.
“Dear Francesca, we are pleased to welcome you—” my eyes skimmed down the rest of the page. And I smiled. “You got into nursing school? Congratulations.” I felt my eyebrows nearly jump off my face.
I expected to see a giant smile on her face. Instead, what I saw was—disappointment. “Yeah, thanks.” She tried to take back the letter, but I wouldn't let her.
“Why are you mad? I thought this would be a good thing?” I asked, confused.
Francesca hadn't told me that she was applying for school.
But I could understand why. She might not have wanted anyone to know if she didn't get accepted.
That wouldn't have mattered to me. At all.
Even so, I could understand why she'd want to keep something like that to herself.
“Yeah, it's great.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a pair of gloves. She slipped them on and opened the glue. Then she picked up one of the homemade puzzle pieces and went to work on it.
There was still something off, though.
Really off.
Getting into nursing school had been a dream of hers. There was no reason why she shouldn't be excited about it.
She was hiding something from me.
I tossed the acceptance letter to the floor and yanked her backpack onto my lap. There was a stack of papers inside, and I pulled them out.
“Wait! Don't!” Francesca said, but I was already standing and walking to the bed. I sat down and flipped through the many pages.
She'd applied for a—loan.
A fucking student loan.
And they'd denied her.
Flat out told her to go to hell. Immediately.
I dropped the papers beside the puzzle and looked over at her. “I told you I'd pay for your school. Why did you do this?” I jerked my head at the loan papers scattered in front of me.
She took a breath and went back to her puzzle pieces. “You're not paying for my school, Stefan.” She carefully finished gluing one piece and picked up another one.
“I am. Get me the bill and I'll pay it right now.”
She let out a small, sad laugh. “You're not paying, honey. I told you that already. This isn't your problem.” She grabbed another puzzle piece and began carefully applying glue to it.
“You're mine. So, yes, I'm paying,” I insisted, trying my best to let her know she wasn't going to win this fight. Because she fucking wasn't.
When she didn't look up—or answer me, I said, “Chesca. What's the problem here? I offered to pay. I have money. I think you understand that. I don't see an issue.”
She set down the freshly glued piece and picked up the last one.
“You're not paying. I shouldn't even have tried to apply.
Even if they'd given me the loan, it wouldn't have been enough, anyway.
There's no way I could make enough for my rent and other living expenses.” She shook her head and shrugged.
“I guess I just wanted to see if I'd get accepted.
But I feel even worse now. So, it really wasn't worth it.”
I sighed and did my best not to explode. “You won't have any fucking living expenses, Chesca. You'll be living with me.” Again, I tried my level best to calm the fucking rage that was ready to burst forth. “And I have money. A lot of it. Your tuition is barely a drop in the bucket.”
Her eyes rose to mine, and she shook her head. “I don’t even know you. I'm not letting you pay tens of thousands of dollars for me. That's stupid.”
If I had the strength, I'd—well, I'd do a lot of things. But at the moment, I couldn't do a damn thing.
“Give me your phone.” I stretched out my hand. “I'll make one call, and you can go pick out binders and pens.” I smiled at her and waited.
And waited.
Jesus.
This woman.
“Why are you fighting me on this?” I lowered my voice. “You're moving in with me. It's my job to take care of you. And that includes nursing school. If you go for a week and hate it—” I shrugged, “then don't go back. Fuck it. But at least give it a shot. Or you'll regret it.”
Francesca slipped off her gloves and sat back. She licked her lips and crossed her arms. “We'll talk about it in a few days. Okay? I'm just not in the right mindset right now.”
She was asking me to lay off this subject. For a few days. Technically, she wouldn't have to respond to the acceptance letter for a while.
We had time.
I wasn't giving up.
I wasn't giving in.
I was just—delaying the decision making on her part.
If she needed a few days to let everything sink in—then I could do that.
She might think I was talking out of my ass—and that I really wouldn't have her move in with me. She likely had doubts. After all, the woman couldn't see inside my head. She didn't know the depths of my commitment.
But she would.
And soon.
I gathered up the loan papers and looked at her. “Okay. We'll discuss this again in a few days. While you're packing up whatever shit you want to bring to my place.”
All I got out of her was a small smile and a nod.
After that, she announced that she needed a quick shower. And then she was going out to clean up her car.
Once she was in the bathroom, and I heard the shower turn on—I pushed off the bed and hunted down her phone.
It was on top of the shitty dresser. I'd taken note of her security code.
So, I quickly tapped it in. It didn't take me long to dial my assistant.
When he answered, I said, “It's me. I need you to do something right now.”