Page 10 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part Two
I should have sent her away again, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
We were doing the first walkthrough of Sampson’s new place—ournew place, as he kept saying. At first, I thought he meant me, him and Otto, but judging by the way he watched Aviva’s face when she took her first steps into the entrance foyer, I thought maybe thatourwas all-encompassing.
The place was beautiful. Empty and beautiful. Welcome to high society, where the houses matched the people.
“Holy shit, Sampson. This place must have been…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “It’s amazing.”
It was nice. Hardwood floors and huge French doors that opened out onto a balcony. From that balcony was a multi-million-dollar view of Central Park. A state-of-the-art kitchen shone like a showroom masterpiece, and there was a large den that we’d definitely turn into a gaming room.
I grabbed my bag as Sampson showed the others the bedrooms, all with views of the park. In fact, the master bedroom was on the corner of the building and had windows on two sides.
But I knew which room Aviva would love the most, and I set my bag in the center of it. Reaching in, I pulled out the small collection of books we’d gathered. Otto had brought them back with him, promising to return them to Viva when she made it to the States again. I was pretty sure he just wanted an excuse to see her, and was using them as collateral to ensure she couldn’t just wipe him completely. Don’t know how that would have worked if she’d found Nemo, but she hadn’t yet. Well, not that she’d said.
I put her books on the shelf of the library, standing back as she stepped into the room. The library was pretty. Whichever old white dude designed it must have had a love of books, because it was exactly what you’d expect of a library. Wood paneling, shelves to the ceiling, a fireplace. A pretty brass rail with a sliding ladder.
She sucked in another gasp. “It’s beautiful.”
She was beautiful.
“Imagine it filled with books. Pretty sure Sampson won’t appreciate it properly. He’s more into music than books.”
“And you?”
I shrugged. “I like watching you read. Does that count?”
She laughed, running her hands over the bookshelves. She climbed the ladder and pushed off, squealing as it slid along the floor.
Evan hovered behind her, like he was ready to catch her if she fell, and I frowned. He looked like he really liked her. That would create problems, maybe. But as I watched him, I realized my need for Aviva far outweighed the jealousy I felt when she spun on the ladder and jumped down into his arms.
I looked at Sampson—he was the one who’d really have the problem with this. He was watching them with a guarded expression, and I could see Evan’s shoulders were tense, even though he didn’t show any other outward discomfort.
Aviva was still laughing, looking around the empty library like it was the best thing ever. There was a knock at the front door, and I heard one of the security guys answer it. Evan tilted his head like he was listening for problems, but he didn’t move into the foyer like he would have once upon a time.
Someone called out that the movers had arrived, as well as the furniture delivery guys, and the spell was broken. Awkwardness reared its head again, as Sampson turned on his heel and went to direct the movers.
Otto paused in the doorway. “Are you staying?”
I didn’t know if he was asking Aviva or Evan. I could tell that Viva was torn. I couldn’t answer this one for them though, no matter how badly I wanted to insist she stayed with us. She’d be safer elsewhere, with Evan.
Her cheeks flushed, and she shrugged. “I… don’t know.” She paused. “No, I’ll stay with Evan. I have to go home, and if I’m here with you, I’ll never leave.” She looked between me and Otto. “If the past week has taught me anything, it’s that I barely know you guys. You know everything there is to know about me, but you’re still a mystery, Evan included. If I move in here, it’ll be like the trip all over again, where I’m too dazzled to think about what’s best for me.”
My heart thumped hard against my ribs, but I nodded. It was for the best. “Come and help me pick my room?”
She gave me a relieved smile. We walked back toward the foyer, where the removalists were dragging in boxes. Behind them were the furniture delivery guys, who were shifting in the best mattresses money could buy, along with bedroom furniture and the basics for the rest of the house. A TV, couch, dining table. The rest we’d have to go out and choose ourselves, which sounded like fun.
But there was one guy at the back, looking awkward as fuck and out of place. He was wearing a white button up shirt with a skinny tie, so he wasn’t a removalist, but his outfit was straight off-the-rack Walmart couture, so he wasn’t a neighbor either. His nose was scrunched, like he was trying to work out how to dodge the guys getting the couch through the door.
I tensed and shifted toward Aviva, but Tobias Lecter, who’d been making calls in the kitchen, spotted him first.
“Oh hell fuckingno.”
He was over to the guy in a second, ducking under the couch with ease, and no matter how much the guy was shaking his head, Tobias kept moving closer and closer, his expression somewhere between cajoling and harassing.
Eventually, Tobias frowned and strode back toward us. “We have a fucking problem.” He looked at the removalists. “I’ll pay you a hundred bucks each to come back in an hour. Take a break or something, okay?”
Every single one of them grinned, immediately dropping whatever they were carrying and leaving without a question. Money really solved all problems.
Tobias looked around at the security team. “You guys can have a break too. Come back in an hour.”
