5- Moving in
2047 Words
James PoV
“Hi John”
“Good evening, Mr. Palmer. Is everything OK?” John, my head of security, asks...His voice on edge.
Granted, he is not used to me calling him at such a time unless we have a security issue.
“I am good. I just want you to send a dozen security guards to my home. And make sure the team in the command center is on full alert.”
“Anything wrong?”
“Just a precaution... For now. I will update you tomorrow.”
“Ok. I will do that right away, Mr. Palmer.”
“Thank you, John.”
I am driving back home, followed closely by Connor. Nothing suspicious around us, which is good news. It means that, as Connor suspected, the gang did not see Harper hop in his car.
One call down, another call left to make.
“Call Ethan.” I instruct my voice assistant.
“Hey, Ethan.” I said as soon as Ethan answers my phone call.
“Hey J. What happened with your bro?”
“It is a bit more complicated than expected.”
“So? A couple of thousand dollars instead of a couple of hundreds?” Andrew pitches in.
“ Is Andrew with you?” Andrew avoids Ethan's suburban house. Too boring for him.
“Yes, I got bored. The brunette left after you... and no one else was hot enough to f**k at the bar tonight.”
“Andrew language! Unless you want me to hit you again!” Sawyer yells in the background.
“Hey, Beautiful!” I greet her.
“Hey, handsome. Why don’t you activate the video? I want to see that handsome face of yours.”
“Sawyer!” Ethan growls.
I chuckle at my friend’s possessiveness. He is jealous of me. He admitted it openly at Trevor and Chloe’s engagement party five months ago. He hated that I believed her and investigated the allegations against her. He hated that I was her knight in shining armor and that I have a special place in her heart now.
But I think he primarily hates himself for not believing her.
“I am driving, princess. Cannot activate the video.”
“I missed you, James.”
“You will see me in two days.” I laugh.
“You are coming to brunch?”
“Of course, I always come. It is Andrew who always declines.”
“You are right.” She answers and a second later I hear a slap.
“Hey! You hurt me again!” Andrew whines.
“She just gave you a slap on the back of the neck! Stop whining!” scolds Ethan, defending his fiancée.
“Back to you James. What is happening with your brother?” Ethan asks again.
“A very complicated and perilous situation, E.”
“I already told you, throw a couple of thousands of dollars on the problem.” Insists Andrew.
“Say one million dollars instead.” I mumble.
“What did you just say? What is happening J.?”
I sigh heavily, tightening my hold on the steering wheel. I always share everything with my friends and even though I do not want them to worry, I tell them everything that has happened since I left them at the bar.
“Are you out of your mind!” yells Andrew when I finish narrating what is happening with Harper and that we are driving, as we speak, to my house.
“James, I think what Andrew is trying to say is that it is too dangerous for you to hide her in your house.” Sawyer tries to reason.
“What do you want me to do, Sawyer? Connor would not let her leave like that. And even I am not that heartless to send her away in the middle of the night.”
“Oh really? And what is your brother’s brilliant plan?” Andrew counters.
I go silent because even though we did not discuss a plan together yet, Connor’s expression was clear.
“Oh MY GOD! Are you f*****g kidding me? Does your brother want to give her one million dollars?! And are you going to let him do it?! Are you out of your f*****g minds!?” yells Andrew.
“We have not decided on a plan yet. For now, I just want them to be safe in my house.”
“James, how do you even know that she is telling the truth? Maybe this is just a scam.” Ethan tries to reason with me.
It did cross my mind. At first, at least. But Harper seems so innocent… I am good at reading people, and I doubt this is a scam. It would be too big of a scam if you ask me!
“I doubt it, Ethan. Harper… The girl seems sincere to me.”
“James, I am with Ethan on that one. You just need to be careful.” Sawyer prudently says.
“C’mon Sawyer! You of all people know that we should give her the benefit of the doubt.”
“I am not telling you to throw her on the street. But don’t consider giving her money without investigating her story at least!”
“We did not discuss giving her money, Sawyer. We did not discuss anything.” I reply, a bit annoyed by my friends’ reactions.
“How about I talk to Jonathan, and we meet at your office tomorrow morning to discuss this case in further detail? We can decide together on the next step.” Ethan proposes.
Involving Jonathan could be a good idea. Jonathan is a private investigator who works regularly with the three of us. Mainly to investigate potential business partners or competitors. He is good… Very good. And he helped Ethan with tracking Colton, Sawyer’s aggressor, and uncovering his uncle’s lies.
“Sounds like a plan. Thanks, E.” I reply.
“Meanwhile, amp up the security around your property, Ethan. MS-13 are dangerous. Do not underestimate their resources.”
“I will. Do not worry.”
“James, bring her with you to brunch this Sunday.” Sawyer proposes.
“Why? So that you can size her up?” I joke.
“That’s one of the reasons, yeh!” Sawyer replies, laughing.
“If she is coming, then I am coming too! I want to see the woman who convinced James to take her to his house.” Andrew jokes.
“She wanted to leave and go back to the streets. Connor and I had to convince her to come with us.” I tell him.
“Damn. Either this girl is a great actress, or really an innocent victim. We will see you on Sunday.” Andrew mumbles.
Damn it, it feels like I will be taking Harper to a forceful interrogation, not a brunch! But I understand my friends’ reticence and I do not hold that against them.
I chat some more with Ethan to plan our meeting first thing tomorrow morning and hang up just as I reach the gates of my house.
Harper gets out of the car, her eyes wide like saucers.
“This is a house? You can fit forty families in there!” she exclaims, turning around to take in all the surroundings.
“And yet, he lives all alone.” Mocks my brother.
My house is my safe haven. Very few can pretend to have visited my place and definitely none of my hookups ever came here. I do not host parties over here either, and only my close family and closest friends have set foot in my house.
“You like it?”
“Like? It is amazing!” she exclaims.
“Wait until you see it on the inside. Come.” I tell her, as I hold my hand for her.
She takes my hand, still busy looking around, and I walk her inside the house.
Her eyes remain wide-open as I gave her a tour, shining like a kid’s visiting their favorite toy's store.
She praised the architecture and the decoration of every room. Which filled my heart with pride as I built this modern house in my image and had a say in every single decision.
“Your garden is huge! And so lush.” she exclaims as we were now on the patio looking at my backyard garden.
“You can spend your day tomorrow in the garden if you want.” I propose to her, smiling at her childlike enthusiasm.
“Will you be here with me?” she asks Connor and me, smiling back.
“Not in the morning. We have to go to work for a few meetings.”
“I don’t work on Saturday.” Connor says, surprised by my comment.
Indeed, most of our support function teams, which includes marketing, do not work on Saturday unless we have some event planned. I, on the other hand, prefer to go to work on Saturday morning to finish up some work and sometimes run a couple of meetings.
“Yes, you don’t work on Saturday. But we have a meeting tomorrow at eight in the morning.” I insist.
He frowns for a few seconds before he gets my point.
Her bad experience with the police makes her doubt everyone and that is why I will not talk to her about the meeting with my friend who happens to be a Private Investigator... I will tell her when we have a plan in place.
“Ah yes, I forgot about it. It is just one meeting and I will be back right away.” He tells Harper to reassure her.
“Are you hungry? I can order pizza or Chinese or whatever you want.” I propose to her.
“No, I am not hungry. But I am tired actually.”
“Are you sure?”
She nods.
“Ok then. Let me show you to your room.”
We walk up the stairs and I open the first door on our right.
“This is the guest room. It is just next to my room. If you need anything, you can knock on my door. Any time.” I tell her.
She nods.
“I will ask my team to get some essentials and clothing tomorrow morning. For now, if you need to change, I can give you a shirt or shorts from my wardrobe.”
“No need, brother. I packed a small bag for her with my clothes and some toiletries.” Connor dismisses me.
“Well… Umm… it’s actually my toiletries, so you will be smelling like me. Sorry, Harper.” He says sheepishly.
Toiletries? I want to roll my eyes at him. What next? He will pee at her feet to mark his territory.
“OK. Good. Connor, your room is the last one down the hallway.”
“Why can’t I have the one after your room?”
“Because the staff did not prepare it.” I huff.
Yes, I am petty that way and asked the staff to prepare the farthest room for him.
“Here…” He tells her softly as he hands her a small bag.
“Thank you, Connor.” She smiles, putting a strand of hair behind her eye.
“humm…”
Connor looks at me and tilts his head. I know what he wants but I pretend I don’t.
He already got her in his clothes. There was no need for private good night wishes.
Yes. Petty!
“Umm… Good night, Harper.”
“Good night, Connor. Good night, James. Thank you for everything.” Harper says, looking at us with a smiling and grateful expression before closing the door of the guest bedroom behind her.
My brother and I stay there, looking at her closed door, probably thinking the same thing. It takes us a few minutes to break the enthrallment.
We just mumble a good night and head to our rooms.
What is wrong with me? Am I fighting with my brother over a girl? He saw her first. He clearly likes her. I don't do relationships... So why can’t I back out?
What have you done to me, Harper?
- Writer
