Page 58 of Head Over Heels

She purses her lips. "The cameras. And the books." She shrugs. "It's stalker behavior, Florence." She rests an exhausted head against my shoulder.

"Yes, it is." I'm not leaving her alone tonight. "It's too late to call Mel and Renna tonight, but we'll talk to them tomorrow. When are they out of work?"

She shakes her head. "Mel is usually done about five, Renna about an hour later. She works with Dr. Harris on Fridays. We don't need to tell them, though."

I cup her cheek and turn her gaze to my face. "Mel is your best friend. You know she would want to be here for you." I press my lips to her forehead. "Let me take care of you tonight."

She stiffens.

"No," I say softly. "Not like that, Josie. I just want you to feel safe. Until you have your friends and your family around you, let me be your safe space."

I look at Tilly across the table in the hospital cafeteria. She glances between Renna and Mel, raising an eyebrow.

"Dr. Gorden. Ms. Pietra." Mel stares hard at me. "What is this about? Is this about Josie?"

Tilly puts her hand over Renna's. "Will you settle your woman down already?" She motions toward Mel. "It's not about Josie—not really. It's about the things she found at the bank. And the penthouse."

"Where is she?" Mel asks, glancing around.

"She's not here," I say wryly. "She doesn't even know that I'm here. I'd appreciate if you'd give me a chance to talk to you."

"That means you need to shut your mouth for a minute." Tilly smirks at Mel.

"Stop it, both of you." Renna sighs. "Florence," she says my name distastefully, "say what you've got to say. The rest of us have work to do."

"Josie doesn't want to worry you, but she found out that her grandfather has been watching her. For years, probably. He had cameras in her living room. Tilly helped her disable and remove them."

Renna looks at Tilly, her eyes growing wide. "Is that true?"

Tilly nods. At least she has the grace to look sheepish.

Mel growls at Tilly. "You found out he was stalking her and didn't fucking say anything to me?" She turns to me. "Where is she now?"

I put my hand on Mel's. It's warm. For some reason, I expected her to be cold. "She's at work, safe, surrounded by students and professors," I say gently. "She's safe. I'll remind you that he's dead." I purse my lips. "It looks like he'd been watching her, in some capacity, since she was a little kid."

Mel whistles, frowning. "How? Why?"

"I don't know, honestly. There's another thing." I hold my hand up to stave off comment. "She already disabled them, but he had cameras at her parents house and at your house. They're already disabled," I repeat. "We need to get the cameras out of your place, though. It's not likely, but as long as they're hidden, they could theoretically be hacked." The words send a chill down my spine.

Renna turns to Tilly angrily. "Did you know about that, too?"

Tilly shakes her head. "I knew about her parents. She's planning to talk to her dad this weekend to get some answers, anyways, but she doesn't want to talk to him with her mom around."

Mel lets out a long breath. "It's probably better that way. There's history, with her mom and grandparents, that Josie never understood. They don't talk about it." She looks hard at me. "Why did she talk to you about all this and not come to us?"

I look down at my hands and swallow. "I tracked her down at school last night. She was ignoring me all week. My EA told me to get my head out of my ass and talk to her."

Tilly snorts. "Florence." My name sounds sour on her lips. "You need to understand. Josie has only ever loved one woman. No judgment, Doctor." She glances at Mel, before returning her gaze to me. "For her, love and sex are completely unrelated. Just because you let her fuck you on the kitchen table in the heat of the moment does not mean she has feelings."

I open my mouth to respond, but I can't find words.

"Tilly," Renna warns, "don't be like that."

She raises an eyebrow in challenge. "I'm notbeing like that,"she says. "It's just the truth. It's like saying water is wet." Breaking into a cocky grin, she winks at me. "Take what you can get, girl. Both of you need it."

I'm not sure how my love life—or my sex life—is any of their business. I swallow. "I don't know why she's reticent to tell you about this," I tell Mel, "but it's important that she has her friends supporting her. It sounds like she may have trouble coming up with the money she needs, too."

"I thought she could just sell some of the shit in the penthouse," Tilly quips. "Even if she doesn't get top dollar for it, who cares?"

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