"No." His head shakes faintly. "I heard footsteps on the upper floor so I took the stairs two at a time. I saw her sister collapse with a phone in her hand."
"What about Briella?"
He looks over my shoulder toward where Shirley must be. "I went into her room. She was already gone."
"I'm so sorry." Tears well in my eyes.
"I saw the note in her hand."
God. Oh, God.
"I took it, Sophia." He leans his elbows on the table. "I took it from her hand and when I heard the sirens approaching, I left. I fucking left her and our baby there on that bed all alone."
"I need you to understand something."His hand brushes my neck as he helps me with my coat. "I wasn't planning on telling you any of that tonight. It just came out."
I never doubted that. It was raw and unrehearsed. The fact that his hands are still shaking now is proof of that. "I know, Nicholas."
"No one but you knows that I was in the house."
"You didn't tell your parents or the police?" I glance at Shirley. The bar is closed and she's waiting on the two of us to leave before she shuts down. I see the impatience in her expression.
"No one." He buttons his suit jacket. "I was in shock back then. By the time I could form a coherent thought, I didn't want to reopen the wound."
"So you carried that with you all this time?" I can't help but feel sympathy for that. It's one thing to lose someone you love. It's another to bear witness to their lifeless body and the aftermath of a murder of that magnitude.
"I went to therapy after college. I worked through some of it there. My writing has helped."
He writes about death. It makes more sense to me now. "I can't imagine going through something like that."
"It changes a person at their core." He picks up my clutch from the table and hands it to me. "You have to fight to find yourself again."
He's fought. He's here now, baring himself to me.
"You gave me more than thirty minutes." He reaches for my hand and slides his fingers up my wrist to the edge of my watch. "Thank you for that."
I shiver. I can't tell if that's from the cheap wine or his touch. "You're welcome."
"Can I get another thirty minutes with you sometime this year?"
I try to force back a smile, but it's useless. "I think I can fit you in on Monday evening."
"Monday as in three days from now?" His brows lift. "Are you serious?"
"Meet me back here at seven on Monday evening."
"I'll be here at six."
I laugh. "You're eager."
"You're damn right I am." He raises my hand to his lips, kissing my palm gently. "I get to see the most incredible woman in the world on Monday at seven. Life doesn't get much better than that."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sophia
"Doyou think forgiveness is a virtue, Den?"
She stops in place. "I think so. Why?"
