Raine (Gods of the Fifth Floor #2) - M.V. Ellis Page 0,72

me.”

“That so? Well, then please explain why the fuck you brought me a caramel apple and unicorn pee rainbow latte this morning, or whatever the hell this gross monstrosity is, instead of my usual triple shot.” Coffee. He’s really brought me into his office to tear me a new one over his morning fucking coffee.

I was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t just totally insane, and not in the cool, eccentric way, but the legit batshit fucking crazy way.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I must have been on autopilot. You should have said something earlier, I would have gone and grabbed you another. You didn’t even mention it when I confirmed the coffee order with the other guys in Confession.”

“That’s not the fucking point. Besides, coffee isn’t the only way for me to get an energy boost, so it’s all good.” Ugh. I hadn’t thought I was a prude, but I really just couldn’t get on board with how often Raine used drugs, especially first thing in the morning.

To me it seemed way beyond a guy who just liked to party and have a good time, and more like someone who couldn’t function without some kind of illicit chemical assistance. Naturally, I kept my thoughts to myself.

“The point is that I want to know what’s bothering you, and if, or when, I can expect you to return to previous form.”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just made a mistake with the coffee.”

“Sure. I’m not bawling you out over coffee. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have said anything at all if it was that alone. But, it’s not. You look like you’ve seen a fucking ghost, so I’ll ask you again. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I saw the letter.” A loaded silence hung between us. “The one that was on your desk earlier.”

“I know you’ve seen it. I didn’t think that it was miraculously delivered by the elves while I slept. You’re my PA, so naturally I assumed you’d been the one to leave it there.”

“Well that’s what’s bothering me.”

“What? Like you mean you think you’re above opening and delivering mail or some shit? Oh wait, you’re pissed about not having found a replacement PA yet. I have high standards. You know this. You’ll find someone in time. There’s another James out there somewhere, you just have to keep looking until you find him. It’s like the fairytales—you gotta kiss a whole lotta frogs first.” What? Why the hell was he doing this? He knew full well what was wrong.

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what the hell is it?”

“I know you’re sick.”

“So?” He hadn’t skipped a beat.

“So, I just can’t work out why you’re not doing anything about it.

Chapter 27

Raine

* * *

As she spoke the words, the room seemed to spin around me. It was like that scene in the old black and white version of the Wizard of Oz, that Mai always used to watch, where Dorothy’s house whizzed around dizzyingly, before taking off and whisking her to Oz, except I knew that my ‘house’ wasn’t going anywhere.

“Hmm... well, I guess that makes two of us who are confused, because I can’t work out why the hell you would think that was any of your business, just because it’s your job to open my fucking mail.”

“I don’t. It’s not. I’m not saying it is. I wasn’t going to say anything, but you called me in to ask me what’s wrong, remember? Well, that’s what’s wrong. And it may not be my business, but I can’t unsee what I already saw.”

“Maybe not, but if you want to keep your job, you’re going to have to find a way to move forward without mentioning it to me again, or to anyone else, especially not the other guys. We clear?”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts. I said, are we clear?”

“And I already said yes. I’m clear that you’re threatening my job if I don’t keep my mouth shut.”

“Good. I was just double checking as you seemed... hesitant, but I’m glad we’re on the same page, although, in point of fact, I wouldn’t exactly call it a threat. It’s more like a promise I will most definitely keep.”

“Okay. I got it. If there’s nothing else, and you don’t want me to go grab you that coffee, I’ll... just...” She pointed toward the door. She looked like I’d slapped her in the face, then torn her heart out of her chest and run over it with my car, and I felt like I’d done all that, and worse besides. I guessed