I folded my arms. “And who was wrong?”
“Excuse me?” Trinity said, standing up and gaping. “What part of it wasn’t a bad idea? You’re in some dude’s mansion, probably just ripening up a little more until he decides it’s the sacred picklin’ hour.” She punctuated the last part with a sarcastic little upward pump of her fist across her body
“I got a job offer, didn’t I?”
“Normal jobs pay money. He’s not offering you money. It’s like he only cares about keeping you around. Last time I checked, that qualifies as creepy. Not to mention it’s exactly how someone would treat a cucumber they were planning to pickle.”
“Well, what’s the worst that could really happen? And don’t say murder.”
“Murder,” Trinity deadpanned.
I rolled my eyes. “He’s not going to murder me. If he was, he could’ve done it already.”
“You have really set the bar for trust so high, Kenzie. It’s remarkable. Maybe he wants to put you in some weird millionaire hedge maze and make you fight for your life. Or maybe he’s got a secret basement in this place where he’ll chain you up and make you drink milk out of baby bottles. Writers are weird, you know.”
“Offense taken. And if your only argument for passing on this is the potential for murder, well, consider me unconvinced.”
“And consider me unsurprised.”
The door opened and Sebastian was back, swallowing up the entire door frame. He regarded both of us calmly. “I heard raised voices.”
“Because my friend is an idiot,” Trinity said sweetly. “She doesn’t seem to think she’s in danger of being chopped into little pieces by you and kept in the fridge.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows drew together. “Who would look after Mr. Meatball if I chopped her up?”
Trinity snapped her head back to bulge her eyes at me, but all I could do was laugh. In that moment, Sebastian’s gaze slid to mine, and I could’ve sworn a mutual flicker of amusement at Trinity’s expense passed between us.
Maybe he wasn’t completely evil. Maybe he was just mostly evil. Mostly a bastard. It was like my mom’s dog, Ladybug. Every few weeks, he’d lash out and bite somebody for no particular reason. Ladybug made you live in fear for your life, and you never forgot where that little asshole was. But every once in a while he’d roll on his back and ask for a belly rub. Even though there was a distinct chance you were about to get bitten if you took the bait, you couldn’t help rubbing that belly.
Trinity grimaced. “Why are you looking at him like that?”
“What?” I asked. “I wasn’t looking at him.”
“You were,” Sebastian said.
“How about you both leave,” I snapped.
Trinity tilted her head. “I just got here.”
“I was perfectly happy to talk on the phone. It’s not my fault you had to drive over instead.”
“When my friend gets held captive in evil mansions, I kinda come to her rescue. Sue me.”
“You think my house is evil?” Sebastian asked. He was leaning against the door frame now, arms crossed.
“Yeah, because you’re here. Don’t think I don’t know what you two did at that conference.”
Sebastian might’ve grinned, but it was hard to say at a distance. “What did we do, exactly?”
“You fucked her out of her mind is what,” Trinity said. “She didn’t even try to power walk after that. Do you know how often Kenzie doesn’t power walk at author conventions? Zero percent of the time.”
“And you want me to apologize?” Sebastian asked.
“No. I want you to get your head checked for letting her go loose,” Trinity said. “Sure, my advice would’ve been to leave your ass begging for more, but still. You should’ve been chasing after her. The fact that you let her go means there’s something wrong with you. And yes, it also means your mansion is evil. Deal with it.”
“Trinity,” I said. “It’s just a job. We don’t have to like each other for this to be mutually beneficial. Right, Sebastian?”
He dipped his chin in acknowledgment.
“See?” I said.
Trinity crossed her arms. “I see you’re delusional and determined to do something stupid. Unfortunately for me, I happen to like you. So I’m going to make it my personal mission to keep a very, very close eye on this.” She stuck a finger under her eye and glared at Sebastian. “If you hurt her, I’ll end you.”
“If I have to talk to this one much more, I’m going to change my mind about offering you the job,” Sebastian said.
“Good,” Trinity snapped. “I was leaving anyway. Because if I have to look at this one much more, I’m going to kick him in his swollen balls.” All the anger drained from her face long enough for her to give me a gentle hug and a smile. “See you later, girl,” she said, then she was glaring again at Sebastian as she stormed out.