“Yes, among other things.”
“It’s for her safety, not because I wish to hold something back from her.”
“Have you told her that?”
“Not in so many words,” I tell him just as she appears in the doorway. Cora rubs her hands up and down her arms as she stands there, staring out at the street. Then Boston calls out to her, and she disappears again.
“She’s closed off to many people, but I’m gathering you already know that?” Sebastian asks as he pulls out a cigarette. “Since, you know… that’s what you do for a job,” he adds as he puts it to his mouth and lights it. “Want one?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “And, yes, I’m well aware of how closed off she is.”
“You seem the same.” He smirks as he blows out a puff of smoke. “So, one of you will have to come to the party for the other. Otherwise, it will just be another fling.”
“It won’t be a fling,” I state.
“If you say so.” He looks toward the door. “She told me someone has been sending her mother flowers. Have any idea who that could be?”
“Seems you already know.”
Sebastian nods slowly. “It wasn’t hard to track down the florist and ask. I haven’t told her yet though. In case you were wondering. So, why do you send her mother flowers?”
Why do I send her mother flowers? Because I’m thankful to her for producing a wonderful fucking woman. I know Cora is doing everything on her own. It’s also why I paid for her care. And while I understand she won’t accept help from anyone, it’s nice to give it in small increments, even if she doesn’t currently know it’s me.
“Because I know she would never accept them.”
Sebastian chuckles. “You are very correct there.” He blows out another puff of smoke as he continues staring at the house. “Do you think something bad has happened?” he asks.
I decide not to give my usual blunt response, even as my gut instinct is telling me something feels off about all of this. “When did Delaney contact you?” I ask.
“Her last message was several days ago. She just said she wanted time by herself.”
“Well, let’s hope it’s just that.”
I think about how pissed off Rylas was when I took off one of his fingers during the hunt. But he should know better than to threaten what’s mine. If it happens again, it’ll be his fucking head, not a finger.
“If it’s worse…” Sebastian trails off, then continues after a moment. “It’s just… Delaney tells Cora everything. There is nothing they don’t share with each other. And she isn’t even answering her calls.”
“Boston is the best,” I reassure Sebastian as I pull out my phone and text Soren, asking him about Rylas’s current location. He sends back a question mark, and I reply that I’ll tell him more later. He then proceeds to send me a screenshot of his text message to Rylas. While I know, for a fact, Rylas would ignore me, he would never ignore our Lord.
THIRTY-NINE
CORA
Boston walking around carefully so as not to touch anything has me biting my nails as I watch him go back and forth to different areas of the house. I know I shouldn’t be worried. She’s a grown-ass woman, and she’ll contact me when she wants to. But this isn’t like her. We don’t go days without talking to each other. She may have been hurt by me telling her the truth, but she would never ignore me the way it appears she’s doing right now. There’s something in the pit of my stomach telling me something’s not right.
“We can leave. I’ve already requested to have Delaney’s cell phone pinged so I can track her last location,” Boston says on his way out the door.
I reach out and touch his arm, stopping him in his tracks. His gaze flicks to my hand, and I pull it back, apologizing before I ask, “Do you think she is okay?”
“There are no signs of a struggle, and she has her phone. So possibly.” He heads outside, and I take in the room where I last saw her—the one where I told her James wasn’t who he said he was and that he was living a double life behind her back.
I know none of this is technically my fault because I’m not the deceiving shithead in the situation, but a part of me feels guilty for telling her about him.
Am I the reason she wanted to get away?
Does she not want to discuss it with me?
I’m sure Rylas has tried calling her. He’s possibly even attempted to see her again since that first morning after I told her about him. Maybe that’s part of the reason she left. But I don’t know because she won’t talk to me, and that fills my stomach with dread.
