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“Were you saying something?”
Her tone was soft, but scratchy. She was upset. I felt the anger diminish a bit. “Where’d you get that?”
“Oh, this? Thomas gave it to me this morning.”
My hands rose in question. “Did you call or email for help?”
“…No.”
“Because?”
“I can’t. Aimon, there’s only videos and pictures on here. There’s not even games.”
The aggravation continued to fade as I walked closer. “Then why the hell did they give it to you?” Another step. Another. I couldn’t resist. “What kind of videos are on there? Any movies?”
Fay’s gaze lowered to the screen before she held it out to me. When I brought it up, I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was Charles and George. They were here at the estate. By the coloring, it had to have been twenty to thirty years old.
“Thomas thinks this will help me want to stay. I guess your grandfather asked him to give it to me with a message. He says he loved my father, and he can prove it. He says all the love I need is under this roof.”
My eyes rolled, but I kept silent. I was too curious what was on the video. I hit play, watching as they laughed. The clips weren’t long. They were a compilation of past events: cards, whiskey, pool tables and discussions from my grandfather on current events with his businesses. He laughed. He joked. He even appeared social. The man was a stranger to me. I’d never seen him behave that way. Not even around George when I was present.
“Of course he shows you his good side. I don’t see my grandfather yelling or name-calling.”
“No. He seems happy around my father. They got along well. Very well. Like brothers.”
“I guess.” Who was I kidding, there was no guessing. They were two peas in a pod. Best friends, or like Fay said, brothers. “You miss your father.” I handed the tablet back to her, feeling the last of the anger vanish. Fay’s lip trembled as she laid it on the bed.
“I miss my parents a lot. I wake up thinking I’m in my old room. My mom was making muffins the last time I saw her. I keep smelling them. Then I realize I’m not at home, and she’s never coming back.”
“I’m sorry.”
Fay didn’t so much as flinch when I lowered to sit on the edge of her bed. We weren’t feet apart, and we weren’t attacking each other. It was a start. To what though, I wasn’t sure. I had to be careful from here on out. My future wasn’t set in stone. Neither was hers. She had power now whether she saw it or not. I had none, and that was a huge issue if she ended up pregnant. I had to watch myself. I had to tread very carefully where she was concerned.
“Have you been eating and taking care of yourself?”
Blue-green lifted to me.
“I’ve been eating.”
“And the taking-care part? Do you need to talk about anything?”
Fay’s brow creased. “I’m fine. What is this?”
“I can’t ask how you are?”
“Not when you don’t mean it.”
I let out a deep breath trying my damnedest not to fight with her. Not yet. I had to see where this was going. I had to bide my time. “I do actually mean it. We saw how bad off you were when you got here. You passed out twice. You received horrible news on your mother. I may not be your friend, but I’m not a monster.”
She seemed to weigh my words before nodding. “I’m okay.”
“Good.”
“What about you?”
I laughed, and it wasn’t nice. “I’m fantastic. I’m getting the royal fuck-you. You don’t get to live through, or see this, every day. They don’t make rules for this shitshow but listen to me when I say the elite have their own laws, and they’re not those that govern normal people. I’m screwed. Literally, I guess, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Can you understand where I’m at right now, Fay? In my head.” I stopped at the look she threw me. “I guess you’re sort of in a similar boat to mine. Just on the side that’s not sinking. You’ll make it to shore. I’ll be the one left to drown.”
“No one will be drowning, Aimon. We didn’t ask for this, but we’ll figure it out. I’m not a bad person no matter what you believe. I’m not trying to make things worse for you.”
