Chapter 1
“Everett put me down, I’m fine,” I laugh out as he continues to carry me out to the parking lot.
He shakes his head. “Fine? You’re exhausted. You didn’t even wake up when I called you.”
I can’t help the smile that brings me, resting my head on his shoulder as he squeezes me against him. “I often fall asleep, it’s not a big deal.”
He grumbles at me, “you didn’t tell me you were coming here for your last appointment either. Do you want me to set it up to alert me every time you leave the house?” He tugs on my necklace as he slides me into the backseat like I honestly can’t walk.
“Want me to take it off?” I smirk in return.
Now he’s really grumbling. “Don’t start with me today, Carmen.”
He closes my door and walks around to get in on his side.
“He was really worried when you weren’t at home,” Salem informs me before Everett gets back in the car. “He debated heavily on whether to check your location, but when you didn’t answer your phone- he panicked.”
Everett gets in the car and slides me into the middle seat before buckling me in. I’ve tried multiple times to stay on the side or move him into the middle, but he’s insistent. There is a crease between his brows as he runs the seatbelt across my chest, tugging it twice to make sure it's latched, and I lean over to kiss his forehead. He looks up at me, the crease momentarily smoothing out as he looks at me.
“I’m sorry for worrying you,” I tell him softly. “Next time I’ll tell you when I leave for these appointments.”
“Oh you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll be bringing you to all your future appointments.” His voice is firm, stating he doesn’t want to argue.
“I don’t need a babysitter. I’ve been going to these appointments for years alone….”
“Exactly, far too many. You’ll never be alone again.” He takes my hand in his and kisses the back, but seems to have a sudden strong emotion overtake his calm. “You know the man who tried to mug you followed you from the clinic? He saw you fall asleep while on your tablet and figured you’d be an easy mark.”
“What?” I obviously didn’t know that, not that I’d gotten a good look at him. “How do you know that?”
“My mom wasn’t thrilled that I missed our plans, but she was even less thrilled that you were hurt,” he returns easily.
My mouth falls open. “Did she kill him?”
My last few months around Everett’s family have opened my eyes to a lot of things that I have needed to accept to be with him. One of those things is just how malicious his mother, Amaya, could be. When I’ve asked about her youngest sons, the ones cut off from the family after doing something very cruel to me, she had basically pretended they didn’t exist. There was also the month after I had my Red Room tattoo covered up and me and Julia were in the pool when Everett’s mother and father had shown up by helicopter in the backyard, tossing someone out of from high enough that I heard his leg snap. I had thrown up after seeing the bone protruding through his skin and they made the man apologize to me through his body going into shock.
Everett rubs my hand with his thumb gently. “No, she didn’t kill him. He wouldn’t be a very good warning to stay away from you if he simply disappeared. But he will find it very hard to rob anyone else when all his fingers finally heal.”
I swallow the bile in my mouth at the image in my head of two mangled hands trying to do anything, let alone stealing.
“You can’t go around hunting down anyone who upsets me,” i remind him as I try to distract myself from the images of people receiving bodily harm.
“Perhaps not retroactively, since you are so opposed to giving me any names, but no one is going to hurt you again.” He says it so firmly that I know it’s said with love, even if it gives me a bit of a chill.
I know with him it would be us against the world if it came to that, and it’s nice to have someone I could go up against everyone else with.
We arrive back at my condo and Salem pulls into the underground parking lot and into the stall that is now regularly used by Everett. I’ve heard Salem grumble more than once about having to get up earlier to pick him up from here, or about carrying things up to my place, citing how Everett never had things to carry before. Still, I see him smile when he thinks we’re not watching, and I know he’s happy for us.
Everett has been keeping me out of the office as much as possible, mostly because I keep finding mistakes in his reports. A lot of them are probably typos, but now he has me going over his books and working from home. I think he's worried if i connect the mistakes to people that I'll beg him to go easy, like I had when the woman I thought was a good friend at my last job set me up for embezzlement. I haven't heard from her since, but i know her family is fine because I've gone passed her house to check.
We climb out of the car and I force myself to stand straight, but Everett is right, and I'm exhausted. He doesn't accept the lie he can somehow see through and picks me up before heading to the elevator. This time, i don't argue. I hold onto him, seeing Salem follow behind us.
"Have more files for me?" I ask Salem, noting the bag over his shoulder.
He nods. "Mhm."
"Think I'll fine more mistakes?" I question with a grin.
He rolls his eyes. "No one is as thorough as you. Even our most seasoned accountants have missed things you caught. No bet."
I huff. Salem still owes me for the last bet he lost.
"Fine. Over-under. You pick," I bargain.
Salem can't resist making a bet with me, no matter how many times I beat him.
He stands beside Everett in the elevator ahd shakes the bag. "What do you think? Over $10,000? Over $20?"
Everett shakes his head. "No way. I'm already on dish duty for the next month after my last bet against her. I'm not touching this one."
Salem glances at me. "What are your terms this time?"
I just grin. "Nothing crazy, I want my nails redone." He looks skeptically at me. "And I want to eat my snack at the same time."
"There it is," he mutters rolling his eyes. "Yea I'll bet under $20 on this one. That' a bet I can afford to lose, but if I win I get to pick your nails this time."
I look at my nails and at his cheeky smile. "Colour and design, no words or anything crude. I'm hoping Everett will finally bring me with him to the office....." I drift off and look at him questioningly but he doesn't inform me either way so I shrug.
We enter my condo and I wiggle free from Everett’s hold to kick off my shoes and scoop up Chacha. Halfway down the hall, I slip my feet into the slippers I abandoned earlier on my way out and move to the kitchen. Everett is behind me before I can round the corner, with his hands on my shoulders, and redirects me towards the couch.
"We'll talk next week. For now, you rest and I'll get you your favorites." I open my mouth to refute him but he knows me too well. "I know you can do it yourself, and that you have been for years, but I'm here now. You don't have to do it alone anymore."
I can't help grinning as I move to the couch. Everett unfurls a blanket over me and turns the hear up. I hear Salem go down the hall to add the bag to the others in my office, and probably change. He's taken to leaving a couple things in my guest room for the off late night or early morning. He calls to me from the doorway and asks if I want him to bring me anything, and Everett yells at him to not bring my laptop so I can't start working before I've eaten.
Salem sits on the chair near the couch I'm on and leans toward me to say lowly, "when you're done eating I'll go get it for you if you want."
"Thank you," I grin back.
I never thought I would have consistent people in my life, let alone people I could depend on. Everyone I've grown to call friends since meeting Everett have grown a place in my heart I didn't realize was barren before. They don’t just put up with my crazy, they embrace it, and when I break down they stay by me, embracing that just as fiercely.
When Everett comes over with my later and a quineau protein bowl, that he tried once and I fell in love with, he kisses me head and moves in beside me on the couch. I rest my head on his shoulder as he keys up my projector for a show, then encourages me to eat while it's still warm.
"What?" He asks, looking down at me as I just continue to look up at him with a stupid grin on my face.
I shake my head but Im still smiling. "Nothing. I love you."
He grins too and kisses my nose. "I love you too, Carmen."
He tucks the blanket around me more and I slouch into his side as I bring the bowl to my face to feel the warmth. The fall air is beginning to creep in, and before we know it it'll be winter and then Christmas. This will be the first holiday that I won't be spending alone since I was a homeless squatter. I've already started my lists, and I can't wait to spend it with Everett and his family.
