Page 61 of Trailer Park Billionaire
“Because,” I explain the obvious, “your apartment isn’t safe anymore, Helena. The men who hurt you? They know where you live. But they don’t know about this place. Here, you’re safe.”
Her fingers clench around the burgundy lace. “So your solution was to just move my entire life… without my permission?”
“Well, knowing you, you would have never agreed to it.”
“Oh, please,” she huffs out and throws the underwear back where she found it, “you don’t know shit about me.”
A second passes, with Helena angrily shutting the drawer, before I try to save what can’t be saved.
“Despite not being a morning person, you wake up very early every day, apart from weekends, when you allow yourself to catch up on sleep. You have a strangely close relationship with your boss. You do not believe in the supernatural. You always sit in the same seat when you’re having lunch because it has the best view of your favorite painting. Sometimes you don’t even do lunch because you’re too absorbed by your work, which is a way for you to cope with loss—loss of people, loss of control. Most of your clothes have paint-splatters somewhere. You want to seem aloof, but you actually care a lot, especially about the kids you’re looking after, likely because they remind you of yourself. But also because you’re genuinely just a good person. You keep people at arm’s length because you’re afraid of getting close to them. When you eat, you look like an adorable little squirrel stuffing her cheeks.”
“I do not…” Helena interjects quietly and crosses her arms, “look like that.”
“And you definitely would not have said yes tothis.” I motion around us.
“And she keeps a creepy doll in the freezer for some reason,” Alexei adds, stepping into the room.
Now, Helena throws evil stares at both of us. “Yeah, well, you two do not want to find out what that doll is actually for.”
I shake my head. “And none of that even matters, because the only thing that actually does is that you are safe!”
I find myself a lot closer to her than intended. Hovering over Helena like this, giving a lecture, probably doesn’t help in conveying a sense of security, so I turn away and motion to the desk by the window where Alexei has already set up the easel, brushes, and her grandpa’s paints. “Here you can focus on the forgeries without distractions. And without imminent danger.”
Helena presses her fingers to her temples. She is stressed. Then, barely above a whisper, she asks, “What if I don’t want to stay here?”
I think about it for a second. She’s trying to figure out if she’s a prisoner, whether I’m going to keep her here against her will.
“Say the word, and we’ll have everything back in its place in your apartment before midnight,” I lie. She’s going to stay here—whether she wants it or not. She needs to be protected. It would just be a lot easier if she agreed to it. Either way, I’m not leaving her out of my sight while these men are threatening her. I mean, she has to work on the heist after all. That’s why I’m doing all of this.
Helena sighs, her breath shaky. Then she walks over to the kitchen sink, turns on the tap, and dunks her head under the cold water. It almost looks like the cold liquid calms her down. She did this back in the museum too.
“I have a routine, Ben,” she says a few moments later, patting her face dry. “A system. A very specific, carefully structured way of living that is important for me to function and survive. And it absolutely does not involve people breaking into my home and reorganizing my entire existence.”
“I get that.” I slowly move closer and put my hands on her arms, rubbing warmth back into them. “But you know what else isn’t great for survival either? Getting murdered by a group of violent men demanding money you don’t have. So from my point of view, this is a safety upgrade.”
She glares at me. “They must have known where my grandpa lived. They might come looking for me here.”
“We’re prepared for that,” Alex says, fully stepping into the room now. “I’ll be staying in your grandpa’s apartment for the time being. It’s a trap. If they show up, we’ll get the drop on them.” He opens the apartment door and slides right out. “Anyway, I’ll leave you two to it. Try not to kill each other.”
The door clicks shut. Helena exhales slowly, the tension finally bleeding from her shoulders. “Fine. For now. But no more surprises. No more secrets. From now on, just tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Thank God.
Explaining to Sienna that I’m hiding a hostage would’ve made all of this a lot more difficult.
“Alright.” I nod, trying to exude warmth and understanding, without seeming like a psychopath. “How about you tell me more about this routine of yours, and maybe we can find a way to work around it.”
Helena pouts for a moment, obviously working something over in her mind. Eventually, she hesitantly says, “Tell me a secret of yours, so I can tell you one of mine.”
21
HELENA
“And better make it a juicy one,” I stress, still arguing with myself whether I really should reveal this much to someone I’ve only known for like a week and a bit. It certainly feels longer. Is it crazy to think that he actually cares? At least about my safety?
Yes.
Yes, it is.
