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He looked at me as if I were insane for even asking. “Because I need to right the wrong. I need to prove I’m not like her.”
I snorted. “Of course you’re not—” Cutting myself off, I blinked at him, realizing something. He didn’t want to prove to anyone else that he wasn’t like his mother; he wanted to prove it to himself. And it wouldn’t matter what I said about the subject, this was something he had to figure out on his own.
So I looked up as we approached the bakery and said, “Hey, if you’re not into scones, maybe you’ll like their cinnamon rolls. I’m pretty partial to them.”
“Are you kidding? Behind chocolate chip cookies, strawberry cream scones are my favorite.” He reached for the door to enter, but it came open before he could catch it.
My building’s manager exited, carrying his own to-go bag full of baked goods.
The two men pulled up short to keep from colliding, instant recognition and contention brewing between them.
Hayden nodded first. “Dick,” he greeted.
Rick gnashed his teeth before correcting him with, “Rick. It’s Rick, you asshole. And…” His words faded as he focused on me. “Hey, you’re that chick from 108, aren’t you? With the sickly little brother and one-legged dad?”
I didn’t answer. I’d never had much taste for Rick. He’d already threatened to evict us twice, and we’d barely been late with our rent money a week each time.
Asshat.
Snickering, he turned back to Hayden. “Found yourself a new sister, I see. No wonder why you wouldn’t let me raise anyone’s rent in the building. Are you just hopping from floor to floor now, or what?”
Huh?
I whirled to gape up at Hayden, wondering how in the world he could control the price of my rent money.
Actually, what the heck had anything Rick just said meant?
The hard look he flashed Rick was deadly. “Don’t be a dick, Dick.” Then he glanced at me, only to settle down and turn nice when he returned his attention to Rick. “I saw you actually followed my advice to fix the lighting. I’m impressed. I assume this means you have a new invoice for me?”
My mouth fell open as I swiveled my attention between the two. What in God’s name was happening here? Because it sounded a hell of a lot like the repairs to my building had been done at Hayden’s behest, and he was paying for them.
Rick snorted. “Hell, yes, I got an invoice for you. I sent it to the same place you had me send the ones for the elevator repairs.”
Elevator repairs? Hayden had paid for that too?
But why?
He nodded to Ri
ck, his eyes narrowed with distaste, even as he tipped his head and said, “Very good.” Splaying out a hand, he offered to let Rick leave first. “Have a good day, Darmon.”
Rick sniffed bitterly, sent me a degrading once-over and stepped out of the doorway, stalking down the sidewalk with is bag.
Hayden reached for the door handle to enter the bakery but I caught his arm.
He glanced at me, arching an eyebrow as if he had no idea what I was going to ask. But there was no way I wasn’t going to find out what that had just been about.
Lifting my hands and widening my eyes, confused as to why he wasn’t already explaining himself, I cried, “What the hell? Do you own the building I live in or something?”
He tipped his head and frowned as if I were insane. “Of course not.”
Right. Except—
“How can you control the price of my rent then, and why are you paying for major repairs there?”
“Oh.” He cleared his throat and straightened his tie. “I’m blackmailing Darmon into all that.”
I blinked and shook my head. “Okay, let me get this straight. You’re blackmailing him into taking money from you for repairs to his own building?”
