The Bucket List (A REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE)

20. STEVEN

I pulled into the parking and killed the engine before turning towards Albany. Her face was turned away from me so I couldn't see her expression but I wished I could. It was so easy to read and my guess was that she was hidden because of that.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked her when her hand gripped the door handle.

Albany hesitated and then shook her head. "No."

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out before she slid from the truck and slammed the door closed behind her. I watched Albany until she disappeared through the door and up the stairs. Once she was out of sight, I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialled Severide's number.

"You have two minutes, Quinn," he answered.

"Albany got an eviction letter."

He muttered a curse. "Her apartment or the bakery?" he asked.

"The bakery. It was delivered earlier today." I swallowed. "She has thirty days to get out, Sev."

"Is there a way—?"

"She didn't make payments." I mentioned the sum that Albany had to pay back. "Don't even think about paying it for her. It'll destroy whatever relationship you've already formed with her."

"I know," he said softly. "Where are you now?"

"Albany went to see her landlord. I think she's trying to get him to give her more time. She said that she only missed a few payments but she made up for it by adding more to the payment due."

Severide stayed silent for a few seconds. "Why do I get the feeling that you don't believe that?"

I cleared my throat and sat up a bit straighter. How was I supposed to explain everything I noticed about Albany? Should I tell him about the fire? If I hadn't been there, her bakery would've burned to the ground.

"I believe that Albany's in more trouble than we think," I told him softly. "Something's not right, Sev. I'm—"

I broke off when my eyes locked on Albany. She took the last few steps but didn't exit the building; instead she leaned back against the wall and pressed her palms to her eyes. Her shoulders heaved and a few seconds later, she slid down to the floor.

"I need to go."

Hanging up, I got out of the truck and ran to her. When I pulled the door open, her sobs instantly filled my ears. I knelt down in front of her and gently removed her hands from her face. Tear filled eyes locked with mine for a few seconds before dropping.

"H-he says t-that he c-can't help m-me," she hiccupped. "H-he wants m-me out." She sucked in a breath. "It's a-all I have."

"It's not all you have," I told her softly as I wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You have me. You have Severide, Thomas and Kieran."

She blinked at me and for a moment her tears stopped but then her bottom lip started to tremble again.

"I-I don't k-know you," she whispered. "Any of you."

I gave her a crooked smile, unable to explain how all of us felt towards her. Seeing her like this, it made me realized that the bet we made wasn't so important any more. My heart constricted as realization filled me.

"Come, let's get you home."

I pulled her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her waist as I led her over to the truck. Her tears died down but Albany stayed silent the whole drive in the direction of her apartment.

Halfway there I changed direction and headed home instead. She wasn't in the right frame of mind to be left on her own. Her friend Crystal died only a few months ago. Was it possible that she was still mourning her death?

Albany didn't even blink an eye when I parked the truck behind her car and led her into the house. I made her a cup of tea and then led her into my bedroom and pushed her down on the edge of the bed.

"I need to go home," she said.

I gave her a small smile. "Not tonight," I told her.

She frowned at me. Ignoring her, I pulled off her shoes and placed them aside and then pressed a hand against her shoulder to push her back onto the bed.

"Steven—"

"Shh."

I kicked off my shoes and carefully climbed over her to lay down on her other side. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I pulled her against me and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.

"It might seem rough now," I whispered in her ear, "but I promise you that there's a rainbow at the end of the storm."

"I hate storms."

Chuckling, I hugged her a little tighter. "Me too."

Slowly her body relaxed and her breathing evened. I thought that she'd fallen asleep but she surprised me when she turned onto her back and looked up at me.

Her eyes were red-rimmed and her face blotchy. Even when she was a mess, she was still the most beautiful woman I'd laid eyes on.

"Something's wrong with the books?"

I hesitated and then nodded.

"So Lee had no clue what she was doing." Her eyes darted up to the ceiling. "She said that she could do it, that she had experience."

"Albany. . ." I trailed off when her eyes darted back to me.

She'd already had a bad day and the last thing I wanted to do was give her more bad news, but she needed to hear it. She needed to know that her employee was not the person she'd thought her to be.

"Albany, Lee knew what she was doing." I pushed myself up onto my elbow. "She's been stealing from you. It's why you've been short on money and why the books aren't adding up."

She stared at me silently for a few seconds and then shook her head. I could see the denial in her eyes but then something changed that made her eyes fill with tears again.

"Sheen said that he hasn't been receiving the payments," she whispered. "W-when I was taking care of Crystal there was no time to go into the bank to make the payments, so I asked her to do it for me."

Her hand shot up to slap her forehead.

"I should've known! How could I not have noticed?" She lowered her hand and turned her head to look at me. "Now it makes sense why she left so suddenly."

"There's no more money for her to steal."

A moan fell from her lips. "What am I going to do, Steven?"

I gave her hip a squeeze. "Let's not worry about it now. You look tired, get some rest."

"I—"

"When you wake up, you'll be able to think more clearly."

"And you're going to nap with me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

I chuckled. "Yes."

"What about your classes?"

Dropping onto my back, I pulled her against my side and closed my eyes. "I cancelled them."