Neve (Silver Skates #3) - Helen Scott Page 0,2

stepping back and waiting for me to enter first.

The apartment was smaller than I’d expected and older, but it was furnished at least, which made a big difference to where I was going to sleep tonight. There was nothing more I wanted than to collapse onto a nice soft bed. Maybe a drink first. Then sleep.

Mr. Driver wheeled my suitcases in, and I pulled my wallet from my purse, tugging out a couple twenty dollars bills and handing them over. He tipped his hat to me and walked out. I followed and grabbed the keys out of the door before shutting and locking it.

I had no idea how safe Silver Springs was, and I wasn’t about to fall for that small town, leave your doors unlocked because everyone is so nice bullshit. That’s how they get you, how they take advantage of what you have and use it for their own gain. Or at least that was what Daddy had drummed into me.

Never let anyone take what you can make them pay for. The Astor family motto. Cheery, wasn’t it?

I pushed thoughts of my father from my head and looked around the apartment once more. The kitchen had some cringeworthy linoleum flooring that was stained and peeling at the edges, while the cabinets were, thankfully, filled with plates and pots and pans, not that I knew how to cook. It did help make it feel a little more homey though, knowing that stuff was there.

The counter was probably about the cheapest section of Formica the owner could get. The living room had a brown couch that I was sure hid a myriad of stains, and there was one door going off the main area. I pushed it open, and it squeaked loudly enough to make me wince. Unsurprisingly, the bedroom was on the other side. A bed and closet was all that it consisted of…well, that and a door to the bathroom, which was tiny. How the hell was I supposed to do my hair and makeup when there was no space?

I knew that the place wasn’t going to be the Ritz, but this was a little lower quality than Daddy’s normal standards. It was what it was though, and no amount of pleading would get me out of this. That had been made abundantly clear. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand what my father was saying or what he wanted from me, I did completely. I just didn’t agree with it.

He hadn’t thought about it like this, but my party girl antics kept our name in the media, kept us relevant, so we’d see how he felt once people stopped talking about us. I had less than twenty-four hours before I was expected to make my initial appearance at the Gazette, just a flyby, meet and greet kind of thing, but it still put some nerves in my belly.

This was my first business, the first thing I could ever make my own, and though my father may have purchased it, the paper was mine to sink or swim with.

2

Neve

Getting ready in that tiny bathroom had been a nightmare. I’d nearly set the toilet paper on fire with my curling iron, and the mess the shower made? Ugh. I didn’t even want to think about it.

The fact that it made me late to make my initial appearance at the paper was just the cherry on top of the cake. It was a crappy cake. If I could return it, I would, even if I didn’t have the receipt. Unfortunately though, this had been a final sale situation. Whether I wanted it or not, I was stuck with this crappy cake of a situation. Now it was almost midafternoon, and what I’d intended to be a lunch time flyby had turned into something else entirely.

I’d put on my best fuck you stiletto heeled boots and was strutting down the sidewalk, praying that I didn’t slip and fall and break my neck as I headed toward the newspaper offices, since as of this moment, my father had not provided me with any means of transportation. He probably thought it would keep me stuck in Silver Springs, but if he thought something like that would stop me, then he was sadly mistaken. If I really wanted to leave, I would. When I was determined, there was nothing I couldn’t do.

The door to the paper just had the words ‘Silver Springs Gazette’ written on it in that blocky font businesses used. I pulled on