This was a new situation for him. The neurotoxin he’d been exposed to forced him into his present situation, and it was one he couldn’t handle on his own. He’d kept everything that happened right before Christmas off social media. No one knew how badly he’d been injured thanks to the Boston serial killer who’d set his sights on Kade’s wife, Angel. Not that he blamed her. Angel suffered far worse than he.
But it put him in a shitty place, both mentally and physically, as these damn stairs proved.
Becca’s hallway reeked of pot. He could only assume the place was full of dealers. Why did she live here? He found her door easily enough, but instead of knocking, he stood there a moment.
Maybe he’d lost his mind. She quit. Without even a moment’s thought. She’d fucking up and quit and then wouldn’t even discuss it. To be fair, he did flat-out tell her she was fired if she refused to go, but he’d never expected her to quit. Maybe call and argue and give him a chance to convince her she had to go, but this? No.
Or maybe it was because he wasn’t used to being told no, especially from a woman. Women were always there, gladly doing whatever it took to get his attention. His baby brother, Nikoli, had learned all his moves from him. Dimitri was the original manwhore and proudly wore the title. He enjoyed his women. He just didn’t enjoy them when they got all clingy.
Rebecca was the longest relationship he’d ever had with a woman. She was the one person he spoke to at least once a day, and sometimes a few minutes would turn into hours late at night when sleep eluded him. They were friends. Or he’d thought so. He knew her from high school. She’d been a freshman and he a senior when they met. His math teacher thought making him do detention in the library would be a hardship for him. Unfortunately for Mr. Lester, Dimitri loved books. Books of all genres. It was where he’d found Becca, her nose buried in a book at the very back of the small school library.
He’d scared her half to death when he’d said hello that first day. She’d jumped, lost her balance, and crashed into the shelves. Face flaming, she’d run away. He watched her go, amused. Typically, he’d have chucked off the experience, but spending two months’ detention in the library had put her squarely in his line of vision every day. She’d been shy and tended to stay to herself. He still wasn’t sure why he’d made it a point to say hello to her. Maybe because no one else did. Regardless, she’d been worth the effort.
Dimitri used their shared love of books to start a conversation with her. Not that it had been easy to get her to talk to him. Becca hardly ever spoke a word to anyone. Hell, she barely said a word to him, but he refused to let her ignore him. He’d eventually convinced her to friend him on Facebook, and that was how he’d gotten to know the real Rebecca Rhodes. She opened up in chat. The girl was funny as hell and had a heart the size of Texas. They’d been friends since.
She was also a wizard when it came to Photoshop. Photoshop hated him. He’d had a war with the program over layers that lasted three days. Photoshop won, and he’d deleted the program from his computer in a fit of spite. She’d bailed him out big time, and it happened to be for the book that blew up and introduced readers to him. He’d hired her to help him with graphics and making teasers and banners after that. Their working relationship grew until she officially took on the role of his PA. Becca was right about one thing. She worked damn hard doing all the things he couldn’t or wouldn’t. And he didn’t pay her nearly enough, especially if she lived in this rat hole. First thing he was going to do was give her a raise.
Rolling his neck to ease some of the tension, he knocked. He wasn’t about to lose the one woman who mattered a damn to him outside of his mother and babushka over something as stupid as telling her she was fired if she didn’t come to a signing.
Not that she wasn’t coming. She was. She just didn’t know it yet.