I sigh again. “Since June. Since I saw her at the bookstore.”
“The Dark Chapters Bookstore?” Mia asks, surprise in her voice. “That was you? The guy who tried to buy her those books?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck, Tony. She told us about that. She was freaked out that you followed her to her car. And then when she started talking about someone watching the house...” Mia trails off, and I can picture her pacing in her living room, gesturing with her free hand the way she does when she’s worked up. “Why didn’t you just introduce yourself normally? Why all the cloak and dagger bullshit?”
It’s a fair question. One I’ve asked myself more times than I can count.
“I didn’t plan for it to happen this way. I tried to and she turned me down,” then I pause, not ready to tell Mia everything yet. Not ready to explain the full truth of myinterest in Lila. “I wanted to help her. I could see she was trapped, unhappy. And then I found out who her husband was.”
“Eli Fischer,” Mia says flatly. “The streamer.”
“Yes, Eli Fischer. The abusive piece of shit who uses our platform to make money while he torments his wife and visits prostitutes on the side.”
Another pause. “How do you know about the prostitutes?”
“I’ve been following him when he goes on his ‘business trips.’ I have proof, Mia. Photos, videos, receipts. Enough to bury him if Lila decides to divorce his sorry ass.”
“So this is about taking down Eli? Not about Lila?”
“No, I didn’t know who he was until after I saw her.” I say. “There is still a lot about him we don’t know yet. I just can’t seem to connect those dots.”
“But scaring the shit out of her was okay? Watching her through windows? Showing up at a club in a mask and taking her to a VIP room?” Mia’s voice rises with each question. “Do you hear yourself, Tony? Do you understand how fucked up this sounds?”
I do. God help me, I do.
“I’m going to tell her about it all. About me, what I do, and GameStream. About what I found on Eli,” I say. “I’m going to tell her everything. But not yet. Not until I know she’s safe.”
“Safe from what? Eli’s not even home most of the time and she says he's been staying away on purpose.”
“That may be when she’s safest,” I explain. “But when he comes back... Mia, you don’t know what he’s capable of. If he finds out she’s planning to leave, if he suspectsthere’s someone else...” I trail off, the possibilities too grim to voice.
Mia is quiet for a long moment. “So, what’s your plan? Keep playing masked man until Eli is out of the picture?”
“Something like that,” I say, though I know how inadequate it sounds. “I’m working on it, Mia. I promise.”
“She’s falling for you, you know,” Mia says suddenly. “The mask, the mystery, the danger, it’s like one of those dark romance books she reads. But this is real life, Tony. She’s a real person with real trauma, not a character in a book.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut because I know they’re true. I’ve been so caught up in my own narrative, the hero rescuing the damsel, that I’ve lost sight of the real woman at the center of all this.
“I care about her,” I say softly. “More than I should. More than makes sense given how little time we’ve spent together. I won’t hurt her, Mia. I swear.”
“You already are,” she replies, but her tone has softened slightly. “Every day you keep lying to her, you’re hurting her.”
I close my eyes, the truth of her words settling heavy in my chest. “I know. I’ll make it right. I just need a little more time.”
“Time for what?”
“To make sure she has a way out. A clean break. Financial security, legal protection, all of it. I can’t tell her who I am until I can offer her something real, something lasting.”
Mia sighs, a sound I know well, exasperation mixed with reluctant understanding. “I won’t tell her I know,” she says finally. “But you have to. Soon. Before this goes any further.”
“I will,” I promise. “When the time is right.”
“And in the meantime, you’ll keep her safe? Make sure Eli doesn’t hurt her?”
“With my life,” I say, and I mean it more than I’ve meant anything in a long time.
