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If I were anybody else but his daughter, then I might actually be worried about that look on his face.
* * *
When I pulled up to the Alexander house, I'm surprised to see the driveway empty except for the silver Escalade that's parked in front of the open garage. An empty garage, I might add. Though I had my very own bedroom here at the big house, I didn't think I had actually been here when someone who lived in the house wasn't home. They were my family, but it still seemed weird to me to be inside their homes when they weren't actually there. Except for Dash's cottage because that was my home too, even though I would, in all likelihood, never refer to it as anything other than Dash's cottage.
At least there was someone here though, so it didn't feel too weird being here.
After my conversation with Quinton, I figured he was either on his way to the shop so he could yell at me or at Dash's cottage waiting for me to come home after work so he could yell at me. I'd bet money on one or the other. And here I was at his house. Ha ha.
I parked my Rover farther back in the driveway so the guys who actually did live here would be able to get into the garage, and nobody would need to move their car later to let me out when I wanted to go home.
The front door was unsurprisingly unlocked and had me rolling my eyes when I walked in without having to use my key. If I lived here, I knew that it would be stressed that the door remain locked at all times. Jerks.
"Julian," I called out as I shut the door behind me. There was no answer so I moved through the first level, checking in the rooms. I started with the kitchen because that seemed to be where everyone hung out all together when they were here. Probably because the dining room and family room had been opened up to one big room, and instead of having a table of any kind, they had a giant television and comfy leather couches. If you didn't want to eat in front of the television or standing up, then you could sit down on one of the stools pushed up to the breakfast bar at the center island. The room was spotless and didn't look like a place you'd expect four guys to live in. And, much to my delight, someone had put up curtains for the sliding glass doors that took up the whole back wall of the living room area. If I had to guess I'd say it was Damien's handy work. The thought of anyone else picking out curtains and hanging them up in here was laughable.
The rest of the ground level was empty. I'll admit that when I peeked in on Quinton's office, I had a really hard time not opening up drawers and snooping around in there. I did, however, spot a black picture frame on his desk that had a picture of me in it. I was in profile with my face turned to the side and laughing. The picture was black and white, and my hair had been pulled up into a crazy messy bun on top of my head. The good side of my face was on display and from what I could make of the picture, it had been taken at the shop. I couldn't remember Quinton having taken pictures of me while I was working, but I honestly wasn't surprised to see it. It sat beside a framed picture of a man who looked a whole lot like what I imagined Ty would look like if he cut off all of his hair and aged twenty years. It was the first time I'd seen what Tyson's dad and Quinton's older brother had looked like. He'd been handsome and clearly aged well. This probably meant good things for both Ty and Quint.
I got the heck out of there before I started rifling through Quinton's things. The urge was strong, but I fought it like a boss and won because I knew he'd get some kind of sick joy out of knowing I'd gone through his things. He'd get off on it because he was like that.
I yelled for Julian up the stairs and wasn't surprised when I got no response.
I knew what that meant, where he was, and my heart rate sped up.
This hadn't been my idea, but his, and I'd gone along with it because I knew it was well past time for me to suck it up and move past this. I wanted to be able to stay here and not be freaked out that Vivian's dead and rotting body was going to dig itself out of the grave she'd been buried in, in the basement, and climb both sets of stairs so she could rip my flesh apart while I was sleeping.
I shivered as I made my way down the stairs that would take me to the basement.
I had only been down here the one time and I'd been a hysterical mess, but I still knew where I was going. I stopped outside of the door that would open up into the plant room with the dirt floor and sucked in what was supposed to be a calming breath. It came out shaky, so I sucked in another one. And another one. I kept going until my breathing evened out and grew steady.
I might have looked calm on the outside, but I was a jumbled up wreck on the inside. Fake it till you make it, that was my new game plan here, and it was one that would hopefully keep Julian from looking at me with pity in his eyes and worrying needlessly about me.
I opened the door without knocking and stepped inside.
Chapter Four
The air in here was cool and I was thankful for having worn my trusty hoodie over my tank top. I thought it was odd that in a room where plants were stored underneath heat lamps that the room would be cool instead of warm, but what did I know? I didn't want to ask why, not with this room, because I feared the answer would more than likely scare the shit right out of me.
Julian had his back to me and was hunched over the big table in the middle of the room.
I walked across the dirt floor on silent feet without him seeming to notice I'd even entered the room. I stopped about a foot behind him and held my breath, waiting for him to realize I was there. When a full minute went by without him acknowledging my presence, I couldn't take it anymore.
I lifted my hand and gently trailed my fingertips down the center of his back, along his spine.
He jumped and whirled around on me with his fist raised as if he was ready to fend off an attacker. I jumped back and held my hands up in surrender. His eyes flashed with heat, and I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the danger in them, almost as if I was drawn to the darkness there.
He dropped his hands as soon as he noticed it was me and the light fled from his eyes. Stupidly, I missed it as soon as it was gone.
He ran his hand through his hair while his shoulders slumped. "Damn it, Ariel, you scared the shit out of me."
"I'm so sorry, Jules," I hurriedly apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. I honestly don't know what the heck I was doing. I knew you didn't know I was in here and should have announced my arrival. I just... I'm sorry."
He smiled at me kindly before lowering his hand and gesturing at the table behind him.
"Not your fault," he assured me. "Sometimes I get so sucked into my work that I often forget where I am and lose myself in what I'm working on. Hours and hours will go by and I won't notice anything that's happening around me, because I'm solely focused on what's in front of me.”
I could completely understand that. It happened to me all the time while reading and lately when I was working with Rain, learning to practice my craft.
"You looked like you were about to punch me, maybe I should call you slugger from now on," I joked with him.
