Instead of mingling and trying to get the attention of some of the big names in attendance at the dinner, Faith was face down in her tablet. Still the same bookworm workaholic that helped get me through midterms. If it weren’t for my Faith, I wasn’t sure I would have finished college. It was such a hard time for me mentally. Faith was a godsend.
She must have felt my eyes on her because as I watched her, she slowly raised her head from her tablet. As her gaze lifted,our eyes connected. She didn’t falter under my eyes, which, for some reason, intrigued me. Faith was exactly the same, down to having her face buried in a book.
My girl was all grown up now, and she looked better than ever. Those dark sultry eyes gently held me in place but there was nothing soft about the way she looked at me.
Faith was on my ass. By the way she stared me down, I could tell that she wasn’t letting shit slide. She didn’t try to disguise her curiosity as being cordial. Her eyes were void of that subtle admiration some people looked at me with at these events. She still couldn’t stand my ass, and she didn’t try to hide it.
I knew she was going to make sure she got to the bottom of her investigation. She was genuinely searching for answers. Sometimes people asked questions that they thought they already had the answers to. She just seemed like she was trying to build a complete picture. Although I’m sure most of her eagerness to prove that we were still dirty stemmed from her hatred for me, Faith wanted answers. People deserved answers, right?
“She’s not wrong to ask questions,” I told Sawyer.
“She’s not right either. I can’t stand a nosy-ass reporter.”
I shrugged. “At least she’s not guessing and trying to create her own narrative.”
“What if she finds something, though? Most people have moved on from the scandal. We don’t need nobody bringing it back to the light.”
“What’s there to find at this point? We don’t have anything going on.” I said it, but I wasn’t exactly positive about that.
Over half of the shit that went down with Darius was news to me. It was Nicholas and Sawyer’s job to keep up with that shit. I just made sure we were profitable. We were extremely profitable, even without Darius’s backdoor and side hustle deals. I considered that a job well done.
“You know how easy it is for somebody to create something that isn’t there for a story. It’s not like we’re squeaky clean around here.”
“I don’t think she would do that.”
“Didn’t you fuck her over in college? You know what they say about a woman scorned. She’s fine and all, but keep her at bay. We don’t need any more trouble.”
“I got it.” I nodded, never taking my eyes off her as he talked.
“I know that look.”
“What look?”
“You’re thinking about letting her in.”
“No, I’m not.” I shook my head. “I already decided,” I said, abandoning the conversation as I crossed the room.
I heard him sigh, but it didn’t matter. This wasn’t his call. If Faith insisted on coming around here digging, I would rather for her to do it under my watch.Even with Saw’s voice in my head and Nick’s eyes burning through me from his post upstairs, I kept walking. I needed to act before I completely thought things through. A level head might make me reconsider. I didn’t want to reconsider. I wanted her.
I didn’t rush to cross the room, cordially greeting a few people as I passed. Faith’s eyes were glued to the tablet clutched in her hands, and I admired her for still trying to work while there were A-list celebrities and some of the wealthiest and most affluent people in the area in the room.
The few reporters still in attendance had aborted the mission of trying to get the scoop in exchange for the task of mixing and mingling with the crowd. Instead of loosening up as the evening progressed, Faith seemed to coil into herself tighter.
She looked even more intense as she sat at a table tucked in the corner with those pretty brown eyes fixed on her screen. She was locked in as her fingers flew across the keys. Thankfully, she didn’t notice me until I was standing over her. Those eyes Imissed more than anything flickered up to me once I stopped in front of her table.
“You’re still here,” I noted once her eyes settled on me.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m working.”
“Everyone with access knows this is a party and have switched gears to party mode. You, on the other hand, are still nose down in your work.”
“Iamhere to work. Is that a problem for you?”
“When did you get so feisty, my love?”
“First of all, don’t call me that. Second, nothing has changed about me. I like to go ahead and take care of things and get them out of the way. I usually like to wrap up my first draft while I’m on the scene,” she explained.
“All work and no play makes a dull girl or whatever they say.”
