7. Unexpected Visitors

"Wow." She pulled Jason into a tight embrace, hardly daring to believe he'd actually helped her. "I don't know what to say except thank you. I'd also like to buy you supper. I can invite Hassan and Owen too."

She let out a slightly hysterical giggle, then added, "Hell, I'll invite the whole damned class."

"I talked to everyone else, and we decided we'll keep him from bothering you in class, but you don't owe us shit." He extricated himself from her hug and flushed. "Just… you know, maybe pretend you think the rest of us are actually human and worth talking to once in a while."

"I will. Promise, and I'm really sorry for going off on you. It's been a day, but you didn't deserve that. Are you sure I can't take you out? I owe you big."

"Nah. I'm good." He winked, then added, "My girlfriend wanted me to ask you something though."

"Oh?"

"She wants to know if you'll help her with calculus. I tried, but I'm a shit tutor."

"I'll help as much as she wants until she gets a passing grade. It's the least I can do."

"Cool." Jason scribbled his girlfriend's name and number on an old receipt and gave it to her. "Anyway, I'm taking off. See ya."

Jason was right. She was a bitch. That hadn't been her intent when she decided to stand up for herself. One could be assertive without being unkind.

For a single moment, she considered telling Jason she'd found Dr. Pappas at Club BDE but changed her mind. With luck, Dr. Pappas wouldn't bring it up, and she really didn't want the news spread all over campus. Jason might have done her a really big favor, but it wasn't in her best interest to trust him too far.

She could be nice to Jason without giving him her innermost secrets.

With a last wave, he got into a small sedan and drove away.

Sighing with relief, she turned to go inside to get cleaned up and put on something that didn't make her look homeless. Hopefully, Jason's report would do the trick and get Pappas off her back.

Before she could open the door, the hair on the nape of her neck prickled as the last person she wanted to see spoke.

"Titania."

Slowly, she turned to face Mr. Bastian. She should have known her weekend of shit wasn't over, and she absolutely hated that he and Mr. Desmond looked so perfectly put together in casual trousers and pressed shirts. She hadn't showered, and still wore what she'd put on after throwing that damned black dress into the trash. Heck, she hadn't bothered removing her makeup.

Despite knowing they were probably furious with her, she lifted her chin. "Why are you here?"

Mr. Desmond tilted his head toward the door. "Let's go inside before we talk."

"Fine." Although she didn't want them in her apartment, she led them up the stairs and opened the door to let them in. Instead of inviting them to sit, she added, "I'll pay you back for the auction cancelation fee. I tried to pay it last night, but my account was already settled."

Mr. Desmond sat on the edge of her futon couch as if he expected it to collapse under him. "Interesting."

"Very interesting," Mr. Bastian replied as he sat next to Mr. Desmond. "Why would you need to auction your virginity if you have that kind of money available?"

She actually didn't have the money. She'd planned to put it on her credit card, then get a part time job to cover it.

"First of all, I don't have to share my reasons. Secondly, it's none of your business."

"Titania…" Mr. Bastian reached for her hand, then sighed when she moved out of reach. "We want to help. Whatever it is, your father would have wanted us to do that."

The anger she thought she'd successfully quelled rose up, hot and poisonous, and she couldn't stop the words. "Yeah, dear old Victor was so damned concerned about our welfare that he decided to die without leaving Mandy a corpse to bury. She's so convinced he isn't dead that she spent every penny of what he left trying to find his dumb ass. I did the auction to earn enough to pay off the mortgage on her house."

Mr. Bastian straightened and shared a look with Mr. Desmond. "Titania, how is this possible? Your father wouldn't have left you without?—"

"The old bastard left plenty—except the one thing we needed." She scowled, wishing it was late enough in the day for a glass of wine. "If he'd just left a body like a normal person, Mandy wouldn't have spent almost a million dollars on private investigators."

"Honey, he was your father," Mr. Desmond said. "Could you show him some respect?"

Tania burst out laughing and shook her head. Respect was the last thing Victor deserved. She just wished she could stop the words. There was no reason for her to unload on Mr. Desmond and Mr. Bastian, but it was like they'd opened the floodgates on all the things she couldn't say to Mandy or one of her few friends.

Maybe it was better this way. Once she got rid of them, she wouldn't have to talk to Mr. Desmond or Mr. Bastian again. It wasn't like they'd come around to the house to see Mandy and Bee, and hell would freeze over before she set foot in Club BDE again.

"Really? You're coming for me with that? At best, Victor was a sperm donor. He barely waited for my mother's body to get cold before he vanished. I didn't see him for years until he married Mandy."

"Titania—"

"You know what's worse?" She scraped her hands through her tangled hair and glared at Mr. Desmond. "She actually loves the bastard, and I'm pretty sure he married her so he wouldn't have to keep paying a nanny to take care of me. He certainly didn't give a shit about forcing her to parent someone so close to her age."

"Hey, sweetie. It's going to be okay." Mr. Desmond caught her and put his hands on her shoulders, but she couldn't take comfort from it. "We can help you."

"He couldn't…" After jerking free of his touch, she paced the tiny apartment and tried to pull herself together before she burst into tears. "Look. It's not your problem. We'll be fine."

Before she could protest, they squeezed her into a hug between them. The tears she thought she could keep at bay trickled down her cheeks and she choked on a sob.

Worse, her stupid body still wanted them, and being in their arms was everything she'd ever dreamed of. They wore the same aftershave with hints of pine and leather, and the sound of their beating hearts filled her ears.

"We've got you, Titania. It's going to be all right," Mr. Bastian murmured into her hair, his powerful arms wrapping her even tighter in his embrace.

She wanted to be there forever, but she couldn't pawn her issues off on them. She was a freaking grownup—or she would be in less than eight months anyway. Despite whatever misguided posthumous promises they'd made to themselves on her dead father's behalf, she and Mandy weren't their responsibility.

"Look. I said it's not your problem." She pulled away and wiped her eyes, then went to the door and opened it. "Please, just get out. I'll deal with it myself."

* * *