Behind Your Back - Cameron Chelsea M. - Страница 42
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“Jack on the rocks if you have it,” I say. It might not be the fanciest drink, but I need it right now.
“Saige?” Bridgette says, turning to her daughter as she uses a set of gold tongs to drop ice cubes in a glass for me.
“The same,” she says with a little smile. Her mother shoots her a glare and she sighs.
“Fine. Glass of pinot.” Her mother nods, as if that was the response she wanted all along.
“So, Quinn,” Beaumont says to me as Bridgette hands me my drink and I take a bracing sip. “You seem to be very interested in my daughter.” The reminder of his threat is unspoken, but I get the message loud and clear.
“Yes, sir. She’s a very special woman.” Saige beams up at me.
“Leave him alone, Daddy. He’s a good guy.” We all take our drinks and sit, me on the couch with Saige and her parents on the other facing us. I feel the weight of both their stares and in this environment, it’s intimidating.
“How is school going, Saige?” Bridgette says, uttering the word “school” like it’s dirty, or tastes bad in her mouth.
“It’s going really well, actually. I had an intense week, but now it’s going to calm down. And one of my professors thinks he can get me an internship at a gallery.” Saige’s hand creeps toward me and I take it in mine. She gives me a little squeeze.
Her mother looks at her as if she’s just announced she’s dropping out of school and has decided to dance naked for cash. Such strange people with strange values. If I didn’t hate them already, I’d be well on my way.
“Work for free?” Bridgette says. Her father is just watching us. Me and Saige, and especially me. Nothing escapes this man’s notice and while his wife is focused on their daughter’s life, he’s got his eye on me.
“Yes, that’s what an internship is, Mom,” Saige says. “But I don’t know if I’m going to have time to do it.” That seems to mollify her mother a little.
“How’s work for you, Quinn?” Beaumont asks.
“It’s going very well, thanks for asking. It’s not easy managing money that isn’t mine. If I make a mistake, I’m in deep trouble.” I add the last part with a smile and a little laugh.
“That is a lot of responsibility,” he says, sipping his drink. I sip mine and our eyes lock.
“It is, but I take my job very seriously. I’m more careful with my clients’ money than I am with my own.” He nods in my direction.
“Good. That’s good.” The topic shifts back to Saige and the heat is off me for the time being. Martha comes and announces dinner and it’s a voyage to the other side of the house where the formal dining room is. I can’t believe they don’t see the ridiculousness of four people sitting at a table made for twenty.
The food is “rich people food” as Saige said. Small bites on large plates. It’s all delicious of course, but I’m sure we’re both going to have to eat again when we get back to the apartment.
“Now what about your family, Quinn?” Bridgette asks. Shit. Saige grips my hand under the table.
“Well, I don’t really talk about them. It’s kind of a sore topic.” There’s not a better way I can put it than that.
“Well then we won’t ask you about it,” Beaumont says, coming in and putting an end to the conversation. His wife shoots him a look, but he pretends not to see it.
“Thank you. It’s just not something I like to talk about.” Saige squeezes my hand again.
We make it through the rest of the dinner and into dessert (assorted truffles) without Saige’s mother criticizing her.
“Dear, I wish you’d worn that cute cream dress I bought you last week. It would look just darling on you.” I nearly choke on my truffle and have to take a few deep breaths before I swallow. The way she talks is so pretentious and just… I can’t stand it. I want to get out of here as fast as I can, but that’s not really an option. I need Saige to give me a tour of the house and that’s only going to happen after we’ve gotten through this insufferable dinner.
We make it to coffee and her father is the one who suggests Saige take me on a tour.
“You don’t have to,” she says in my ear.
“No, show me. I want to see your room,” I say as I help her up from the table.
“You’re not fucking me in this house. So get that idea out of your head right now.” That hadn’t really occurred to me before she said it, but now it’s given my cock ideas and we need to get away from her parents before they see those ideas in my pants.
“Thank you for the meal, it was lovely,” I say and Bridgette says she’ll pas the compliments along to the chef. Surprisingly, I haven’t been interrogated or questioned as much as I thought I would be. Maybe because it’s my first dinner here and they want to lull me into a false sense of security. That has to be it. Well, next time I come here I’ll be placing bugs everywhere to do surveillance. I smile to myself thinking about it. Thinking about taking them down. Demolishing this cushy life they’ve built for themselves. And then I think of Saige.
I know she has a trust fund that pays for everything and I have no intentions to touch that. She is not her parents. She’ll be left alone. I at least owe her that. And I don’t see her ever turning into them, either. Living in a house like this, doing whatever she can to get more money to fill up the empty places in her soul that can’t be filled.
Saige isn’t empty. She doesn’t need that validation. She’ll be absolutely fine.
“How are you holding up?” she asks me when we’re out of earshot of her parents.
“Fine. They’re not quite as bad as you made them out to be,” I say with a grin.
“Yeah, you think that now. Okay, so I guess I should give you the grand tour.” We walk through the downstairs first, including the living room we had drinks in, and a study that looks as if it’s unused. It’s filled to the brim with leather-bound books.
“I’m pretty sure no one has ever read these. They’re just for show,” Saige says, brushing her hand across one row of spines. “I mean, I’ve read a few, but these are all books people say they read, but never actually do.” I know what she means.
As she shows me the house, I’m taking note of windows, views and any surveillance already in place. So far I’m not seeing any, but I make note of the security system on the wall beside the front door. Cash could crack it in his sleep. So that’s one positive.
“And that’s my dad’s office,” Saige says, waving her hand at a door along one of the hallways on the first floor. I don’t ask to go in, but I don’t need to. Now I know where it’s located in the house so I can find it next time. And wouldn’t you know, it’s right next to a downstairs powder room. Thank you, Beaumont, for making my job disgustingly easy.
We ascend the stairs and Saige shows me more rooms no one uses. Most she doesn’t even bother to take me into.
“And this is my room,” she says, opening the last door on at the end of a hallway.
I nearly burst out laughing as we walk in.
“Let me guess, your mother decorated it,” I say.
“You got that right.” The room matches the rest of the house, but it’s girly and frilly and so un-Saige it’s obvious her mother has no idea who she is. Or she is determined that if she decorates her room a certain way, Saige will morph into the daughter she wants.
“I was never allowed to change it,” she says, climbing onto the fluffy bed with a white canopy over it. This is a little girl’s princess room. Not a room for a grown woman. No one over the age of six should live in this room.
She flops back on the mound of pillows and pats the spot next to her. The bed is so large that if we wanted to add another person, they would fit no problem.
Saige and I lay side-by-side, staring up at the white canopy.
“They want me to move back here. Quit school and be their dutiful daughter.” I can imagine.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“I know what I want. I’m already doing it. I spent a few years where I couldn’t make up my mind, but it was because of them. Because I felt so strangled when I was growing up. When I got my first taste of freedom I went nuts and wanted to do everything. I like to think I’ve settled down a little since then.” She turns her head to the side and I do as well. Our noses are nearly touching.
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