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Adrian smiled indulgently at Damien, seeming amused by his outburst as opposed to upset by it.
"My, my," Adrian purred, "would you look at you. All grown up and no longer your mama’s little plaything. Frankly, I'm astounded to have seen the way you are with our sweet Ariel, I'd always assumed you'd bat for the other team. Not, mind you, that there's anything wrong with that."
Quinton and Julian sucked in sharp, painful breaths. Damien's body froze to solid ice. He was so cold I started to shiver just from the amount of contact I had with him. I clutched him even tighter, not about to let my mind go where Adrian had just insinuated.
"You know what?" I asked in a loud, forced voice. "That's okay, I'd rather you not tell me. It will help me get to know them better if they tell me instead of you. I'm sure Simon and Trenton won't mind at all."
The bell jingled over the door again. The brothers walked into the store, both with a backpack on and a duffle bag in their hands.
"Where's the rest of your stuff?" Quinton inquired in a gruff voice. "Do we need to go out to the motel and get it for you?"
Trenton looked at Quinton in confusion. "This is all of our stuff."
Quinton's lips pursed angrily as he looked down at his cowboy boots. I smiled kindly at the two brothers, there was no shame in owning so little. I knew Quinton wasn't trying to make them feel ashamed, he was angry on their behalf. The man was a bear most of the time, but he had a heart of pure gold when it came down to it.
If they stuck around with this crew it wouldn't be long before Damien had his way with them and filled their closets with a brand new wardrobe. That's how it had gone for me.
Realization struck like a bolt of lightning. Where in the heck were they supposed to live? I couldn't just bring them home with me to Dash's house. There was no room. Besides, it would be rude to invite them without making sure it was okay with Dash first. And, this one time, I had a strong feeling it wouldn't be okay with Dash. There was an empty apartment above the store that had been gutted and completely redone, but, again, I couldn't invite them to just move in up there without asking both Tyson and Rain if it was okay with them.
Then I guess I would have to pay their rent for them? I think my paying their way was insinuated by Adrian and I had never been happier in my life to have money. Rain had set up my accounts for me with money that, had I never been kidnapped by my bitch of an aunt and raised by her, would have been rightfully mine. He tried to give me Vivian's money too, but we had donated it all to charity. But the rest of the money Rain wouldn't allow me to give away and had forced me to keep it. I also had a bank account that Marcus had set up for me and still continued to put money in it every month, even though I had asked him to stop.
I could actually afford to support Trenton and Simon easily. A year ago I hadn't had two nickels to rub together. Now I could not only afford to take care of myself, but two more people as well. And wasn't that a weird feeling.
Adrian stood up and headed my way. Everyone, I noticed, and yes, that included the two newcomers, tensed as if ready to take action if he so much as looked at me wrong.
I let go of Damien and held my hands out to him as he came up to me. I only did it out of fear he might actually try to hug me if I were to allow it. I wasn't much of a hugger.
He took my hands in his and pulled gently on them. I took the hint and bent toward him, with my scarred cheek on display. His lips ghosted over my cheek and he let my hands go, stepping back.
"I will see you next week at Marcus's dinner," he told me, before turning to face the rest of the room. "I'm sure I'll see you all there. No need to walk me out, I know the way."
And with that, he turned on his fancy, expensive loafers that didn't suit him in the slightest, and headed for the exit. The bell above the door jingled on his way out.
I wasn't sorry to see the back of him.
"Dinner?" Julian huffed. "What dinner is he talking about?"
"Is there something else you've conveniently forgotten to share with us, Ariel?" Quinton asked in a dry, sarcastic voice.
I shrugged, having no idea what the hell Adrian had been talking about.
"Not this time, Uncle Quinton," I shot back, mimicking the voice he'd used on me. "I'm sure that whatever it is, Marcus will fill me in when the time is right."
"We'll see about that," he muttered irately as he pulled his cell phone out of the back pocket of his jeans. He stormed off toward the back of the shop as he put the phone to his ear. I felt bad for Marcus and if I thought it would make any difference, I would have ran around the counter and shot off a text to him in warning.
Instead of doing what I really wanted to do, which would have been running out the door and far away from my new responsibilities, I turned to face them head on. And I wasn't surprised to see both Damien and Julian with their arms crossed over their chests, watching me with expectation.
Guess I had some explaining to do.
I scratched the back of my neck nervously.
This wasn't exactly how I had expected my day to go.
Chapter Ten
Rain Kimber
Isat in the apartment above Fortune's for the Unfortunate and watched every move made on the screens playing out in front of me.
