Page 87 of From You to Me

I shook my head as I turned to the kitchen, and a flush blazed over my body as Helen gave me a warm smile.

“Good morning, Evy. Master Emmie told me that you’ll be joining us for a while.”

“Umm yes,” I mumbled, embarrassed. “Morning, Helen. I’ll just make myself a cup of coffee.”

The sound of my voice made Jay’s head snap in my direction. I gave a small jittery smile and redirected my attention to the coffee machine. I could still feel his gaze on every move I made, and the awareness of it made me spill some coffee on the counter.

Fuck.

I took my shaky feet to the living room, trying hard not to splash my coffee as I eased onto the sofa. Strawberry immediately left Jay and cuddled by my side.

“Where are you going?” he asked, noticing my dressed-up attire. He was still on the floor, spread out as he leaned back on his arms.

“I have work.”

He raised a brow. “Where?”

“Hmm, with the Smiths. I take care of their son, Theo, while I help around. It’s close to here.”

He gave me a slight nod. “Tyler will take you.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I can get there by myself.”

His impassive gaze remained the same. “Don’t argue, Evelyn. Not after what happened yesterday.”

“But…” The look on his face told me otherwise, so I just nodded.

“Great.” He shifted closer, his jaw ticking. “Now tell me everything about the man who visited you yesterday, and why do you owe him money?”

I faltered, taken aback by his question that a drop of the burning coffee hit my fingers. His expression commanded an answer, so I had no choice but to admit everything.

“His name is T; he works for this man called David, who is a local drug dealer in Seattle. I didn’t even know he existed until six years ago. It was during Auntie M’s funeral that I received a letter from her, telling me that her sister, a.k.a. my mother, stole something from him. I’m assuming it was a shipment of his high-grade drug, and with her disappearing into thin air, he has been tormenting Grandma and Auntie M to pay back everything. Auntie M never told me about all this, and they only met with a dead end when they tried to find her. I didn’t even know if all of this was real, and it totally slipped my mind because I was stuck in the hospital in LA. But T paid me a visit and said that if I ever wanted to live to see another day, then I shouldn’t delay the payments anymore. So…” I sighed. “For the past six years, I’ve been trying to pay back the debt, but his interests only kept getting higher and higher. I managed to get it to a smaller sum. I’ll figure something out.” I shrugged. “I always do.”

The tic in his jaw only increased with each word I spilled as a grim look overtook his face. “That’s why you wanted the assistant job.”

I breathed an exhale. “Yes, with that, I would’ve been able to pay back the debt completely and be finally free from it, but with Gabe’s little accident, I have nothing left.” I waved a hand as I explained, “He broke his teeth and needed the cash.”

Jay gave me a firm nod as he rose to his full height, towering over me in his tall frame. “You don’t have to worry about this anymore. I’ll take care of it. Consider yourself a free woman.”

“What?” I shot up to my feet, my heart stilling. “What are you going to do? You can’t possibly pay him back. That’s my responsibility, not yours.”

He smirked, bringing his face so close that our eyes were on the same level. “I told you not to worry, Evelyn. So don’t. I’ll deal with this.”

“But Jay.”

He rolled his eyes, pulling my empty mug out of my hands. “Enough, now go. You’re late for work.” He walked to the kitchen without sparing me another look.

“I’ll find a way to pay it back to you.”

He looked up at the ceiling and blew out a heavy breath. “You either leave now or I’ll throw you over my shoulders and take you myself.”

My eyes almost bugged out of my head when I realized he was serious. I quickly mumbled a goodbye, giving Strawberry a good rub as I darted out.

Tyler magically stepped inside as the elevator touched the first floor.

“Ma’am.” He gave a tilt of his head as he entered and pressed the button to the basement.

I guess I was going by car today.

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