Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
“I can be a good ally to have,” I say. “A very good ally. You’d much rather have me as an ally than a foe.”
She gives me a shrewd look.
“You’ll see. It’s gonna work out great.” I press the button for the journey to resume.
After I watch her drive away, I go back in, fully aware she’s placating me. I also believe she will watch and see what happens. Because I saw in her eyes the thing I’ve seen in Chloe’s when I’ve spoken about what I want.
I see the desire to believe what I’m saying. It’s there in Chloe’s eyes and it’s there in Alannah’s, too. Alannah wants her friend to have everything I’m promising.
My sister bombarded me with questions on the short walk to her apartment about how this all came about and about what I’ve done so far to make that poor girl look so shellshocked. I walked her home to tell her to mind her own business and to keep her mouth shut about the details she’s picked up today.
Grace isn’t a blabbermouth, but she also doesn’t know how to mind her own business. It’s gotten her into trouble often. She’s the sibling that makes a relentless effort with me that I both loathe and tolerate for some reason, so I’ve always given her leeway.
Grace’s meddling tendencies might be a good thing this time because she can become a friend to Chloe and that’ll help her navigate some of the Steele family shit that’s inevitable, like fundraisers, family brunches, holidays. Bullshit our mother tries to pull every so often when she has a whim to make us seem like a normal family. Bullshit she will undoubtedly instigate when she finds out there’s a new daughter-in-law.
Speaking of which, I should call my personal shopper and get her to outfit Chloe for tomorrow’s family thing as well as send a message to my parents’ estate manager that I’m bringing a guest with me tomorrow.
That’s how it goes with them. Carson facilitates their relationship with me. He’s essentially a concierge for everyone in the family, making things happen, managing communications, handling day to day Steele family details.
Back from seeing Alannah out, I find Chloe washing dishes. She’s already cleared the table.
“You’re not the maid,” I tell her, closing the door and locking it. “You don’t need to clean up around here.”
“Do you have a maid?” she asks.
“A service comes in Monday and Thursday when one or more of us are staying here.”
“Well, I’m not exactly gonna leave dirty dishes here to fester for two days.”
“I can’t stand a mess, Chloe. I also can’t stand having staff around all the time so I only have a cleaner come in once a week at my place in Cleveland, so I wouldn’t have left them. How about you rinse, I load?” I extend my hand.
She gives me a strange look, but then passes me a dripping plate.
I put it into the dishwasher.
“Then we can move on to other, more… interesting things,” I tack on.
“Interesting breakfast,” she says conversationally, glossing over what I’ve just said.
“Yeah.”
“Fucking weird,” she mutters, passing me a handful of cutlery. “Do you not see how wonky all this is?”
“Unconventional, sure. Grace is curious. Not surprised she showed up. It’s good I could tell Alannah where I’m coming from. Now she knows. Now she doesn’t need to worry.”
Chloe says nothing, though her eyes are saying it all. She knows her friend will continue to worry. And I think she’s worried her friend will do something that will have me retaliating.
And she’s been forced to be here, but nobody has forced her to wash the dishes. It’s just who she is. She’ll soon figure out that this is just who I am. And that she’ll get to reap the rewards. That I’m a man who won’t take her for granted, a man who will think about her needs in addition to my own, unlike that selfish prick I just saved her from.
“Did Alannah message that she’s safely in her car?”
“Yes,” she says.
I load another two plates. “So…” I broach, “What do you wanna do the rest of the day?”
“I need to open my laptop and do some work. I got nothing done yesterday thanks to you.”
She rinses more dishes and I continue stacking them.
After a few moments of working in silence, I say, “You can change fields. Do something else if you don’t like that job. Do nothing if you like. Take a breather.”
“I like my job,” she says. “They’ve been good to me.”
“You didn’t eat much?” I state.
“I ate a slice of bacon and a bite of a croissant.”
“You didn’t eat my pancakes?”
“I ate one.”
I regard her. She says nothing; she looks irritated with me.
“That’s not enough food, Chloe.”
“I can’t eat when I’m stressed. I saved it for later.”
She reaches for the bacon pan, then dumps the grease into the trashcan. I take it from her. “Leave this for now.” I set it down and gather her into my arms. “I want you. Naked. Now.”