“She said she wanted to work with me on the project. I’m not sure I have anything to offer, but I’m willing to learn.”
“I bet Erik loved that.”
I laughed. “You should have seen the joy on his face.”
Laura shook her head but was smiling. “I’m going to head to lunch. You okay watching the front desk?”
“Sure. Shouldn’t be too hard since Erik isn’t taking calls.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”
I’d been sitting at the desk for only a few minutes when a UPS man came to deliver a package. After signing for the package, I held the box and considered my options. Erik was pretty adamant about getting anything delivered as soon as it arrived and I knew he’d been expecting one from HudTech, the company on the label.
Deciding it would be better to have them stop talking for less than a minute than hold a package that may be more important, I went to knock on the door. I raised my hand but stopped when I noticed it wasn’t completely shut.
“You found her on the same site that Alexandra was on?”
“Yes. She was listed as sixteen and a virgin.”
“Same username as before?”
“Yes.” Jared sounded disgusted.
My heart pounded so hard, I was worried they’d hear it through the door.
“Hire MacCabe to collect her and take her to Haven and they’ll take over from there to get her settled.”
“Haven isn’t complete yet.”
“It’s done enough. She can be a trial of how everything will run.”
What the hell were they talking about? Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to organize the thoughts rushing through my mind. I tried to focus on the most rational answer but the scarier ones kept breaking through everything. He was on the site again. For a virgin. A young one. Maybe that was why he didn’t take me. Maybe I was too old.
No. I shook my head. Erik wouldn’t do that. He was an asshole, but none of this was true. I was hearing wrong. There had to be a logical explanation. There was no way Erik was going around buying young wo—
The door jerked open and I gasped, stumbling back in shock at seeing Jared standing there, his hand still on the door. One eyebrow crept up before he shifted his gaze from mine back to Erik, behind him. I tried not to, but I couldn’t help but follow his stare to Erik as well. He sat at his desk, jaw clenched and eyes hard.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I didn’t hear anything. I wasn’t even listening.” I kept rambling, spouting out random short sentences that seemed to make it worse and worse while internally I was screaming at myself to shut up. “You have a package.”
Jared turned back to me and one side of his mouth twitched. “Well, I’ll let you go ahead and handle that.”
He brushed past and left me standing in the open doorway, wide-eyed, heart still hammering, and clutching the package that got me into this mess. Erik didn’t say anything, just gestured me forward and held his hand out. I took slow steps forward and thought over all I’d heard.
What if he was buying up virgins? What if he wasn’t who I thought he was? Was I just going to ignore it? How did I bring it up?
My mouth made the decision for me before I could think through the repercussions. My body even joined in and cocked a hip with my hand on it, like I was Miss Attitude.
“What? You didn’t get me, so you’re back on the site looking for someone else?”
His hand dropped and his eyes turned almost black. “Don’t.”
He looked a little murderous, but now that I’d begun, I was committed and wanted answers. “No.” I slammed the door behind me and took long strides forward until I stood in front of his desk. “Tell me if you’re bringing another girl to the apartment. Maybe you’re trying to make a harem.”
“Alexandra,” he growled my name and his hand curled into a fist on his desk. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then tell me,” I almost pleaded. I didn’t want any of it to be true, but my mind struggled to form another option. “Because right now, I’m a little scared you’re keeping girls in different places for yourself.”
Erik heaved a breath and leaned back in his seat, his hand coming to rub across his mouth as he looked around the room. I stood there watching him, not moving no matter how long it took. Even if it felt like the seconds ticked by like minutes.
“Erik,” I whispered. All the challenge had left me, leaving behind desperation that I was wrong. I slept down the hall from this man. I’d sat astride the man and kissed him. I fought with him and trusted him. I had to be wrong.