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“Why?” Her voice softens. She meets me at the center of the room, forcing me to look at her. “You do a great service to everyone. We should be singing your praises, not hiding the fact you are a good man.”
“I have a reputation to uphold.”
Margret’s hand reaches out, and she pats my shoulder, reminding me of my mother before Dad fucked her over hard.
“Fine,” she says. “But I can’t be held responsible for some of the people here. They love you. Eventually, this girl will find out the truth.”
“Until then, keep a lid on it.”
“Why are you doing this again?” she tries again.
I incline my head, giving her a look that tells her she’s better off not knowing. “I told you not to ask.”
“Just tell me,” she presses.
“To drive her insane.”
“Why?”
“The less you know, the better.” I step aside and move to leave. “Trust me, she deserves it.”
She lets out a sigh. “Very well. Toilets it is. But only when we are short-staffed.”
With that, I leave the room.
Time to play cards.
Chapter
Twenty-One
PAYTON
We’re back in the car two hours later.
Trent speeds through the city as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.
I, however, can’t get over where we were.
I’m still in shock over it.
A part of me didn’t believe he was serious that I would be volunteering, but the shocking part is that he was with me the whole time.
Not necessarily in the same room, but he was helping there, too, not just on his phone. And I don’t believe for a second it’s for the good PR. There were no cameras. No fanfare. Just a man doing a good deed for people he obviously cares about.
Trent Aldridge has a heart.
He is not a cold, callous villain.
It’s just me he hates.
It’s an ugly truth. One made uglier by the beauty I witnessed at Cresthill. When I finished cleaning the bathrooms, I headed back to Margret to see where I needed to go next, and I saw Trent with the same older man playing cards. The one who called me Trent’s girl. Trent threw his head back, laughing with everything in him. Then he dipped to the floor, tying the man’s shoes.
I can’t reconcile the idea of Trent literally on the floor tying someone’s shoes.
No matter how hard I try, it makes no sense. He takes away my place to live.
He takes away my money for food unless I work for him.
