I wake up to the smell of Lucius on my sheets and an ache in my chest.
Jackknifing to my feet, I rip the offending linens off the bed and toss them into a pile. If I want to stay sane, I’ll have to do emergency laundry.
When does the laundromat open again?
I reach for my phone so I can call the place, but then I recall that I forgot the stupid phone.
Ugh, I need to get it back.
My new destination—Lucius’s grandmother’s house.
A few seconds after I not-so-gently bang on Pearl’s door, Aleksy opens it.
“You just missed him,” he says without preamble.
Grr. “Him” must be Lucius. I didn’t realize I was risking bumping into him.
Or maybe I did realize it.
Maybe I wanted it.
No.
Unlike Aleksy, I’m not a masochist.
“I forgot my phone on the coffee table in the living room,” I say, and blush as I recall what else that table was involved in.
Aleksy opens the door and gestures for me to come in. I rush in quickly, praying to saguaro I don’t run into Pearl. The last thing I want is to cry again if she asks me anything to do with her robot of a grandson—that wouldn’t be good.
Not at all.
“The phone isn’t here,” I say to Aleksy, looking around the room.
He shrugs.
“Did Lucius take it?” I ask.
He scratches his chin. “It’s possible.”
I exhale in frustration. “Where do you think he is?”
Another shrug. “Work?”
Right. Of course. The only thing he really cares about.
Stomach tightening as I anticipate that encounter, I nonetheless head out to my new destination.
I step into the fateful building where I first saw Lucius.
The lobby is just as I remember it—a wannabe Ancient Rome museum.
Crap. Why didn’t I dress to impress? It might’ve made Lucius regret being such an asshole, but more importantly, it would be nice to fit in with all the stylish worker drones for a change.
I feel a chill down my spine that is only partially related to the overzealous AC.
To calm myself, I approach the green wall and locate the star cactus there. “Hey, little guy,” I croon. “Are you being taken care of by whoever got that job I didn’t get?”
After a quick soil check, the answer seems to be yes. Good. Not everything is shitty in this awful universe.
Turning to the security desk, I spot the same guard who checked my ID the last time. I head over to him.
“Juno,” he says excitedly. “You’ve made me a celebrity around here.”
I blink at him. “How?”
He grins. “I got the credit for meeting you before the big boss did.”
Ah. I guess that makes sense. The fact that their stone-hearted asshole of a “big boss” got a human girlfriend is probably an event of mythical proportions, and anyone involved is the gossip lottery winner.
“Is he here?” I ask, not bothering to sound like a caring girlfriend in the slightest. “He has something I need.”
“Let me check.” The guard begins making calls and gets transferred a few times before he says, “Yes. Juno is here looking for—”
He stops midbreath, and I can picture Lucius on the other end. She’s stalking me now? How annoying.
“Yes,” the guard says after a beat. “I’ll ask her to wait for you.” Hanging up, he looks at me with slight confusion. “That was Ms. Avalin. She wants to talk to you.”
“Who?”
He types a few keystrokes and turns his screen to me to show me a picture. “Her.”
Ah. He’s talking about Eidith. She of the extra ‘i.’
Is Lucius sending her down with my phone so that he doesn’t have to bother facing me himself? Or is he too busy now that he’s literally and figuratively fucked me?
I wait, shifting from foot to foot, until the blond ice queen clickety-clacks over to us, hips swaying like a sexy pendulum.
“Juno,” she says. “I’ve been hoping we could talk.”
That’s odd. She doesn’t seem to have my phone. All she’s holding is a piece of paper.
“Come,” she says in a voice that indicates she’s used to being obeyed.
Curious, I follow her to the nearest elevator. We get inside, but she doesn’t press any buttons. After a moment, the doors close anyway and she says, “We have to make it quick.”
“Make what quick?”
She sighs. “Look… I know about you and Lucius.”
My stomach drops. Did he confide in her about last night?
No. That would be too much, even for him.
Best to play it cool, as hard as it is. “Can you please clarify?”
“I saw the contract on Lucius’s desk. You and Lucius are not real,” she says. “It’s all about money for you. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If anything—”
“Why do you care?” The words come out a touch hysterical.
She hands me the paper she’s been holding. “That’s double what he promised you.”
I stare at the number on the check—which is what the paper is—in stupefied incomprehension.
“That money is yours,” Eidith says. “If, and only if, you break off the fake relationship, as of today.” She points at the check. “There’s an email address I wrote on the back. It’s that of a respected journalist. He’ll expect to hear from you.”
“Why?” I ask numbly.
Is she doing this on Lucius’s behalf?
She shrugs. “Your arrangement has never sat right with me. If he’d asked me, I would’ve advised him against it.”
“Oh?”
I’ve changed my mind about who the biggest asshole in the world is. Lucius will have to give up that title to her.
“Why do you care?” she asks.
Why indeed? I throw out a wild guess. “Do you want him to date you?” At her slight flinch, I press my advantage. “I bet dating you for real would be a lot like fake-dating you.”
She narrows the icicles that are her eyes. “Lucius and I make a lot more sense than a billionaire and a nobody who doesn’t know how to dress or act. A barely literate nobody who—”
Sucking in a sharp breath, I jam at the “door open” button.
If I stay in this elevator a moment longer, I’ll hurt this bitch, badly—and since she has lawyers and witnesses who saw us go in together, I’ll end up in jail.
No, thanks. I’ll pass.
As soon as the doors open, I leap out, but Eidith sends a parting shot at my back. “You’ve been a stain to his reputation.”
I almost turn back and risk jail.
But no. She’d love that.
Ripping up the check, I run out of the stupid building, jump into a cab, and put all of my effort into not embarrassing myself by crying. I feel as if Eidith has stuck a finger into the gaping wound of insecurities that Lucius opened up last night—and then made a come-hither motion, followed by a poke.
As I approach my front door, I see Lucius waiting there.
My heartbeat skyrockets.
Gulping in a calming breath, I storm over and angrily clear my throat.
He turns and looks me up and down. “There you are. I was—”
“Where’s my phone?” I ask as cuttingly as I can.
Frowning, he pulls it out of his pocket. “Here. Can we—”
“No. Whatever else you want, the answer is hell no.” I snatch the phone from his grasp and open the door.
“Do not call. Do not email. Do not text. Do not come over again,” I rattle out in one shaking breath. “I never, ever want to see or hear from you again.”