The Knight (Endgame #2)(14)
“A new love interest?”
“Please. The word new implies there were any before.”
“Gabriel Miller seems to be taking up a lot of your attention lately.”
“He’s a horrible person.” I’m not so sure that’s true anymore. What if letting me leave early was a kindness? What if he really is trying to help me get my mother’s house back?
Her expression turns sly. “You can still want a horrible person.”
I crumple up a coarse napkin and throw it at her. “I don’t, okay? That’s crazy.”
“She doth protest,” she says, throwing it back. “And anyway I didn’t mean him. I meant Justin. Cute guy. Captain of the rowing team. Used to be your fiancé. Am I ringing any bells?”
“That was over the second he broke up with me.”
“He doesn’t think so. He’s on some kind of quest to save you.”
That sounds ominous. “I’m serious. We’re done. I could never trust someone who left me when I needed him most. He abandoned me because my family didn’t have money anymore. Because his daddy told him to. How messed up is that?”
“You don’t believe in second chances?”
I need a second chance myself too much to say no. “This is a heavy conversation to have without alcohol.”
She reaches into her bag and pulls out a two-liter of soda and a bottle of coconut rum. “So prepared. Now let’s build a fire and roast some marshmallows. I want to hear everything.”
Chapter Nine
I don’t tell her everything. Though it doesn’t have to do with being a lady. I’m pretty sure I gave up any rights to the term when I sold my virginity to a room full of cigar-smoking, brandy-drinking men.
But I tell her enough to hear her opinion on the house auction.
“I think he’s sincere,” she decides. “He had a crisis of conscience when he fucked you, and now he’s trying to make it up to you by giving you what you lost.”
“My virginity?”
She giggles. “Would you want that back?”
“God no. Totally useless. The only thing that ever got me was a million dollars.”
Halfway through the coconut rum, both of us find that hilarious. We drink the rest of it over a pepperoni pizza while she tells me about Justin’s fall from grace. He was Tanglewood’s golden boy. The son of a state senator, poised to follow in his footsteps.
And in another lifetime, my fiancé.
I’m not sure which hurt more, the fact that he broke off our engagement or that he’d done it over the phone. When he heard about the auction, when he heard about Gabriel Miller, he’d shown up at Gabriel’s estate. It was some half-cocked rescue mission, his figurative armor still shiny from disuse. He decided to be my knight on a whim—and he abandoned me to my fate the same way.
“Are you sure a million dollars will be enough?” she asks.
“No, but I’m crossing my fingers. And toes. And everything.”
“I’ll cross mine too.”
“The house is worth a lot more, but Charlotte said the auctions usually go for less than market value. I’m hoping this one will be even less than that, since it belonged to the St. James family. History matters for houses like this, and no one even takes our calls, much less wants our house.”
“Finally, an upside to your total ruin.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
Total ruin. If there’s one thing I can say about Gabriel Miller, he’s thorough. His goals aren’t good, his methods rarely kind, but you can depend on his ruthlessness. In a perverse way I can count on him more than I could count on Justin.
I sleep that night with a deep, dreamless security that only alcohol can bring.
Chapter Ten
Horrible pounding drags me out of sleep.
I squint against the harsh sunlight streaming between the vertical blinds. What’s happening? It sounds like the entire motel is coming down. Construction? Asteroids? Anything seems possible in my delirious confusion. There’s a warm weight across my legs, holding me down.
“Gabriel?”
The world comes into focus, and I realize it’s Harper’s legs pinning me down. And I said Gabriel’s name. Out loud. How embarrassing. At least Harper is more groggy than me.
“What’s happening?” she mumbles, dragging a pillow over her head.
The events from yesterday come back to me in reverse order: the late-night chat, finding Harper in my room. Meeting with Uncle Landon. Oh God. The auction. It’s today!
A knock comes at the door, more insistent.
“Coming,” I shout, fighting with Harper’s limbs and the sheets around my ankles.
Harper groans. “Make it stop.”
I fling open the door to find Will standing outside the door. His brown eyes widen as he takes in my state of undress—a tank top and panties. A small sound of surprise and I slam the door shut. “Why are you knocking?” I call through the door. I know from Chastity’s soundtrack how thin these walls are.
“There’s a limo in the parking lot. Pretty sure it’s for you.”
“Ten minutes,” I shout.
“Whatever,” comes the reply.