"Christ, Adalina, what are you doing?" I hissed out clutching my hair because for a moment I had no idea how to process this.
I had started work at six in the morning after returning from the club around midnight following our dinner. Then today, I had worked for almost eight hours straight at my new job. Coming home had felt like heaven and all I could see in front of me was my bed. This was the last thing I had expected to deal with. Jasper hated it when anybody went inside this room or messed up his stuff and that included me. I had learned that lesson the hard way a couple of times before deciding it was not worth it getting this room organised.
"Adalina, you know you're not supposed to come in here," I reminded her in an exasperated tone.
She sniffled as she tried to gather the stuff that had fallen. "Sorry, Signor Cole. The door was unlocked and this room was so messy!" she cried. "I thought to help. Per favore non essere arrabbiato con me."
I felt bad for her. She sounded genuinely terrified as if she might get fired or something. Kneeling down, I put a hand on her shoulder and assured her that I was not angry with her. She was a woman in her forties who mostly minded her own business, was good at her job and had simply made a mistake like all humans do.
"I'll take care of this, Adalina, va tutto bene. Just...go do the other rooms please."
She worried her lips with her teeth and I motioned for her to go. "You're only messing it up more. I'll see if I can just put it all back the way he likes it. Please don't ever come in here again."
Adalina nodded gratefully and departed the room, leaving me to blow out a breath and get to work. Fuck, I was exhausted. It was around 3 pm now. Skye would be home any minute from her session. Jasper might take longer since he was called for a meeting with some big shots today but there was no going back to sleep now.
It took me half an hour to 'reorganize' the clutter. I had not set foot in this room for months because I had no interest in getting in an argument with Jasper in case I messed up his precious equipment or chemicals or photos.
Adalina had already left a few minutes ago after coming to say goodbye. The saintly woman had made us pasta and meatballs for dinner along with Jasper's favourite no-bake cheesecake which was not part of her job description but I guess she had wanted to make up for her blunder.
Oh well. One less thing to worry about for the evening.
"Personal gallery, Borcello wedding, Anna Reece birthday," I mumbled while placing Jasper's portfolios back on the shelves at the back of the room. I had forgotten whether he organised those in alphabetical order or by recent dates but I just went with the latter.
When I picked up a blue folder from the floor and flipped through the leaves since it was not labelled, I found it to be blank and was about to put it away when a few loose photos fell out.
"Damn it," I grumbled because the lack of sleep was causing me to feel so irritated and this just added to my discomfort.
I bent to pick up the photos and frowned at the large, glossy print-outs in confusion, my hands holding them gingerly as I slowly got to my feet. What the...?
It was dark in the room so I had to squint a little but I still could not wrap my head around the fact that I was looking at pictures of Skye.
My Skye. A close-up of her face as she lounged in some pool, smiling slightly. Then there was one of her back as she got out of the pool wearing a black bikini. The last one was of her from the front, her glorious body on display in just scraps of clothing as she towelled her hair.
A cold feeling wrapped around my heart as I placed the folder on the nearest closest surface.
That was when I heard the sound of the front door opening and Skye's voice calling out my name because she already knew I was at home alone. I had been texting her when I fell asleep an hour ago. I said nothing because I was still reeling from my latest discovery. She searched for me as the seconds went by before finally walking into the office and appearing in the doorway of the darkroom.
"Cole? Are you okay? Didn't you hear me calling?" she asked in a soft, worried voice.
I rubbed a hand over my face. "No. Sorry. I was just distracted."
"Oh, okay. What're you doing in the Batcave? How'd you manage to get past the security systems?"
My lips twitched involuntarily at her attempt at humour. She knew the darkroom was off limits as well because Jasper got grumpy about it.
Jasper.
A jolt of pain shot through my heart as I thought of him. Was this why he did not want anybody here? Because it was where he hid his dirty secrets?
I glanced over at Skye who was frowning at me worriedly but I straightened when I noticed her bloodshot eyes and sad expression.
"Skye? What's wrong?" I asked, walking towards her quickly, my concern for her overriding every other thought and emotion.
She shook her head at me. "Nothing. I just
