The Boy Who Has No Hope (Soulless Book 6) Read online

  “What? I’m doing my dishes.”

  “That’s not how it works, and you know it, Lizzie. You’re a member of this household, so you need to contribute.”

  She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Fine.”

  “Roll your eyes at me again and see what happens.”

  She turned to me. “You literally just did it to Grandma.”

  My mom started laughing loudly. “She’s got you there, Emmy.”

  “It’s different.” Whenever I looked at my daughter, I was grateful she was in my life because she really was the best thing that ever happened to me…even though she’d come at the worst time. That was why I was hard on her, because it was my responsibility to make her into a good person. “We’re both adults.”

  “Well, I’m practically an adult…” She got back to scrubbing.

  I shook my head. “Not even close.”

  “When you were four years older than me, you had me.”

  She always threw my poor life choices in my face. At least it made her learn from my mistakes, even if they were a little humiliating. “And I’ll be the first one to tell you I was a child with a child.”

  “Amen to that,” Mom said from the couch.

  Lizzie chuckled.

  Ugh, I hated it when they ganged up on me. “When I come back in here to make dinner, this place better be spotless.” I headed back to the living room to join my mother.

  “No need,” Mom said. “I’ve got a pot roast in the slow cooker.”

  I sat on the couch and slipped off my heels, exhausted after a long day.

  “How’d it go today?”

  “Good. I just can’t believe that man is so all over the place… How do you live like that?”

  Mom shrugged. “Have you seen Lizzie’s room?”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “I saw that,” Lizzie said from the kitchen.

  I did my best not to chuckle, but that was impossible.

  I worked longer hours than I used to, but my mom never complained about taking care of Lizzie because my high salary had dramatically changed our lives. My parents had their own space and got an allowance from me to get everything they needed. I also had enough to care for Lizzie, along with buying all of her equipment for school and sports.

  “How’s Dad?”

  “Haven’t talked to him since I picked up Lizzie from school.”

  “Well, I’m going to go talk to him about something. Keep an eye on that brat a little longer…”

  Lizzie looked at me over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue.

  I did the same back.

  Lizzie chuckled then turned back to her dishes.

  I headed down the hallway and knocked before I entered their apartment.

  Dad was watching the game in the recliner, a bottle of beer beside him. “Hey, sweet pea."

  “Hey, Dad.” I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. “How’s the game?”

  “Giants are losing.” He shook his head, genuinely distraught over the score.

  I sat on the couch beside him. “It’s just preseason. They’ll come back.”

  “They better.” He turned to me. “You look nice. How was work?”

  “Thanks. It was long, but good.”

  “That man treating you with respect?”

  I smiled. “Always.” Well, except for the erotic short stories he used to write.

  “Good.” He turned to the TV again.

  “Dad, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Yeah?” He turned back to me, like he couldn’t care less about the game. “Everything alright?”

  “Yes, of course,” I said. “I already know what your answer is going to be, so just know that you don’t get a say in this.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, this should be good…”

  “I got a quote for the surgery to fix your knee and have saved up for it. I already made you an appointment, so this is happening.”

  His expression changed, his hard face slowly softening. “What…?”

  “You’re getting that surgery, Dad. We’ve got the money. This is happening.”

  He was speechless, which was saying something. He turned back to the TV even though it was obvious he wasn’t actually watching it. “Sweet pea, I can’t take your money. You’ve already done so much for us—”

  “And you’ve done so much for me, Dad. We can go back and forth all day…not going to change the outcome.”

  “That’s a lot of money… I can’t take it.”

  “Oh, you’re gonna,” I said harshly. “I’ve saved a lot from my checks, and I’ve already got a nice college fund for Lizzie. I’ll be saved up for that in a year. Dad, there’s nothing I need that I don’t already have, and what I want, more than anything, is for you to get your life back.”

  He bowed his head, stunned. “Emmy…I don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t say anything. I only came here to tell you as a courtesy since, you know, you’re the one they’re going to put under for the surgery. I should probably give you a heads-up about it.”

  When he turned to me, a slight smile was on his lips, but his eyes were packed with immense emotion, like he might well up and cry. “You’re really something special, sweet pea. I don’t know many people who would be that generous.”

  “Well, you raised me to be that way, so you can thank yourself.”

  Now he looked at me like he’d never been prouder. “Thank you so much, sweet pea.” He opened his arms, like he wanted me to come to him and hug him.

  I rose from the couch and bent over to embrace him.

  He squeezed me tightly. “I love you.”

  I squeezed him back. “I love you too, Daddy.”

  I worked in Derek’s corporate office, scanning more papers into his server while organizing the rest of the space. It seemed like he hadn’t used the room in years, or he only stopped by to do what was necessary, leaving most of it untouched. The cleaning crew never came in here, so it had quite a smell to it.

  Why did men always smell?

  Lily walked inside and approached me at the desk. “Hmm, doesn’t smell as bad as it used to.”

  “But it shouldn’t smell at all.” I opened the scanner and removed the paper before placing the next one inside. The first paper appeared on my laptop, every word on the page easy to read.

  Lily had remained outside the office most of the time I’d been there, working on…I wasn’t entirely sure. She must have responded to emails and requests for Derek’s time, but anyone Derek actually wanted to talk to went to him directly. “I have to say, I’m surprised Dr. Hamilton has allowed you to do this. I mean, he can be a bit of a tool sometimes…all the time.”

  He was rude when we first met, and I hadn’t liked him either. But now I knew Derek all the way down to his core, and the second someone gave him anything less than a compliment, it got under my skin. “He’s not a tool, Lily.”

  She chuckled. “Come on, he can’t hear you. He’s down there building his satellites.”

  “Whether he can hear us or not, he’s not a tool.” I lifted my gaze and looked at her, surprised she would talk about her boss that way. Yes, Derek could be short and ill-tempered, but the worst he could say was nothing at all.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. “Alright…whatever you say.”

  I didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with this woman, but she’d put us in that situation. I wasn’t just loyal to Derek because he was my boss, but because he was my friend.

  “Are you sleeping with him?”

  I nearly did a double take. “Excuse me—”

  “I’ve worked for Dr. Hamilton since this place opened, and he’s never allowed anyone near his things like this.”

  “I’m not sleeping with him, Lily.” I gave her a cold stare, finding her disrespect disgusting. When we first met, she seemed perky and nice, but she’d quickly turned into a witch. Was she threatened by me? That I would absorb her job? Talking shi
t about her boss was not the way to prevent that from happening. “You should get back to your desk. I have a lot of stuff to do.”

  At the end of the day, we both got into the Escalade and headed home.

  Derek looked at his paperwork, his mind clearly still in the lab even though he’d been there all day.

  I debated telling him about my problems with Lily, but I didn’t want to be a snitch. With Derek’s no-nonsense attitude, he’d probably fire her, not because he was cold, but because it was the simplest solution and he didn’t get much use out of her anyway. I also didn’t want to tell him that people thought he was a tool, even though he’d probably be the first one to admit he was a difficult person.

  After a few minutes of silence, he turned to me. “How’s the office going?”

  “Good. Almost done.”

  He continued to study me, his dark eyes shifting back and forth slightly. “Everything alright?”

  I used to be the one who understood him so well that I could read his subtle cues and body language, but now he knew me well enough to do the same. “Yeah. I made a change to the website.” I pulled out my phone and showed it to him. “I added myself as your contact info. I just thought it was easier because you may have people that need you for something and I can handle them on your behalf.” Ignoring the outside world wouldn’t work forever, and he might miss out on a great opportunity since he was a recluse. He seemed to trust me enough with a lot of things, so he might trust me with this.

  He stared at the screen.

  Contact Dr. Hamilton:

  For inquiries, requests, or general information, send your emails here:

  Emerson Lane

  Executive Assistant

  [email protected]

  1-605-555-9932

  He handed the phone back to me and looked out the window.

  I expected him to put up some kind of protest. “I just thought I could handle this for you because you never know what sort of opportunity might arise. I can filter all of it for you.”

  “Alright.”

  I’d expected there to be more resistance.

  He turned back to his paperwork.

  I didn’t mean to undercut Lily, but it made more sense for me to handle these things for him since we had a much stronger relationship than they did. On top of that, she wasn’t fond of him, so would you want someone who wasn’t fond of you handling your messages? “How was the lab today?”

  “A nightmare, really,” he said with a sigh. “The day was wasted because Jerome forgot to adjust the piston baton accelerator…” He continued on, talking in terms I didn’t understand whatsoever.

  “You’ll get it right tomorrow.”

  “We’ll always get it right. I just wish it didn’t cost time we don’t have.”

  “Time you don’t have? Is there something on the schedule?”

  “I just mean it’s a finite integer that we can’t change. You can always add more fuel, more safety functions, more anything, but you can never add more time because we’ve all got expiration dates.” He flipped through his papers, like he hadn’t just said something deep and profound.

  I stared at the side of his face for a while, finding him to be the most fascinating person I’d ever met. He was rough around the edges with a difficult personality, but when you looked past that, you saw qualities no one else possessed. He was a flawless diamond covered in soot. But once you polished all that off…he shone with brilliance.

  We hadn’t discussed the difficult conversation about the therapist since it happened. The next day had been a little tense, but we’d fallen back into our old relationship like nothing happened. I had an appointment lined up, but I was only going to give him a day’s notice. Otherwise, he would psyche himself out.

  We pulled up to his building to drop him off.

  “Thanks, Ronnie.” He got out of the vehicle and swung his satchel over his shoulder. Then he turned to me. “Goodnight, Emerson.”

  “Goodnight.”

  He shut the door and walked to the double doors of his building, a strong man with a strong core, strong enough to carry that big brain of his. Ronnie waited for traffic to disperse before he got back on the road, so I watched Derek open the door and step into the lobby, his jeans tight on his chiseled body.

  I forced myself to turn away because my attraction to him needed to end for good. Once I’d thought about him like that, it was hard not to, especially when he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen—and his good soul only made him more irresistible. But he was my boss, my friend, and nothing more.

  Ronnie dropped me off at home, and I entered my apartment.

  Lizzie sat at the dining table with her binder on the surface, along with some textbooks. She liked to wear tight ponytails high on the back of her head, so tight it would give anyone else a headache, but it kept the hair out of her beautiful face.

  And she had a very beautiful face.

  When she reached the age where boys would become a problem, I knew those years would be the hardest of my life. I just hoped she was smart enough not to get stuck with a loser guy and have a kid at sixteen…like I did. “Hey, sweetheart.” I set my bag on the table near the door.

  “Hey, Mom.” She didn’t look up from her schoolwork.

  I’d told my mom I was on the way home, so she’d headed back to her apartment. I wanted Lizzie to be surprised, but I also wanted her to get used to being alone, attaining more independence instead of relying on family to always be there. “What are you working on?”

  She stuck out her tongue. “Math…I hate it.”

  “I hate it too, so don’t ask me for help.” I went to the fridge and pulled out items to make dinner.

  “I thought you went to college?”

  “For literature. Not math.”

  She adopted a British accent as she teased me. “For literature…” Then she rolled her eyes.

  I kept a straight face and wouldn’t allow myself to laugh, even though I did find my daughter hilarious. I arranged everything on the kitchen island and glared at her.

  She smirked then turned back to her work. “Isn’t your new boss some kind of smarty-pants?”

  “He’s not a smarty-pants.”

  “Is he a dummy-pants, then?”

  I started to prepare dinner for the two of us, getting the chicken breasts ready and washing the vegetables. “Lizzie.”

  She chuckled and used her pencil to work out her problems. “He’s an astronaut or something, isn’t he?”

  “An aeronautical engineer.”

  She turned back to me and made a face. “A what?”

  “He builds rockets and other things for space, like satellites and other instruments.”

  “Wow…he’s super smart.”

  “That’s an understatement.”

  She abandoned her homework at the table and joined me at the kitchen island. Without being asked, she finished washing the vegetables and patted them dry before slicing them in preparation to go into the pan. “You think he’d help me with my math homework?”

  “I’d never ask.”

  “I guess I could ask Grandpa…”

  Seventh-grade math was no challenge for me, but I wanted Lizzie to figure it out on her own. “There are so many online resources for you, like YouTube. You can figure it out, Lizzie.”

  “I’m not very smart, Mom.”

  I nudged her in the side. “Come on, that’s not true. And even if it were, you can always improve. You’re never stuck with the hand you’re dealt. You can always get a better one.” I put the meat in the pan with oil and started to sauté.

  She used another pan to grill the asparagus and Brussels sprouts. “So, what’s this guy like anyway?”

  “Brilliant. Interesting. Kind.”

  “How old is he?”

  “A few years older than me.”

  “Really?” she asked in surprise. “I was picturing my history teacher—super old.”

  I chuckled. “He’s very young, es
pecially for the amount of success he’s had.”

  “What does he look like?”

  “I don’t have any pictures of him.”

  She pulled out her phone from her pocket to Google him. “What’s his name?”

  I’d never Googled him because I didn’t want to snoop. I’d also never told him about my daughter, because any time an employer knew you were a single mother, they assumed you wouldn’t be able to handle the workload. If every boss could just Google that information, I would have a much harder time finding a job. So out of respect, I didn’t Google him. “Derek Hamilton.”

  She typed it into Google, and the hits popped up.

  I kept working and didn’t look at her screen.

  “Wow…this is him?”

  I flipped the chicken. “Dark hair and eyes?”

  “Uh, yeah.” She abandoned the veggies and held the phone up to my face. “Mom, he’s gorgeous.”

  I suppressed my smile as best I could and took over the vegetables. “He’s not bad to look at.”

  “Come on, you’ve got to think this guy is hot.”

  “Lizzie, he’s my boss. I don’t see him like that.” When the food was done, I scooped everything onto plates.

  “Uh, you should.” She held the phone up to my face again. “Because he’s hoooooot.”

  I chuckled. “You’re way too young to describe a man like that.”

  “Mom, I’m almost thirteen.”

  I rolled my eyes because that number was so small and she had no idea. I didn’t have my shit together until a few years ago. Juggling my education with a small child made me straighten out and really understand the definition of responsibility. I did everything the hard way—and learned difficult lessons because of it.

  She pushed the phone farther into my face. “Mom, you can look at this guy every day and not think he’s got eyes like chocolate?”

  I laughed as I yanked her phone away and put it down. “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “You think you guys will get married?” she asked excitedly.

  “No.”

  “Do you want to get married?”

  “Lizzie.” I forced myself to be serious even though her reaction was hilarious. “He’s my boss. I don’t see him that way. He’s just a guy.”