Page 39

THIRTY-EIGHT

NATALIE

“Your shift is over,” Julien says to me when Nick walks out. “Meet me outside when you get your stuff.”

I get my things out of the locker and walk out into the night. It’s quiet outside. Someone must’ve turned off the music on the terrace. At the front of the house, car doors slam and tires hiss against the driveway as the last guests leave. There’s no one around, and this might not be a good time to be alone with Julien, but I need answers.

“What did you do with the girl?” I ask as I stop in front of him.

We are standing just outside the staff entrance. The night is pleasant, but this place suffocates me with its secrets. I can’t wait to get out of here.

“We took her to her place and called 911,” Julien says, his hands in his pockets.

“And you know where she lives?”

“We know everything about all our guests. This is not exactly the average Joe’s crowd.”

“She was unconscious, Julien. I heard a gunshot. Tell me what happened.”

He doesn’t answer.

“Tell me or I’m going to the police!”

“We don’t discuss these episodes,” he says. “We just deal with them.”

“Oh, you just go along?” I mock him. “You need to report Rosenberg.”

“We’ll all lose our jobs.”

“So what?” I shout.

He looks around, then steps closer. “No one needs to hear that,” he says in a hushed voice.

“Oh, yeah? So he can keep drugging women and do god knows what with them while he’s drunk?”

“That’s why we keep him at bay. And we can’t go to the police. He’s about to make IxResearch public. Thousands of people’s well-being depends on that.”

“Screw the company! Screw you, Julien! I used to bartend. I’ve seen this sort of thing all the time. I know how it goes. I know guys like you who sweep shit like this under the carpet.”

“Natalie—”

“You watch others do this sort of stuff and you are, like, none of my business? Yeah? Bravo, Julien.”

“Nata—”

“Someone’s life gets ruined, and you don’t care. Except when it hits too close to home.”

“Natalie, you are wrong and?—”

“Darla was an employee. Despite her unprofessional behavior, she didn’t deserve what she got.”

I shut up and watch his expression change.

Yeah, I struck a nerve. It makes me wonder why he covers for Rosenberg, why everyone in this house does. What does Rosenberg have on everyone that they all dance to his tune?

“I need to know that the blonde girl is fine,” I demand.

Or I swear, I’ll make sure everyone in this house goes to jail. But I don’t tell Julien that. I need to get home safe first and talk to the detective.

“The girl is fine,” he says.

“And you know that how?”

“I just received a report that she is logged into the hospital system. She’s stable.”

Somehow, I believe him, my anger dissipating in seconds. But I’ll ask the detective to confirm that.

“Please, don’t discuss this with anyone, Natalie. It’s in your best interest.”

Oh, look who’s being nice now. “Is it? Are you threatening me?”

I’m sure he’s alluding to my conversation with the detective, but you bet I’m going to have a talk with her.

Nothing changes in his face. “I’m asking you. You shouldn’t be in this house, not around Rosenberg, not involved in this whole business.”

Why is he so afraid that I’m around, afraid that this gets out? He doesn’t show it, but he’s wary. His tone has changed.

The silence between us is razor sharp, and when he reaches inside his suit, I flinch. A split-second thought crosses my mind that he can overpower me in seconds, make me vanish, or I’ll end up unconscious at a bus stop tomorrow morning. One injection?—

“Here.” He pulls out what looks like an envelope.

I let out a relieved breath. “What is this?”

“Your pay.”

“That’s for three days?”

“Yes. And for you to not show up tomorrow.”

“Why? Is that you suddenly being a concerned citizen?”

“That’s me protecting you.”

“I don’t need your protection, Julien.”

“Or so you think.”

“I’m not a quitter.”

He rubs the top of his head with his palm, the movement casual but out of character. Tonight, everyone is on edge, including Mister-I’m-In-Control-House-Manager.

Julien’s eyes are on me again. Silence burns between us as I’m trying to figure out if we are on the same team, same wave, or same hate train. I really am starting to hate everyone in this mansion.

“I didn’t mean to be rough,” Julien says apologetically, which confuses me more than him trying to fire me. “Back in the library—I apologize for mishandling you.”

His apology takes me aback. His sudden change in the way he treats me even more so. Julien’s gaze on me is so intense that I’m starting to worry about the meaning behind it.

That moment when you see want in a guy's eyes—it's powerful. You learn to detect it when you work with people.

Nick wants me, but he’s too ambitious and too close to the boss to be really interested in a cleaning lady.

Rosenberg doesn't want me, but he’s interested for other reasons. There’s something dark about his dealings with women.

Julien is different. I can't figure him out. I often catch him staring at me. At first, I thought he was protective of his workspace. Then, I figured, it was curiosity. There are moments when I think he’s interested in me. He might be the type who needs time to get to know people. Or…

If it's or , he could be a Pandora’s box. I’ve met those before. Some of the quietest people in bars have the loudest stories to tell. There are those whose stories never reach the light. There are psychopaths. They are master manipulators. Some play nice, side with the law, though in fact, they are the executioners, willing to cover up about anything and “deal” with emergency situations in their own screwed-up way.

Julien might be playing more games in this house than anyone. In that case, I should be careful, because that means he's a controlling kind, the quiet one, the gray cardinal. And that ’s the most dangerous type.