Chapter 110

I can see the exact moment Beau reads about what happened in the dining room. Something flashes in his eyes. He tries to hide it, but I still see it. And Gods help me, it looks a hell of a lot like amusement. I know I’m in for a world of torment.

Oddly though, that amusement flickers in the next instant, into something almost like… worry. Not for me, surely. He can’t give a shit about me. But Neil? Yeah, it’s got to be for Neil. Their dad is going to be pissed when he hears about this.

If he doesn’t know already.

“Shit,” he says aloud. “Fuck.”

I start to wonder if I should cover Mia’s ears.

“That fucking idiot. Goddamn it. He’s going to catch so much shit for this.”

My own concern is rising by the second, nearly reaching a boiling point. But right there beside it is amazement. I wouldn’t have suspected Beau would care about anyone but himself.

Yet here he is, clearly worried as hell about his older brother.

Maybe I’ve misjudged him.

“Shit,” he says again, and pushes away from the wall. He starts to walk out of the hallway, totally abandoning me.

“Hey!” I call, chasing after him. I rush to be in his shadow. “Wait!”

He stops to glare at me. “What do you want, Nanny?”

“Can I have a ride back to the Pyramid? I can’t just wait out there.”

“I rode my bike,” he says and turns away from me. “It wouldn’t be safe for the baby. Sorry.” He walks away. That’s the most disingenuous sorry I’ve ever heard in my life and at this point, I’m getting used to hearing them. So that’s saying something.

“Shit,” I say.

Mia coos.

“Sorry,” I tell her.

As people begin to congregate at the end of the hallway, I slink back to the hidden spot around the corner. I wonder what I should do. Maybe there is a back exit. I can sneak out. If it’s too far to drive, I can always call a taxi.

Though how many taxis drive around with car seats in the back?

A sinking feeling opens in the pit of my stomach. Maybe I can rent a room at the hotel? Surely one of the brothers would eventually come back for Mia, at least. Then I could sneak in a ride too.

But I don’t have a change of clothes for myself, let alone for Mia. And the other supplies I brought for her are only meant to last one evening. She wouldn’t have enough to last through the night.

I can’t have a baby and no diapers. I wonder if there’s a store nearby.

I’m starting to feel a bid unhinged, like a ship lost at sea. What I really want is to take Chloe back to the Pyramid, get her safely in bed, and then crawl under my own covers where I can properly hide for the next hundred years or so.

Maybe I can hitchhike?

“There you are,” Archer says, and I jump, because I didn’t hear him come around the corner.

I swivel to face him. “How did you know I was here?”

“How do you think?”

I glance down. My collar?

Gently, Archer shakes his head. “Guess again.”

“Not… Beau…?”

“He was worried about Mia,” Archer says as he comes closer.

The baby in question has totally settled now and is resting in my arms.

“She seems okay,” he says.

“I didn’t know how would we get home.”

“Why wouldn’t you go the same way you came?” Archer asks. He makes it sound so simple, like he wouldn’t have left me here if I wasn’t holding Mia.

I bury the hurt though. There’s enough going on.

I worry my bottom lip with my teeth. Archer is likely worried about Neil, too. I don’t want to burden him with anything else.

But I feel like I should know, before this goes even one minute farther.

“Am I fired?” I ask.

He goes very still. Then his gaze flits back down to Mia in my arms. “Don’t ask stupid questions.”

I look at him with wide eyes. There are so many other fears, but that one, at least, is assuaged.

For someone counting down the days until freedom, I’m startled by how much the thought of being forced out hurt me.

After this, I really shouldn’t be welcomed back. Whatever Neil felt when he said my name instead of Angela’s, even if it had only been a slip of the tongue, it wouldn’t matter to his father. It was still my name. Neil would still catch hell.

I should still be out on the street.

I should have the Pyramid in my rear-view.

I should be saying goodbye to Mia and the brothers.

The thought of all of those things cut me down to my heart. I want to pretend it doesn’t, but everything’s too raw.

I could practically cry, hearing him tell me it’s a stupid question.

They won’t make me leave.

Even if maybe I should.

“Come on,” Archer says. “Most of the crowd has filed out by now.”

I follow along in Archer’s shadow. At the valet, the same guy goes so pale so fast, he looks like he might pass out. He recognizes me, then. Good. I half want to tell Archer what happened, just to see the guy squirm more. But, honestly, he doesn’t look well. If I did that, the guy might drop dead.

I decide to keep it to myself. I hope he’s grateful.

The valet brings the car around, and I put Mia into her carseat in the back. When I step away, I expect Archer to already be in the driver’s seat, waiting. Instead, he’s holding open the passenger side door for me.

I sit down and he closes it behind me. Then he goes around the car and gets into the driver’s side.

“I didn’t like the way that valet was looking at you,” he says by way of an explanation.

A bit of warmth flashes through me. I don’t need Archer to protect me, but it feels nice knowing he would.

“Thanks,” I say.

He shrugs like it’s not a big deal. Maybe it isn’t, to him.

To me, it feels like something. It roots within me warm and comfortable before I can chase it away.

He presses down on the gas, and the car purrs as it jolts forward.

With the hotel far behind us, the worry starts to creep back in.

I’m glad my job is safe, and I don’t have to face goodbye for another month. Or face why that bothers me.

But Neil…

He had so many bruises last time. His father had him beaten.

What will happen this time? Is there any way I can help?

“He said it,” Archer says. “Not you.”

I know that. “I still feel responsible.”

“Don’t,” Archer says, sharp. “It was a slip of the tongue. He doesn’t actually care that way about you.”

I know that too. Though hearing Archer say so still makes me slump in my seat. “No one should be punished for a slip of the tongue.”

“Our father won’t care.”

I curl my hands into fists on my lap. I wish I could be alone with their father for just five minutes. I’d make sure some of the punishment he wrought would be sent straight back to him.

But wishing won’t change anything.

“What’s going to happen to Neil?” I ask.

Archer glowers again, and I prepare myself for the worst.