Page 141 of Twisted Truth

“Yes!” Ella says with an enthusiastic nod. “And that might help keep Professor Creepy in line.”

Maya’s eyes bulge and she shoots Ella a dirty look.

“Professor Creepy?” Sterling says in a quiet, menacing voice.

“It’s noth?—”

“It’s not nothing,” Ella snaps, interrupting Maya. “He’s creepy and pushy and he makes you uncomfortable.”

“Take my card.” Sterling says it like an order as he pulls the card from his suit pocket and pushes it toward her. “Call if you ever need anything. I know you’re over here by yourself.”

“I’ve been here for three years, and I haven’t had any problems. I’m fine?—”

“Maya, take the card,” Ella says, interrupting her again. “I know you’re smart and strong and capable, but he’s not wrong. You are in another country all alone. It doesn’t hurt to have someone you can call on if you need help.”

“I have friends here. I’ve lived here for three years; I’m not entirely alone.”

Ella keeps her brows raised, unimpressed, and Maya lets out an annoyed breath, rolls her eyes, and finally reaches toward Sterling and takes the card. “There, happy now?”

“Yes,” Ella says with a satisfied smile. “You know how much I worry about you. This makes me feel slightly better.”

Maya rolls her eyes again. “As if your living alone in New York was much better. And you lived with that asshole, Kyle. The worry was not one-sided, my dear.”

“No need to worry anymore,” I say to Maya. “The imbecile, Kyle, will never go near Ella again. And she’s not living alone in New York anymore. She’s living with me in one of the most secure buildings New York has to offer.” I can hear the slight possessiveness in my tone, but I can’t beat it back. My thoughts from earlier hit me again, wondering where Ella will go after all this is over, and it makes my skin crawl.

Sterling gives me one of his looks, and I know I’m in for trouble. “Why yes, Asher. It’s good she’s living with you with the circus of media that now plagues her.”

I shoot him a glare. “An unfortunate side effect of dating a Langford. You know that well, Sterling.”

He narrows his eyes, but the waitress interrupts, asking for our orders, before he can respond. We each order, but when it’s Maya’s turn, she seems a little skittish.

“I’ll just have a side salad,” she says, her eyes raking down the menu with furrowed brows.

“You will not,” Ella snaps. “She’ll have the same as me,” she tells the waitress.

Maya opens her mouth to protest, but Ella cuts her off again. When the waitress leaves, Maya is glaring at Ella, but Ella holds her glare with no contrition. “Asher is paying for the meal. We wouldn’t invite you to dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants in London and expect you to pay for yourself. Plus, you don’t need to be so tight with your money now; I transferred money into your account.”

Maya’s cheeks flush red, which is very noticeable beneath her pale skin. “Yes. But I have to purchase a work wardrobe now, so I’m being careful.”

“Then I’ll send you more money. I’ve told you, Maya, you have to stop half-starving yourself. You’ve lost weight since the last time I saw you.”

“Well, I just got the money two weeks ago.”

“And before then, were you scrimping on buying enough food again?”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Maya grumbles.

“Ella said you are on scholarship here at Oxford,” I ask Maya, concerned about the turn of the conversation.Is Ella’s sister really forgoing eating enough food because she can’t afford it?“What does that cover as far as expenses go?”

Maya blushes again. “My scholarship is only seventy-five percent tuition and no living expenses. Just the twenty-five percent tuition is far more than I can afford on my own.”

“Our parents had money put away for us for college,” Ella says, “but when our father got cancer, well, it was expensive. And it was either treat his cancer or pay for college. Both Maya and I had earned good grades in school, so we told our parents to spend the money on his treatments. In the four years he fought, they spent every last dime and then some.

“That’s one reason Maya and I went to college together. We did it so we could live together and keep expenses down as much as possible if we were smart about it. Our mom helped as much as she could, but her job doesn’t pay all that well.”

“Did your mother not receive life insurance from your father’s death?” Sterling asks, gently.

Ella bites the inside of her cheek. “That’s the thing. He had a life insurance policy, but three months before he was diagnosed, the company went under, and he only got a portion of his premiums back. He was in the middle of writing a new policy when he was diagnosed, so all the insurance companies denied him. No sense in writing the policy of a dying man.”