Page 4 of Royal Desire

“I heard it first at the Combover. You know Winnie broke her ankle. Carl told me today that Ruby is helping out until Winnie’s back on her feet. I didn’t believe it, so I started to check around. I figured I’d go to the source and found a reason to go out to the manor and accidentally bumped into Blake. He confirmed it. Then Devon walked up, and they were talking about her maybe working in The Speakeasy a few nights a week.”

I force myself to open my eyes and stand straight. I clear my throat. “She’s back after all this time. Cool for her.”

Dean lowers his tone. “Did you just say cool for her?”

I turn and throw my gym clothes back into the closet. “Yeah. I’m not sure why you’re making such a big fucking deal about this. She’s back. Knowing her, she probably won’t stay.”

“I don’t know. I heard Devon is interviewing her. More like auditioning. It’s happening tonight. Blake is spreading that shit around town like wildfire.”

Auditioning? What the fuck? My insides are ablaze, but I have no trouble schooling my tone like I used to in the courtroom. “Great. She’ll fit in with the misfits of Winslet proper.”

Dean exhales like he’s had enough. “How did I end up with such an asshole as a best friend?”

I tag my keys off the desk I keep in the sitting room off my bedroom. “I’m nothing if not consistent. I’ve got to go. Thanks for the small-town gossip.”

“Wait. I’ll meet you at the gym. We’ll hit the weights hard. We haven’t done that in ages.”

“Changed my mind. I’ve got some work to wrap up for the day.”

“Dammit, Payne.”

“I’m good. We’ll catch up soon if I don’t see you around first.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Gotta go, chief.”

“Payne—”

I don’t give him another chance to demand anything. I disconnect the call and stuff my cell in my back pocket.

“Sadie,” I yell as I pass the kitchen and head for the garage. “I’m going out. I’ll eat when I get home.”

She comes out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a towel. “What should I tell your mother?”

I stop and turn to the woman who my father made sign an NDA years ago when he hired her. It had nothing to do with his business but everything to do with what went on under this roof. I assume the hired help in any home is privy to the real life of what goes on, but Sadie goes above and beyond.

Why she does, I have no fucking idea.

The NDA was news to me when I came home and took over everything. I immediately doubled her pay.

“Do you really think she’ll care if I’m here or not?”

Sadie is pushing sixty. She’s barely older than my mother. She might look younger, but her intense gaze on me is full of care and wisdom I’ve only gotten from her. She doesn’t press me further, because she knows I’m right. “I’ll wrap a plate for you and leave it in the fridge. Please eat. You work too many hours as it is.”

“Thanks, but I promise, I’m good.” I might have been before Dean called, but right now, I don’t know what I am. I do know I’m anything but good.

She gives me a small smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I lift my chin. “You too.”

I turn for the garage that’s big enough to park six cars, but the only ones in it now are my Rover and Mom’s Cadillac that hasn’t been driven in eons. The battery is probably dead, but it doesn’t matter. I took the keys away from her before that. I should sell the thing, just like I did every other car they owned when I got back, but she’d throw a fit so epic, it’s not worth dealing with.

Ten minutes ago I was muddling through my mundane life like I was half-deadened for a root canal, not that I’ve ever had one. My teeth are pristine. Tallie Deacon made sure of that.

Then one phone call from a life-long friend changed everything. Whatever I was doing to numb my life away wore off in a heartbeat.

What the fuck.