We’ll wind up wasting a long time—possibly years—with me falling even more in love with her before she realizes she mistook gratitude and obligation for true feelings.
So I won’t call her. I’ll leave her alone and let her go on with her life, and I’ll do the same, even though it’s going to hurt like hell.
I dial Kat’s number instead.
“Hello?”
“Kat, it’s Theo. You don’t ever have to worry about Paz again.”
After a slight pause, she whispers, “Did you kill him?”
“No, of course not, and if I had, whispering into a phone carries the same risk as talking normally.”
“Oh, right. Sorry. But, you really managed to get him to back off?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t pay him, did you?”
“No.” I give her a brief explanation of what we did and the protection we put in place for her.
When I finish, Kat says, “I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Rojas. You’ve been totally amazing. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, please let me know.”
“There is one thing.”
“Name it.”
“Please tell Nora I couldn’t help, but you found someone else who could.” My heart sinks as soon as the words leave my mouth.
“Why wouldn’t you want to take credit for this? She’s going to love you when she finds out what you did for our family.”
That’s the problem. “I can’t explain why, but please honour this one request.”
“But who do I say helped?”
“Nora mentioned going to one of your aunts for help. Why not tell her you spoke to her, and she fixed everything?”
“I guess I can tell her that.” I can hear in her voice she’s getting bored of the conversation now that the drama is over.
“Thank you, Kat. I appreciate it.”
“I appreciate what you did for me. My parents would call you an angel.”
“They’d be wrong. I’m just a regular guy.”
A regular guy who is going to spend the rest of his life miserable and alone.
31
Curiosity Killed the Kat’s Sister
Nora
“Yes,hello, I’d like to make an appointment with a loan officer.” I finally got through to my bank but not before listening to twenty-six minutes of Muzak. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a jazzy instrumental version of “Born to Be Wild” in my head for weeks.
After not hearing from Theo for another twenty-four hours, I realized I needed to get creative. Instead of going to Aunt Beth, I’m going to see if I can get a loan to pay off Paz. It’s a long shot, and it’ll set me back about five years on my homeownership dream, but if it saves my parents and Kat, it’s worth it. I know Theo might be right that there’s a strong chance Paz will come back to the well once I pay off, but maybe he won’t, and I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t take the chance.
“Can I get your name?” the woman asks.
