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Blade came out of the office. She didn’t look at him as he walked outside, closing the front door with a quiet click. Tattletale. She needed to remember that in the future.
“Lyla, come here.”
Gavin didn’t yell. That had to be a good sign, right? Lyla rose and tried to conceal her nerves as she walked into his office. He sat behind the desk, in the office chair she rode him in yesterday. That felt like a lifetime ago. She didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye. She could feel his anger pulsing in the air. She clasped trembling hands together and waited.
“Blade had a lot to say.”
Loudmouthed, traitor bastard.
“Do you really think I’d cheat on you?”
Lyla ignored the painful wrench in her chest. “Not right now—” she blurted and stumbled back when he erupted from his chair.
“Not right now?”
“I mean, I meant—”
“Jesus Christ, are you fucking serious?”
“I don’t think you’re cheating,” she said, trying to sound firm, but it sounded unintentionally tentative.
He stared at her. She couldn’t read him, but she felt something building and tried to head it off.
“I-I believe you’re happy with me,” she said and when he didn’t comment, her confidence took a nose dive. How could he be happy with someone with such a fucked up family? “Or, satisfied.” Still no response. “I-I know I don’t have any right to ask for anything. Thank you for paying for the groceries today. I would have used my own money but...” But he had it. “Dad’s bedridden for a couple of months and Mom’s never worked. I need to help them, at least until he’s well enough to try to find a job.”
“And why would anyone hire a thief as an accountant?”
Lyla blinked. “You’d stop him from trying to get another job?”
“I’m not going to give him a fucking reference.”
Of course he wouldn’t. So, her father wouldneverget another job? She twisted her hands together. “I can get a job, pay you back for the groceries and—”
“No.”
She stopped talking, but he didn’t elaborate. Lyla raised her eyes to his and was caught in his predator stare.
“You aren’t going to work,” he decreed.
“But I need to help. They’re my parents.”
“Then you ask me for money.”
“You’d give me money to pay for their bills?”
A muscle twitched near his left eye. “Yes.”
She felt awful, even though he could afford it. “Thank you. You don’t have to do that.”
“I think you’re confused about something.”
Lyla tensed.
“You think I don’t care about you.”
She frowned. “I know you care.”
“Do you? Because I’ve been trying to show you that I’m all in and you’re backing away from me like I’m going to hit you.”
