The Boy Who Has No Faith (Soulless 5)

“In theory, that sounds nice. But look, I don’t know Emerson—”

“She seems like a lovely person. She has integrity, dedication, and she seems to have your best interests at heart.”

“There’s no way to know that—”

“That woman would not be giving up her nights to come help you write this book and grade your papers, otherwise. She’s just like you. She cares more about the job and getting that job done right than the paycheck behind it. She’s a big fan of your work and wants it to come to fruition, not because she benefits from the sales, but because her heart is so attuned to the words you type on the page. She’s not some obsessive fan who gawks at you. She understands your difficulties but continues to be patient because she knows you’re worth the effort. She’s perfect, Derek.”

I bowed my head and rubbed my palms together. “Yes, she’s been helpful with the writing, but she doesn’t have the experience to do everything else—”

“I’ll help her.”

I sighed loudly, my nostrils expanding as the air shot out. “Mom, I don’t feel comfortable having someone completely exposed to my work, to my entire life. She can scan my work and—”

“We’ll take care of all the legal stuff, alright? But she’s clearly not going to do that. She has shown her true character to you. When I approached her about being your assistant, I had to talk her into it a bit. You know what made her agree?”

I raised my head and met her gaze.

“Telling her how much her help could make you accomplish everything you’re trying to achieve in a single lifetime. I hadn’t even told her the salary yet. Trust me, she was resistant up to that point…because you aren’t very kind to her.”

I shifted my gaze away. “I’m not unkind. I just don’t like someone showing up on my doorstep like that.”

“She wouldn’t have to if you were accessible in any other medium.”

I knew I was wrong, but I wouldn’t admit it. “I still don’t want to do this.”

“Honey.” Her tone softened, using her motherly affection to manipulate me.

I sighed.

“You need to let people in.”

I shifted my gaze away again.

“You’re so much like your father…it’s incredible.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

“In this case, I don’t mean it that way. When we met, he was really bitter…”

“I’m not bitter.” I turned back to her.

“You aren’t happy either.”

I held her gaze and refused to drop it, like I was proving that her assumption wasn’t true. But it was true. At some point, I’d turned into a cold man who thought very little of other people besides my family. I had friends, but my father was my best friend. He seemed to understand me in a way other people just couldn’t.

“Just try, Derek.”

I knew my mom had already orchestrated this whole thing, so I didn’t have much of a choice. “Fine. I can just let her go if I’m not feeling it…”

“No, you can’t.”

My eyes narrowed on her face.

“You can’t poach her from her current position without offering some kind of commitment. So, you’re guaranteeing her job for at least one year.”

I clenched my jaw to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “And how much is this costing me?”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand.”

“Jesus.” I rubbed my palms into my face before I straightened.

“That’s nothing to you, Derek.”

“I still worked for it, and it’s being thrown down a fucking rabbit hole.”

“It’s not a rabbit hole, honey. I have no doubt that she’s going to change your life—for the better.”

Ten

Emerson

I met Cleo at the same coffee shop a few days later. When I’d put in my two-week notice with Mark, he was incredibly annoyed, but I reminded him that I was getting Derek Hamilton’s book written when he was a very difficult author, and that seemed to smooth things over so I could have a clean break without getting a bad recommendation if I needed one later on.

I walked inside and saw her sitting there, legs crossed, her body poised, her long hair over one shoulder. Despite her age, she had the physique of someone my age, like she took care of herself or had a strict diet.

I hoped I looked that good at her age.

She looked up and smiled when she saw me. “Nice to see you, Emerson.” She rose to her feet and shook my hand.

“You too, Cleo.” I took a seat and saw all the paperwork spread out. “What’s all this?”

“Just legal stuff.” She held up one document. “This is to make sure you don’t talk about Derek to other people. This is particularly important for someone like Derek, because he doesn’t necessarily want random people to know information about his personal life.” She held up another. “This is the document that guarantees your salary and employment.” She held up another. “This basically says if you get hurt while on his property or doing anything for him in any capacity, you can’t sue him.” She grabbed another. “And this states that you will never share his personal information, his work, or research with anyone else. His work could be sold for a substantial sum, so he needs a guarantee that you’ll never do such a thing.” She set the papers down and reorganized everything. “Like I said, just legal crap.”