Mr. Mitchell Billionaires' Club Book 2 - Raylin Marks Page 0,51
you left that baggage in London because I’ll kick anyone’s ass you bring around my daughter.”
“Our daughter, asshole, and I think I can make those calls in my personal life without your drug-induced, absent brain.”
“Yeah, whatever, slut.”
That’s how I left the asshole—once again. Now, here I was, driving back to my apartment, my hands trembling, knowing that Derek was never going to let our relationship die. Ever.
I called out to my phone and asked to call Derek’s mom.
“Annette?” I questioned once she answered.
“Avery, everything okay?”
“Keep an eye on Derek, please. He’s already flaring up over my trip to London. Don’t let him around Addy—or just call me if he starts acting weird.”
“Everything’s fine. You know Derek. He gives you trouble because he knows he lost a good thing.”
“I’m just saying, it never ends well like this.”
“We’ll watch him. Besides, he’s going out for some work party tonight.”
“Wow. You can’t be serious. He gets his daughter for a weekend and takes off on her?”
“He’s playing with her right now.”
“Good. Father of the year. Bye.”
I hung up. Fucking liar. He’s going out to get his fix tonight and get loaded. All he needed was to think I’d slept with someone to validate him going off the rails. At least his dad locked his ass out if he was like this. I hated being stuck with him, and I hated being paralyzed by my fear that the court would deem us both unfit and put her in the system.
I pulled into the driveway and saw my sister’s BMW. She popped out as soon as I parked in my designated space. The place was a shit hole, but my OCD tendencies had my apartment so damn clean, you wouldn’t know it—from my unit at least.
“I have good news, sis,” she said. “Excellent news.”
“I need all the good news I can get. I just had to deal with Derek finding out I slept with that Jim guy in London.”
“Oh, God.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m sure he’s excited about that.”
“My daughter is at that fucking house. If he loses his shit on drugs and booze over this and she—”
“Annette and Larry would call the cops if Addy were in danger. You know them well enough to know that. Just because they don’t like that you left him and aren’t trying to help him overcome his addiction doesn’t mean they’ll allow anything to Addy. They adore that child.”
“True.” I exhaled. “What’s this news you have?”
“Let’s get inside. No offense, but I hate this neighborhood.”
“Sorry that my rich sister wouldn’t hire me into her blooming business.”
“Shut up.” She laughed. “However, that’s what this is about.”
“You’re hiring me?” I questioned.
“No,” she said, “but the company that acquired mine is hiring. I just got out of a meeting, going over reports and shit, and on my way out, the head of their PR department, Stefanie—she uses my products, of course—she asked if I knew anyone who would be interested in being her administrative assistant.”
“Where is this place? Isn’t that company Mitchell Incorporated or whatever? Aren’t they in downtown LA?”
“Yes,” she said as we walked into my studio. “Listen, they have an advance they give to all their employees to help move them closer to the office. Their wages pay more than that company you work for.”
“It’s called Blessed Hearts Living,” I said.
“Right, the convalescent home. You’ll have eight-to-five hours, and,” she pushed the paper across the desk, “starting pay for the position is five thousand a month.”
“What the living fuck?” I answered. “I don’t have a degree to warrant this sort of pay.”
“You don’t need one. I talked to Stefanie already. She even said that they have a preschool and daycare there. It’s for working parents.”
“That’s wonderful,” I said. “But Addy loves her school and friends.”
“Avery.” Britney stared at me dryly. “These offers don’t come around all the time. Call me your fairy-fucking-godmother. The only reason I have this for you is that Stefanie is a friend, and she hasn’t posted the job publicly yet. Yet! Someone will take this position in a heartbeat for the on-site preschool alone, not to mention the fact that most people with four-year degrees don’t get paid this much. You’ve got to be out of your goddamn mind for even thinking of a reason you might not want this.” She joined me on the couch. “Listen, this is life-changing for you and Addy. I even looked up living costs. Torrance is closest, and it’s the best deal for you. It’s also farther