Page 14 of Twisted Fates
“I suppose we will have to work with what we’ve got,” he said and turned. “Come with me, and we’ll try to make something of you.”
I didn’t move. I wouldn’t allow someone to talk down to me—not even a ghost. Remembering the parchment said I needed boundaries, I stood rooted in place and waited for the ghost to turn around. “Listen,” I said when he made eye contact, ignoring the shaking in my knees. “I realize you have been around a long time, and the parchment, Elias, said you can be trusted, but you will not be disrespectful to me, not if you wish me to work with you. Is that clear?” The ghostnarrowed his eyes but nodded. “Good. Where would you like me to go?”
“I would like to introduce you to the rest of the staff, sir,” he said, and I detected an air of respect that had been missing a moment earlier. Was that wishful thinking? Maybe, but at least I was standing up for myself.
Besides, if I were going to live here, and I wasn’t sure I was going to, I wouldn’t be talked down to—not by him or anyone else.
Chapter ten
Owen
Ispent the afternoonfinishing my paperwork, and by some miracle, another pile hadn’t been added. I wasn’t sure why but had to assume that was because I was working with Damian. Regardless of why, I was happy I’d have the weekend off, so I didn’t dare mention it to anyone.
I texted Damian to find out when and where we should meet but hadn’t heard back. Was he ghosting me already? I thought of the ghostly picture from his phone and smiled. I guess that gave new meaning to the word.
When the partners left a little before four, that was my cue to go as well. I waited a few minutes to make sure they didn’t come back with a list of things for me to complete this weekend, and then I jumped up, grabbed my jacket, and dashed toward the front door.
“I’m off, Cary,” I said as I walked through the door. I didn’t turn around to see him, knowing he could easily be the one toadd a bunch of crap to my to-do list. When the door closed behind me, I almost jumped up and down with relief.
I didn’t use my app to order a car, but the walk from the office to Damian’s place wasn’t far. I could walk in that direction and enjoy all the historic homes along the way, and if he was there, great. If not, well, that was fine too. I could use the exercise.
The Queen Anne neighborhood was one of my favorites in Seattle. There’s no way I could even afford a tiny one-bedroom apartment in the neighborhood, but I dreamed of one day owning something here or in Capitol Hill. Maybe one of the cute little bungalows with a garden in the front.
I imagined myself as a successful attorney, making enough to live in the neighborhood, when I came upon the old mansion house. The gate was open, which was strange, but I saw Damian’s car sitting in the driveway and assumed he was home.
“You’re his attorney, or at least, you work for his attorney,” I said to myself, then took a deep breath and walked through the gate. I planned to tell him if he wasn’t interested in me in any other way, we were fine. It’s not like I expected someone like Damian to be interested in someone like me.
I reached the front door and knocked. It opened slowly. The only thing to make it scarier would be a creak, which this door didn’t do. “Hello?”I called out.
No one responded, so I stepped closer. “Hello!” I called out again. I was just about to go in when the door slammed shut in my face, hitting me.
“Fuck!” I yelled as I fell back, gripping my nose.
“What the hell?” I heard Damian’s voice as he pulled the door open. “Did they do that to you?”
“Dey?” I asked, the swelling already messing up my speech.
“Come here,” he demanded and pulled me into the house. I quickly looked around to make sure there wasn’t some kind oftheyaround. But the room was empty. It must’ve been a draft that slammed the door shut. I knew old houses where I grew up did that sort of thing all the time.
Opening a different door or a window could cause a draft that would open a door, and closing it would make it slam shut. I let Damian pull me into the little powder room underneath the stairs. He used a washcloth to help me dab away the blood.
“I’m going to go to the kitchen to see if I can find some ice.”
I nodded as I tried to stop the bleeding. I looked in the mirror, and even through the tears from the swelling of my sinuses, from the size of it, I guessed my nose was probably broken.
Damian returned a few moments later with ice in a towel. “Here, hold this to your nose. You need to stop the swelling. Do you think it’s broken?”
I nodded but didn’t respond. My head was beginning to hurt now. “Come in here and sit down,” he said, leading meout of the powder room and into the formal sitting room at the front of the house. I sat on a wooden chair, afraid I’d get blood on one of the pretty upholstered ones.
“Now, let me look closer,” he said, and I let him pull the towel back. “Damn, yeah, I think it’s broken too. Want me to drive you to the hospital?” he asked.
I nodded and was about to get up when Damian paused. “Really? How?” he asked, and I looked around the room.
“Huh?”
Damian blushed. “Um, I’ll tell you in a moment.” He looked to his left as if listening to someone, then turned back to me and sighed. “Listen, this is going to be bizarre for both of us, but I want to try something.”
“Is it going to hurt?” I asked, thinking maybe he would try to set my nose himself.
