Turning on my heel, I fled into the back room. I sat down on one chair, wiping my watery eyes and feeling like I was about to break down.
Did Kyle really have it in him to harm me in any way? Did I have it in me to go on with this investigation if I knew it wouldn’t end well?
I heard a few murmurs from the café, and my phone rang. I saw that it was Desmond and silenced it.
He rang again, and when I didn’t pick up, he texted me.
Desmond: Tell me you’re okay, or I’m coming in there.
I didn’t need him striding into the back room of the café to console me. Not in front of Carolyn, Thomas, and the freaking director of HR.
Ava: Just heard from Kyle. I’ll fill you in on the details tomorrow.
Desmond: I can’t wait till tomorrow. Talk to me.
Ava: Highly inappropriate. No.
His next message took a few minutes to arrive.
Desmond: If you say so.
There. I’d pissed him off already, and we weren’t even in a relationship.
I got out of the back room, and grabbing my bag, I walked past Desmond, who was sitting at the table near the restroom across the lobby. He didn’t even look up at me, and my heart broke a little bit more as I walked into the restroom to blow my nose and wipe my face. I looked intothe mirror at the red-eyed woman and seriously questioned whether I wanted to continue to look into Kyle’s fraud.
The memory of my mom came to my mind, and I felt a sudden pang of regret. For the year I’d spent believing Mom had let me down. For the year I’d spent working at her restaurant without any passion for it. I had been grieving, like Desmond had spotted, but I didn’t want that for me anymore.
I sat down on the black-and-white tiled floor of the empty restroom and thought about Mom’s voice and her love for doing her own thing. Her desire to keep the people around her happy even if it meant lying to them. In her death, she had ruined the wonderful, loving image I’d had of her.
No wonder I’d let Kyle get away. I was a mess, not simply over Mom’s death. But her betrayal.
The door to the restroom opened, and I rubbed my eyes hastily and made to stand up when I saw Desmond walking in. My jaw dropped when he stood right in front of me and gazed at me on the floor.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“The water in the men’s restroom was out,” he said without skipping a beat. And lending me a hand, he pulled me up. “And a certain crying woman wasn’t in the men’s restroom either.”
The door to the restroom remained closed while my heart beat rapidly, as though I expected anyone to barge in now. We were barely a foot apart, and he held my gaze, as though he could read me and read my hurt.
He looked at me gravely and then asked, “What did Kyle say?”
Saying the words out loud seemed harder than ever.
I looked away. “He doesn’t want me to contact him oranyone he works with ever again.” My voice was on the verge of breaking again. “He said I’d put an end to searching for him if I knew what was good for me.”
His eyes gave away the fear he felt, and he took a step toward me. “Oh, Ava,” he said, stopping mere inches away from me and looking very much like he was going to pull me to him. “I’m sorry.”
Then, he did indeed pull me to him, and I let myself sink into his embrace.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he whispered into my hair. “I’m sorry I’m putting you through this. You know I won’t let anything happen to you, right? I’ll take care of this. I’ll take care of you.”
He smelled of musk and soap. Of safety and comfort.
“I’m not scared of Kyle,” I said, hearing his heartbeat as I leaned against him. “I’m doing this for Mom’s restaurant.”
He pressed a kiss to my hair. “I know, and I admire you for it. But why do I feel that there’s more to her death than you’re letting on?”
I looked up at him, my head still pressed against his chest. Despite all my efforts to avoid this conversation, it was threatening to burst out of me now. To him. With the security of his strong arms wrapped around me.
