“Really? I doubt he can keep to himself owning a casino hotel.”
Nero shrugged. “He has great managers.”
“I bet he does. Do you plan to work for your father or are you going to college?”
Nero had a feeling Mr. Buchanan knew his answer. “I’m going to work for my father.”
Nero watched Elle’s father smile and ease up. “Elle is going off to college. She hasn’t decided yet, but she can pick anywhere she wants to go pretty much.”
Nero smiled back. “That’s good. Elle should go to college.”
Nero could tell Mr. Buchanan hadn’t been prepared for his answer. Then his smile returned. “Hmm, for some reason Elle didn’t apply to the university here.”
I fucking wonder why? “Well, there’s still half a year left to apply. You never know, something could change her mind.”
Nero saw his face grow pissed, about to say something, when he heard Elle and her mother enter the living room. Nero kept his smile, glad his message had been clear to Elle’s father.
He looked at Elle’s mother as she held out a glass of water. She looked like the older version of Elle, the only difference being she had laugh lines and was slightly plump, making Nero happy Elle would age well.
Nero took the glass of water. “Thank you, Mrs. Buchanan.”
Elle’s mom smiled and took her seat. “You’re welcome. I hope water is okay.”
“It’s great, thanks.”
He looked over at Elle when she didn’t sit down. She was holding a plate of sandwiches and her own glass of water.
“Come on, Nero. Let’s eat in my room.”
Nero couldn’t wait to get Elle alone and talk to her about all the lies she had told her parents. No wonder she can’t help but lie to me—she’s living two fucking different lives.
Elle’s eyes rolled. “With the door open.”
He looked over at Elle’s father’s face, which was fuming.
Nero stood up, smiling. Elle isn’t going anywhere.
* * *
Elle handed over the plate of sandwiches to Nero so she could open her bedroom door. Opening it, she walked in with Nero right behind her then closed the door. Crap. She re-opened the door, leaving it halfway open.
She turned around and saw Nero standing there with his hands full. “You can sit on my bed.”
“You sure about that?” Nero asked sarcastically.
Elle pushed the door a little more closed. “Yep.”
She walked to her bed and sat at the top with her back propped on her pillows, up against her headboard. Nero walked over to the other side and did the same. She watched him as he got comfortable and set the plate between them.
Nero took a big drink of his water and held out his hand. “Remote.”
Elle looked around her room for her remote control. She had an old box TV that faced her bed. She grabbed it off her nightstand from under some old magazines. She was thankful her room wasn’t too messy. Although, she had a bunch of knickknacks and random stuff in her room from over the years since she always had a terrible time throwing stuff away.
Elle handed Nero the remote, curious as to why he demanded it the second he sat down.
Nero clicked on the TV, and a few seconds later, a picture came in focus. Elle shut her eyes and started rubbing her head when she realized what channel it was on. This just gets better and better.
Nero looked over at Elle. “Really, Elle? The Disney Channel?”
“The Little Mermaid came on last night.” Elle couldn’t ever pass up a classic; it didn’t matter if she even owned the DVD.
Nero shook his head and changed the channel to an old sitcom. He turned the TV up loud and grabbed a sandwich. “Magical Cupcakes, huh?”
That’s why he wanted the remote. Elle realized she wasn’t going to be able to watch one of her favorite reruns; as a result, she picked up a sandwich herself and turned toward Nero.
“Yeah, didn’t you know I worked there?” Elle said in her own sarcastic tone.
“Yeah, that uniform hanging on the back of your door is almost identical to the pink t-shirts and jeans they wear.” Nero took another bite of his sandwich. It was almost gone by the huge bites he was taking. “Is there fucking anything you haven’t lied to your parents about?”
“Uh, yes.” Yes!
“Like the fact you have a friend other than Chloe, and that you love school so much?”
“I’m telling her what she likes to hear. What she wants to hear, Nero.” Elle wanted her mom to be happy, and making up stories kept her mom happy.
Nero got out of bed, finishing his sandwich, and started looking around her room, snooping. He clearly found exactly what he was looking for and grabbed the big book off a shelf filled with movies, books, stuffed animals, and everything else you could think of. He came back and sat down on the bed, flipping it open carefully and studying each picture.
She had started filling the book up when she was a young girl, putting in pictures of her at various places and doing different things.
She’d had a good childhood. Her parents had been great, school had been great, and everything had, indeed, been great. Right until her father had gotten a big promotion at the factory and wanted the best for Elle. They had pulled her from public school and enrolled her in Prep School for her freshman year.
Her parents had wanted this for her badly, and Elle had always been able to make friends, therefore she hadn’t wanted to let her parents down. It was just unfortunate that her father’s accident had occurred right after her freshman year had begun.