The Boy Who Has No Hope (Soulless #6) - Victoria Quinn Page 0,16

The job gave me so much fulfillment, but there were moments of regret, when I wished I could spend more time with my daughter. I missed more sports practices than I wanted to. I missed helping her with her homework. I missed making her dinner. If I didn’t have my parents to help out, I’d have had to turn down the job, because I didn’t want to pay a stranger to raise my daughter. But the money was so beneficial to our lives that I had to do it, and they never made me feel bad about it. Because of the generous salary, I could pay for my father’s surgery, help my parents with other medical bills, and even set up a college fund for Lizzie. I still had student loans so far up my ass, and I didn’t want Lizzie to have the same problem because she wanted a better life.

So, I just had to make the best of it.

Lizzie ate as she worked on her math homework, using her phone to look up examples for how to do the problems.

More than likely, these math skills would never help her in life, but learning how to find answers would. I forced her to use other resources to solve problems—and that was the skill that would make her successful. That was my entire job with Derek—finding ways to solve his problems.

“Does he have a son, by chance?”

I turned back to her, my eyebrows furrowed.

“Smarty-pants.”

“We’re still on that?”

“Does he?” she pressed.

“No kids.” And he didn’t want any.

“Dang. They’d be smart and beautiful.”

I couldn’t believe my daughter was developing a crush on my boss. The same thing had happened to me until I shook myself out of it…for the most part. “How was your day, sweetheart?”

She shrugged. “Soccer practice was good. Dina got detention for passing notes in class.”

“Well, she shouldn’t pass notes in class.”

“She was passing it to me, but I didn’t get caught.”

“I hope you learned the lesson, all the same.”

“We were talking about Bradley, so we weren’t even saying anything bad.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re in class to learn, not gossip.”

She rolled her eyes. “You sound like my teacher.”

“Did you roll your eyes at me?”

She sighed. “Sorry… Now, you really sound like my teacher.”

“I’m supposed to.” Lizzie and I went to the movies and spent time together, and I knew when she was old enough, we would be friends. But right now, my job was to discipline her, to annoy her with my rules, and to mold her into a good person who understood how to treat others with respect. “And you’ll thank me for it one day.”

Five

Emerson

I stepped into the lab, seeing Derek sitting on one of the stools and working on his device. He seemed to be programming something into the simulator so it would then be programmed into the piece of machinery that he was developing. The guys worked in the background at another table, looking over their notes like they were occupied with a different component.

I approached Derek’s table and rested my arms on the surface, waiting for him to finish his thought before I spoke to him.

He completed whatever he was doing, taking a couple minutes before he stopped working on his device and looked at me, giving me his full attention. His behavior toward me was completely different than it used to be, even if it was subtle to most people. Now, he always looked me in the eye when he spoke to me, giving me respect that he gave few others.

“We need to leave a little earlier today, if that’s okay.”

He gave me a blank look, like he didn’t understand my statement.

“We have an appointment with Dr. Collins.”

His expression slowly changed, morphing from soft and approachable to furiously hostile. And it all happened in less than a few seconds. He set down his device and turned away, holding his silence like he was trying to compose himself instead of lashing out.

I’d expected this reaction, so I wasn’t surprised. It reminded me of when I forced Lizzie to do something she didn’t want to do, and she threw a tantrum to get her way.

When he spoke, his voice was controlled, like he was exerting all his strength to remain calm. “Working hours are for work. I have a lot of stuff to do—”

“Your health is your priority—physical and mental. The office closes at five, so it needs to happen during business hours. I’ve asked him to come to your penthouse to make you more comfortable.