The Damaged (The Insiders Trilogy #2) - Tijan by Tijan

She lived in a cute smaller apartment building that housed ten units. There was a buzzing system. The front door was locked, but once we got inside, the only other security was the apartment door. As we walked in, two doors opened and I was staring at two elderly residents. One was a man wearing suspenders, a stained white muscle shirt, and baggy jeans that were only held up because of the suspenders. His hair was a mess, with two days’ worth of beard on his face. The other resident was an older woman. Her hair was wrapped up in a fancy up-do, dyed black, and she had a heavy dose of makeup on her face. Her mouth had eight coats of red lipstick and there was an equal number of coatings of blush on her cheeks. Unlike the guy, she was dressed to impress. A suit jacket and skirt, both a lavender color with white lace fringe. She was just missing lavender high heels. She had pink fuzzy slippers and cotton between her toes.

She was getting a pedicure.

“Liss, who’s this?” From the woman.

“This is a classmate of mine!” Melissa was bouncing, still grinning, and her elbow jostled me. “Get this, Esther. We’re going drinking, dancing, and Taco Bell. I’m going on a girls’ night.”

The alarm faded from Esther and her smile softened. “You deserve it, Liss. You’re a good girl. A night out having fun is something you should’ve been doing for ages.” Her sharp eyes went to me. “You take care of our girl. You hear?”

I opened my mouth.

Melissa got there first, saying, “No. We’re totally covered. Bailey’s got guards on her at all times. I thought it was only three, but we got in her car today and I saw she had a driver too, so four. It was two before, but this week’s been four. We’re safe. Totally.”

Esther’s eyes had started to wander, but at the mention of my guards, they were razor-sharp again. “Four?”

The guy harrumphed, “Guards? Why the fuck you need guards?”

“Harold,” Esther hissed. “Language. They’re still young.”

“Excuse me.” His hands went to his suspenders and he arched his back, then bellowed out, “Four fucking guards? Why the fuck you need four fucking guards?” He aimed a glare across the hall. “That better for you, Est?”

She sucked in a breath and looked to be counting under her breath. After a bit, she nodded at me. “You keep her safe or you’ll deal with us. Don’t care who you are. We’ll get to that another time, and why you need four guards, but I got bridge tonight and need to head out of here.”

Her door was closed and Harold guffawed. “Don’t know why she’s in such a hurry. She’s only walking to A2. It’s the building next door. We’re the B building. And she don’t need to dress so hoity-toity. Only does it to rub it in the other ladies’ faces that her husband was a banker. I know she does it to piss Gail off. She’s married to Henry, who once made a play for Esther. Esther wasn’t having it, but she doesn’t want to quit bridge. You play bridge, and you learn it’s the social hour around these parts for us. Every Friday night together. Damned ruthless over there sometimes.” He took a beat and focused on me. “Why do you need guards on you?”

I was sensing a pattern, so I didn’t even try to speak.

Melissa stepped up. “Because she’s got a hot and rich boyfriend, and her pops is Peter Francis.”

At that, Harold’s eyes widened, and he even stepped back a foot. His hands flattened over his chest, the suspenders smashed in the middle. “Peter Francis?” He paused again, his eyes narrowing on me. “Know the boy who came out that was being half raised by Francis. Kashton Colello.”

Oh, crap.

I swallowed. “That’s him.”

“I follow the sites, know who his grandfather is.” He took in Erik and Connor, who hadn’t changed shifts yet and were standing just inside the apartment building door. Fitz was outside. “You need more guards.”

Connor and Erik both looked away. I saw both their mouths curving up as they did.

“Okay. Alrighty. Seems you’ll be fine and safe tonight, Lissy girl. You have fun. Don’t sleep with any of those guards down there. Those kinds are married to their jobs. You deserve a guy who’ll be married to you. Treat you right.” His gaze went to Esther’s door a second before he harrumphed again and disappeared inside his own place.

Yes. I was seeing why they didn’t need more security.

I asked, “Are all your neighbors like that?”

She laughed, leading the way up to the third and last floor. Her place was above Esther’s. “Most. One of the apartments on the back side is where a couple of developmentally disabled adults live, but they’re sweethearts. A fire alarm went off one night and I met them then. They were worried about everyone. They had staff with them, taking care of them.”

She showed me in, and it was a quaint apartment. The kitchen was still in the fifties era. In the dining room was a metal table with red tile on top. Her living room had modern couches. The television could’ve fit in a box; it was tiny. But she had a full desk setup set up. Four desks, one chair to wheel between all of them, and each desk had a different computer screen on it. The girl was pimping her own tech. I approved.

“Take a load off. I have wine in the fridge, if you want some. Do you need to change before going out?”