“We were in Spain for different reasons, but it was convenient for both of us. We just flew back this morning,” he said casually. But beneath the nonchalant tone, I heard something else, something he was trying to tell me that I couldn’t unravel. Another formula with an unknown variant. All I knew was that he’d been with Jada.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d been traveling with her for several years now. My friend had become his. They moved in similar circles. Circles I couldn’t imagine because they came with yachts staffed with a year-round crew and helicopters on the bow.
Dawson watched as Silas rubbed his hand along my shoulder. Then, he cleared his throat and said, “Well, I’m off to bed.”
He headed toward the house.
“It’s not even noon,” Silas said scornfully.
“Yep,” Dawson retorted without a backward glance. His tone said he didn’t give a flying fuck what Silas thought.
“Now, I know why there were never any bookings for the Mark Twain room,” I called after him.
“If you’d accidentally put someone in there, they would have complained about the full closet and desk littered with papers,” he said and then disappeared inside.
Silence settled down between Silas and me. I pushed away, heading toward the garage. I needed to double check the numbers I’d seen before Dawson had arrived and filter through the boxes of my belongings that had arrived after Silas had left earlier.
Silas followed me.
“Is he a drug dealer or something?” he asked.
“What on earth would make you think that?” I stared at him, shocked.
“The little things you and your family have said about him. Then, he shows up at all hours of the morning from out of the country with no sleep. It’s like he works for a cartel or something.”
I scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
Silas stared at me. “Sometimes, you can be really naïve, Vi.”
Had he always been this condescending? Had I just never noticed it? Or was it a new thing because I was refusing to give in to what he wanted and return to Stanford with him? “Dawson isnota drug dealer.”
“So, the fancy car in the driveway. How’d he pay for it?”
“He races boats.”
His turn to snort with derision.
I started opening and closing the boxes of my belongings that I’d had the shipping company stack by the door. Some would go upstairs in my room and some I would just have to store. Silas watched.
“What’s the name of the last race he was in?” He yanked out his phone and started typing on the screen.
My frustration ratcheted up a thousand notches. “I have no idea. Why do you even care?”
“Because something isn’t right with this guy, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I ignored him as my heart screamed out the truth. Dawson had marked me years ago. I opened a box of clothes, and then pushed it toward to the door to take to my room with me before opening another. Seeing textbooks I wasn’t going to need anytime soon, I closed the box and pushed it toward the shelves. Silas stilled beside me.
“What’s all this?” he asked, voice lowering a notch.
“My stuff from the apartment,” I said, not really paying attention.
“Your stuff?” he frowned.
“Yeah, Jersey and Raisa packed everything up for me,” I said, opening and closing another container that would just have to sit in the garage for now.
“You had all your belongings sent to you?” His tone was all stunned disbelief.
I stopped, hands on the box lid and looked at him, eyes widening as I realized he hadn’t known. I wasn’t sure if it was because I hadn’t mentioned it or because he’d just ignored the conversations.
