Page 69 of Dead Serious with Benefits
“It was fucked up,” Ward agreed. “And it wasn’t my doing. The worst I’ve seen at one of my parties always comes from someone bringing in something I didn’t approve, or...I suppose, as was the case with the last party, decided that was the place to end her life.”
“What?” Dom asked.
“A young woman committed suicide at his last party,” I said, poking at my eyebrow and sighing. “There’s no fixing this.”
“Would you believe me if I said you’re still good-looking?” Ward asked.
“Someone really wants to get ahold of you,” Dom muttered as Ward’s phone continued ringing.
“I’m not worried about my appearance for the sake of pride or whether I’m attractive,” I said with a sigh, setting my phone down. “But my job involves dealing with people. I cannot do that when I look like I stuck my face in a fire.”
“You didn’t intentionally stick your face in a fire,” Ward assured me unnecessarily. “Who in the hell is being so persistent?”
“I suppose you should find out,” I said with a smile.
“Can’t a man have a day of peace and quiet?” he muttered as he stomped off toward the bedroom, the ringing stopping as he came back and frowned at the screen. “Why is David calling me?”
“Who?”
“The security man for the building...and my mother has called me as well. God save me, I’ll call David and leave my mother in the dark, excuse me.”
Dom and I watched him walk out the front door, Dom glancing at me. “Why doesn’t he want to talk to his mother? Is she a worrier like Matty?”
“I met her for the first time last night, and when she managed to speak to me alone, she assumed I was a high-paid prostitute. When I pointed out that I’m not, she made a vague but still pointed threat if she discovered I was lying to her,” I said as I picked up the pan and examined it. “Huh...I think these are perfectly cooked.”
“Wow, so she’s a total bitch then,” Dom summarized rather accurately. “Scoop one of those out, I’ll try it.”
“You’ll eat anything,” I pointed out as I did as he said, offering him the bacon as well. “And well...his relationship with his mother is complicated and fraught with bad feelings.”
“You know, you are allowed to say bad things about bad people,” he said with a snort. “But then again, I don’t really know the guy, so for all I know, he deserves having a bitch of a mother.”
I said nothing as I jammed the bread into the toaster and pulled out the softened butter. I had to admit, Amelia had come off as a rather...unpleasant person, that was for sure. It wasn’t so much her assumption about what I was that bothered me; there was no real shame in using one’s personality and body to make a living, as far as I was concerned, but the vehemence and threats bothered me. There’d been no reason for it, and while I suspected that her attitude had more to do with Ward’s previous behavior than anything I had done, it still bothered me.
“Hey,” Dom said quickly when he caught the look on my face. “I wasn’t saying he’s a bad guy, alright? Like I said, I don’t know him.”
“I don’t either,” I said with a shrug. “So it isn’t like I can defend him.”
“Well, you’re usually a pretty good judge of character, even if it hasn’t always worked out. If you think this guy is worth your time, go for it. I don’t really see how a partying rich boy fits into your life, but it’s not my life either,” he said with a shrug. “And these eggs are the best eggs you’ve ever cooked, how the fuck does that work?”
“I have not one idea,” I admitted with a snort, taking a piece of one of the eggs and grunting when it was actually pretty good. “Apparently, I need to incorporate arson into my breakfast for it to taste right.”
“That doesn’t sound like the right phrase, but whatever,” Dom chuckled as he took another scoop of eggs and bit off a chunk of bacon.
Ward returned to the house, and one look told me something was seriously wrong. “What is it?”
“I...apparently a fire broke out in my penthouse this morning,” Ward said, holding up his phone. “David was calling to make sure I was alright, but?—”
I stared at him for a moment before looking at Dom, whose expression was blank before transforming into a grimace. “Not only was that bad phrasing on your part, but it was really badly timed.”
“Not now,” I told him with a glare.
Ward’s eyes drifted to the pan of eggs on the stove before looking back at me. “I’m sorry but...I need to go. My place might not have been much, but it was mine and I?—”
“Of course,” I said, grabbing my phone. “We’ll get dressed and take my car.”
“Holy hell,”Ward muttered as he looked around, and I couldn’t blame him.
We were left to stand just past the doorway to his penthouse while police officers and firefighters inside moved things and looked over everything else. The ugly smell of smoke filled the room, and there was something else, something sharper and familiar that I couldn’t immediately place. There was a heaviness about the whole place that didn’t make much sense, considering several windows had blown out, allowing air flow through the entire penthouse.
