“One was of me with my maid of honor and my bridesmaids. Another was of Zed and me, and the last one was me alone.”
“So,youwere in all of them.”
Ahri turned those bright eyes to meet his, the tendons on her neck taut.
“Hey.” Rafe brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, surprised at the tingle of attraction. “Don’t be afraid. We have your back.”
“Thanks.” Ahri looked down and sniffed.
“Let’s go. The car’s waiting.” He tucked the album under one arm. “I want to talk with my head of security about this.”
“You believe me?” Ahri pressed her palm to her chest.
“Yes. It’s obvioussomething’sgoing on here.” Rafe didn’t want to upset her more, but the condition of the apartment unsettled him more than he’d expected it to. The idea that some ugly character was willing to trash her place—and do that to her clothes—made him anxious to get her away from here. “Since we have no idea what it is, I think we should enlist some help while getting you away from here.”
“It makes me so mad that someone’s trying to scare me, and I don’t even know why.”
“Same here,” Rafe said. “Let’s go.”
“I still have to clean,” Ahri said, “or I’ll lose my deposit.”
Rafe pulled out his phone and dialed the office, putting the phone on speaker.
“What’s up boss?”
“Did you order a cleaning crew?”
“Of course.” Olaf sounded insulted that Rafe had felt the need to ask. “They should be there by now, waiting for the movers to finish before coming in.”
“Excellent as always. Please contact them and tell them to haul to the dump whatever is left in here. Pay whatever the fee is.” He ended the call.
“I can pay my own fees.” Ahri crossed her arms, reminding Rafe of his mother when she anticipated resistance to something she wanted done.
“Okay.” When Ahri frowned at him suspiciously, like she expected an argument, he added, “I’ll have Olaf send you a copy of the invoice. Now, why don’t you check the rooms to make sure you haven’t left anything.”
She didn’t say anything but turned toward the bathroom. While she was busy opening and closing drawers and cupboards, he flipped through the photo album. Her happiness showed through the pictures. Zed’s behavior couldn’t have been going on too long, or Kayn would have said something.
Unless Ahri had been hiding her crumbling marriage from her brother. It’d been bad long enough that she’d resorted to looking through the album to talk herself out of leaving. Like Kayn, she had some pretty strong opinions about people who walked out of a marriage.
Rafe did too, for that matter, though for different reasons. An image of Tess when she’d refused his ring flashed through his mind, and he pushed it aside. Sometimes you could think you knew someone and not know them at all.
“That’s everything. Let’s go.” Ahri had her pocketbook over hershoulder and carried a glass box holding a doll in traditional Korean dress. She held her back rigid and barely flinched as she walked away from her old life.
Rafe’s respect for her went even higher. He followed, still carrying the photo album.
3
AHRI BLINKED WHEN SHE SAW the interior of the SUV and stepped back to look at the exterior again before sliding into the seat.
“I’m impressed,” she said after shutting the door.
“My assistant has a sense of humor,” Rafe said.
A man Ahri didn’t recognize took the front passenger seat, but Rafe didn’t introduce him. The man seemed very watchful of everything around them as the driver started the car and pulled away. Was her stalker still around to see her leave?
“That guy who was following me yesterday was outside earlier today,” she said.
The man in the front seat shifted to look back at her. “You should have said something about that when we first arrived.”
