Audrey
I locked myself and Pepper in the bathroom, away from Enzo and his stupid anger. Pepper was upset—she could tell something bad was going on—and kept pacing in little circles, whining and drooling all over the bathroom floor. I didn’t have a huge bathroom, nothing like Enzo’s, only a tiny, grubby shower stall, a toilet, and a sink with a mirror over the top.
I couldn’t even stand to look at myself. I flopped down on the edge of the toilet, feeling the cheap plastic seat begin to give way even with my light weight. Pepper came and rested her head in my lap, looking up into my eyes with her soft brown gaze.
“This sucks, Pep,” I told her as I rubbed her ears. She closed her eyes contentedly but didn’t move away. “I don’t know what to do.”
Outside the bathroom, Enzo was pacing around. My stomach knotted and twisted and, for a moment, I thought I was going to be sick. Then I remembered everything that I had to get. There wasn’t a lot of things in the apartment that I cared about. My mom’s old blazer, for one, and I had some cheap costume jewelry that had come from her collection. I didn’t really have anything valuable. Truth be told, the only thing I had that was worth more than a hundred dollars was probably the laptop that the robber had taken.
Maybe that meant it wasn’t Hodges after all!
Grabbing Pepper’s leash, I opened the bathroom door and stalked into the living room. Enzo was sitting there, aimlessly picking stuffing out of one of the slashed-open couch cushions. He didn’t look up at me.
“Enzo,” I said sharply. “I don’t think it was Hodges.”
His head snapped up, and he looked into my eyes. His expression was completely unreadable—it was like the first day I’d seen him when he’d been balls deep inside of Karen.
“Why not?” His tone was wary. “What happened?”
I swallowed hard, blushing furiously. “Because I don’t really own anything that’s worth any money. Even the television was a present from someone I work with at Helping Hands—it was used when I got it, and that was years ago. The laptop was the only thing I had worth more than a hundred bucks.”
Enzo gaped at me. “And you think maybe someone took it for drug money?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t want you jumping to conclusions about that Hodges guy. Maybe he’s not really doing anything that bad after all.”
Enzo shook his head. “Audrey, don’t do this,” he said in a warning tone as he stood up and put his hands on his slender hips. “Hodges is a bad guy. Even if he didn’t do this, that doesn’t make him a good guy. He’s out to get me, and if he knows anything about you, you’re probably on the list.”
“Why?” I stared right at Enzo. “Why would you say that? What would he possibly want with me?”
Enzo’s mouth opened and closed but no words came out, and for once I had the feeling that I’d rendered him completely speechless. “It doesn’t matter, Audrey,” Enzo replied stiffly. “All that matters is getting you out of here, which we’ve got to do immediately. Don’t you know that? Don’t you know you’re in danger if you stay here?”
I shook my head, feeling less and less certain about Enzo with each passing second. He was rich, he was an egomaniac, so it made total sense that he’d worry about someone out to get him when really nothing was going on.
“I think you’re being paranoid,” I said. “Look, I’ve lived in a house that got broken into before. It looked pretty similar to this, and there was nothing that sinister about it. People do fucked-up things. It was cold last night—maybe someone just wanted a place to sleep.”
“So they ripped up your couch?” Enzo shook his head. “Look, Audrey, I know you have a soft spot for homeless people, but they can be vicious. And I still think this is related to Hodges, it makes too much sense not to be.”
I frowned. “Why? What makes you say that?” I stared at him. Enzo looked uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure why I was pushing him so hard, but I felt like suddenly, Enzo was hiding something from me. I could tell there was something he didn’t want me to hear, or at least something that he didn’t want to say.
“Because you were with me last night and then randomly, your place gets robbed,” Enzo replied coolly. I could tell he was lying. “You’re here every single night. And the first night you’re gone, someone comes for the laptop.”
“But if it was Hodges, why wouldn’t he just try to rob the office?” I put my hands on my hips. “It doesn’t even make sense because he shouldn’t have known that my laptop was here! I never should have left it behind.”
Enzo shook his head. “Unless he was watching you,” he said in a sinister tone. “Which he may be doing. He may even be doing that right now. And the offices of LennoxCo are far too protected. Plus, Hodges is on the guard’s watch list.”
“Not because you care about me?”
“What?” Enzo looked at me stupidly. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“What would Hodges want with me, unless it was because he knows that you care about me,” I said. Suddenly, my feet and hands felt numb and shaky. My mouth was dry, and it was hard to get the words out. “Unless you can’t admit that you have feelings for me.”
Enzo shook his head. “That’s not it at all,” he replied, his tone cold. “Hodges is sly. He’d try anything to get to me.”
The bad feeling in my body continued. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“Right, me either. I hate arguing. Get your stuff together and let’s go.”
“No,” I murmured. “You don’t understand. I mean you. I can’t be with you anymore.” Tears welled up in my eyes, and I swallowed hard against a giant lump in my throat. “I can’t do this, Enzo. I don’t even feel like myself when I’m with you!”
“That’s the point of dating someone—to get a new perspective on things!” Enzo shot back. “Audrey, you’re being so stupid about this! Just relax and let things happen!”
“No! I hate you! And I hate myself when I’m with you!” I sniffled, burying my face in my hands. “I feel like someone completely awful and selfish and self-absorbed! I hated those stupid rich clothes you bought me because you’re not comfortable with me being me! You want to change me; you want me to be someone else!”
“Audrey, that’s not true.”
“I want to quit being your secretary, I want to be left alone! Don’t you get that? I don’t want anything to do with you anymore! I want to be on my own!”
Enzo stared at me. “Audrey, come on.” He scoffed. “You can’t possibly mean that.”
A tear dripped down my cheek, hot against my cold skin, and I shivered. “I do mean that. I hate myself for being with you, I hate myself for having sex with someone like you.”
Enzo narrowed his eyes. “Someone like me? What the fuck does that even mean?”
“It means… someone like you!” I exploded. “Someone who doesn’t care about their family, or send money to their poor parents! Someone who hates dogs! Someone who ruin the lives of perfectly innocent women just because they happen to work for him! Someone who doesn’t even respect himself!”
Enzo shook his head. “Audrey, you have this all wrong,” he said, but even I could tell that his voice was shaking. “I know you’re stressed, and this has been a scary morning, but please calm down, I promise you’re overreacting.”
“Oh my god,” I snapped. “Yeah, that’s it. A woman decides that she doesn’t want to fuck you anymore and suddenly she’s the one who’s overreacting.”
Enzo swallowed. His face composed itself into a neat mask of calm. “Fine,” he said smoothly. “If that’s what you want, so be it.”