Page 23 of Real Shadows
“What do you think?”
She blew me away with her manners. I was still feeling guilty about our first meeting and hadn’t expected much. Her blue eyes looked into mine. “You have a very nice home, Xander,” she said graciously.
Not sure why I suddenly felt heat crawl up my neck, but I did. “Well, I’ll let you get settled and then give you a tour.”
I went to turn, but she stopped me. “Xander?”
“Yeah?”
“Uhm, do you…do you have a safe or…something?” she asked nervously.
I cocked my head at her nervousness. I’ve seen Fallon in a different array of emotions, but not nervous, which was surprising seeing as how she’s got a crazy person tracking her. “I have a couple of safes, along with a lock closet in the attic.”
“What’s a lock closet?”
“It’s just a small room that houses stuff I can’t fit into a safe.”
“What on earth would you store in there?”
“I have a lot of expensive equipment that I lock up when not in use. Everything I own for my business is debt-free.”
She didn’t remark on that as I watched different expressions play out on her face in thought. Finally, she asked, “Would it be okay if I stored my bag in one of your safes or your room?”
My brows drew down. “Which bag?”
Fallon grabbed the small strapped bag from the bed. “This one.”
“What’s in it?” I remembered Karla said Fallon wasn’t a fan of guns, but I needed to know if this woman had brought a gun into my home. I had a couple of them locked up in my safe, but they were registered, and I knew how to use them.
Her lips rolled in and she shrugged a shoulder. “My money,” she replied.
What?
“I’m sorry, what?”
“It’s my money,” she repeated. “Everything I have.”
I snatched the bag from her hand and, opening it up, I could see it was filled with cold hard fucking cash. My eyes flew to hers. “You’ve been carrying this around with you?” She nodded. “Are you fucking crazy?”
She let out a deep sigh and dropped on the bed. “Nope,” she murmured. “Just exhausted.”
Well, fuck.
Chapter 15
Fallon~
It’s been almost two months of normal, but I’m still realistic enough to know that it’s probably too good to be true.
After Xander had lectured me about the thousands I had been carrying around like cheap luggage, he had given me a tour of his home and had gone over the rules. Albeit, there hadn’t been many that didn’t fall under basic common courtesy, but he had been adamant about the fact that he was the man of the household and that meant there’d be doors opened for me, bags carried in for me, and the like. I had been right when I had pegged Xander Raynes for being a man’s man, and he wasn’t apologetic about it at all.
I’m not going to lie, though. Having gone it alone for all these years, it felt nice to have someone around to do all those little things that didn’t seem like they mattered enough to make a difference, but they did.
It took me only two weeks to find a job at Cut & Clips and, while not glamorous, it was a job I was grateful for. I was by no means a stylist or beauty guru, but the salon’s vibe was energetic enough that I didn’t mind sweeping up hair, stocking shelves, or refiling shampoo containers. And since the salon was only open during daylight hours, I had a day shift that made it possible for me to be home safe at night.
I had also managed to find a used car in the sale ads that I got for cheap. Randall was a high school junior who had wanted to upgrade his car to something a little more cooler, so I got his used KIA for a good bargain.
All in all, everything was coming together, and I felt I was finally in a place where I could start looking for a place of my own. I was finally living a semi-normal life where I wasn’t afraid to have a cellphone, bank account, job, and somewhat friends. Being near Karla was also a great plus. We talked all the time and had lunch together at least once a week. It was…nice.
