Dark Favors

“You’re the one who wanted to meet,” I told her. “What is it that you want?” There was no point in beating around the bush with her.

“It’s about the Weston Estate.”

I sighed.

Shit.

Of course, it was.

It was only the most sought-after property in Ruby City. It was a gorgeous estate with rolling hills and a beautiful forest. The house itself was enormous: much too big for one person to live in. You’d need at least ten staff members if you wanted to make it habitable, which I had no intention of doing. It was a property that people had been eyeing for years, but I managed to get it for myself. I’d kept it quiet until then, but apparently, someone spilled the beans. Now let me guess: she wanted it.

“I want it.”

“No,” I told her firmly.

“You must have a price,” she cocked her head, looking at me carefully. Reagan pursed her lips together tightly, as though giving me some sort of pouty face was going to convince me to give in.

“Yeah, the price is fuck off, Reagan.”

She frowned, but somehow, her brow didn’t wrinkle. Botox, maybe? I would never shame a woman for wanting to look young. Today’s world was...well, it wasn’t exactly a very friendly place for anyone: let alone women.

Still, she didn’t need it. She didn’t need to be taking any steps to remain young because there was nothing wrong with growing up.

I wondered if that was how Paige would be. She was younger than Reagan and I by about ten years, if I had to guess. I thought she was 27, 28...somewhere around there. Paige didn’t seem to mind not fitting in, though. She didn’t seem to mind when the world didn’t go her way.

“What is your deal with the estate?” She asked.

“What’s your deal with stalking my purchases?” I shot back. Now it was my turn to narrow my gaze. Annabelle Reagan would not know why

I bought that estate until it was too late to do anything about it. It was no concern of hers, and more importantly, it was no concern of her father’s.

I was certain he was the one behind this little meeting, anyway. He was a shark, and not in a good way. He made deals left and right, but he wasn’t exactly known for being reputable. Fuck that guy.

“You know what, Locke?” She said, getting to her feet. “Fine. Fuck you.”

Then she stormed out of my office and into the elevator, jabbed at a couple of buttons, and the doors closed. A few minutes later, Lexus called.

“Yes?” I answered the phone.

“Uh, Mr. Locke? Miss Reagan wants to know if you’d be willing to validate her parking?”

Shit.

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

Could the day get any longer?

Chapter 5

Paige

“So it went bad,” Fawn said, looking over at me. Our living room was cluttered with books and homework and random pieces of paper. She was curled up in a worn-out recliner with a spiral notebook open in her lap. She was studying for a biology test, or maybe a chemistry one.

“Badly,” I agreed, slumping onto the couch. Despite the fact that we were college students, we weren’t monsters. There were no spaghetti stains on the couch or any questionable spots. It was clean, but there were a couple of crumbs. I ignored them as I laid back, closing my eyes. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

It wasn’t supposed to go like that. Giving the money to Locke was supposed to make me feel good: not agitated. I was supposed to feel connected to him and build some sort of goodwill, right? I opened my eyes and looked over at Fawn.

“Yeah, it went real bad,” she said, nodding, her eyes wide. “What happened?”