You can tell she’s not truly bothered by any of it, and I love that Alana is so loved.
“That reminds me…” I grab the small gift bag I brought along and hand it to Auden.
“Stop it. You too?”
I shrug. “She’s my niece. I’m legally obligated to spoil her.”
Auden laughs, then pulls out the little clown fish stuffed animal I bought her. I saw it in a children’s shop last week and knew Alana had to have it.
“Aww, it’s so cute! Thank you, Vanessa. That was really sweet.” She hands it to the baby, who lights up at the sight of it.
It’s so cute, and it reminds me of Gavin when he talks about Pearl and Rufus, which just makes me sad. Not because of the fish—I love them, and they feel like mine too at this point—but because I’m pretty sure Gavin is hiding something from me.
“Everything okay?”
I snap my gaze back to Auden, who is looking at me with concern.
“Oh, yeah. Just…”
The words die on my tongue as I realize that, as badly as I want to talk to her about this, I can’t. She still doesn’t know about me and Gavin.
“Nothing,” I lie. “It’s nothing. Just a little in my head lately.”
“Anything I can help with?”
I shake my head. “No, but thank you.”
Her eyes narrow, and I hold my breath, waiting for her to call me on my lie.
But all she says is, “Well, just know I’m here if you need to talk aboutanything, even if it’s something you feel like you can’t. I’m here.”
She looks at me so damn closely Ialmostconfess to everything right on the spot. Something tells me if I did, Auden wouldn’t be all that surprised. She’s given me far too many long looks over the last few weeks, and I get the sense she might have picked up on something between me and Gavin a while ago. Even so, I don’t say a word, mostly because I don’t trust myself.
I shoot her a small smile, and we take our time having coffee, talking about the baby, how much her father fawns over Alana, and a bit about the Serpents, though we don’t get into that too deeply. I wonder if Auden can tell it’s a sensitive subject for me right now.
When we part, I’m feeling a little better. The closer I get to the penthouse, though, the more aggravated I grow, and when I pull into the garage, I’m just plain pissed. The whole ride up, I fume. The elevator arrives on Gavin’s floor, and I punch the code into the door with a bit of extra force. I don’t even bother kicking my shoes off by the door. I just drop my purse and go straight for the room to check if it’s still locked.
It is.
“Ugh!” I hit it because why not? It’s a stupid door hiding something stupid behind it, andugh!I’m just annoyed.
“Nessa?”
I pause my next swing at the inanimate object and turn to find Gavin standing at the end of the hallway.
“What are you doing?” he asks, taking a few steps closer.
“Oh, uh… What are you doing home? I didn’t see your car in the garage.”
“It’s at the shop for maintenance, and I didn’t feel like sticking around waiting for it. Keller gave me a ride.”
I almost smile at the thought of Keller being forced to hang out with children all day, but then I remember I’m mad.
“Oh.”
“Did the door do something to deserve the abuse?”
His lips twitch, and all it does is piss me off more.
