“What? No? She’s gorgeous, yeah, I might have jerked off to the picture of her portrait I took, but it isn’t like that. She’s intriguing, is all.”
He laughed so hard he nearly spat out his beer. “You did what?”
“Look, it’s been a while, man.”
“What you need is to get laid, and twelve o’clock over there has been staring at you all night.”
I looked over at the pretty woman Elliot was referring to and sighed.
“I’m just not in the mood, man.”
“Why do you have to complicate every aspect of your life, bro? I feel like I should have a word with your brother, have him sit you down, and tell you why this is all wrong.”
“I’m not falling for her,” I stated, taking a sip of my beer.
“There’s a condition for that, you know.” He wiggles his brows.
I knew he was referring to the Florence Nightingale effect bullshit. He, like me, was in forensic psychiatry. It was how we met and became friends in college.
I’d read and studied cases on it, but the diagnosis didn’t apply to my situation. I just cared for Alyssa, like any other patient. The more I tried to convince myself, the more the little voice in my head reminded me that jacking off to her picture was crossing the line. Still, I was a man, and fuck, did she look good in that picture.
I still could not explain why her silence was killing me. She wouldn’t speak to me. We were back to me talking and her ignoring me. I knew she heard me and had so many things she wanted to say to me, and I would take anything but the silence.
Staring at the woman in front of me, I wondered whether there was any truth to what my friend said last night. I could always count on Elliot to be honest. It was one of the traits I admired most about him, that and the fact he had a good sense about things. I missed my friend a lot.
Last night, I laid awake replaying our conversation and the last few months. Did Audrey leave because she sensed my mind was elsewhere?
Sure, I wanted to help Alyssa, but that was all this was. There was nothing out of the ordinary for me to want to go the extra mile. I was a caring and compassionate human being, which explained why I’d devoted my life to the service of others. But it didn’t explain why I was meeting her mother-in-law tomorrow or the dread that crept in at the thought of not seeing her all weekend.
“I’m not giving up, Alyssa,” I said to her. “I will find out why. It’s only a matter of time.”
She looked at me, confused. “Why do you care?”
I honestly had no answer because the very question had plagued me every day.
Getting on the plane later in the day, I was filled with a sense of anxiety I hadn’t felt before.
Touching down at the airport, I grabbed my overnight bag and headed straight to pick up my rental car.
This was going to be a long day. I was only meeting Millicent Morgan tomorrow morning, but I wanted to make sure I had my story straight before I did.
ChapterTwelve
Alyssa
Two Years Before the Murder
The new business Gregory and Malcolm were opening was, in fact, a nightclub. Mal never struck me as the type who would consider something like that. I couldn’t picture him like this. His glass office overlooking the dance floor reminded me of those mafia movies I liked to watch so much. What was even more disturbing was the fact there would be strippers and, no doubt, other kinds of entertainment.
I was not jealous or insecure. I was one of those women comfortable in her own skin and marriage. I trusted Mal, and that was about all I cared about. We were childhood sweethearts. A bit of adult entertainment wouldn’t change that. I’d attended my fair share of Chippendale shows and bachelorette parties. But still, here we all were getting a grand tour of a place my husband owned and would need to be actively involved in. It was impressive with three floors split into regular customers, VIP, and VVIP.
Every area had a spectacular view of the city, a state-of-the-art bar, and several poles. It was still an hour until the grand opening, which meant that nothing much was happening.
Marley and I followed our husbands around. While she gasped at everything, I wasn’t very vocal, but I was rarely impressed by things I didn’t quite understand.
“It’s stunning, isn’t it?” Mal leaned in and whispered in my ear. “I bet I could get us a private room, and we could have our own little celebration.” He nipped my ear with his teeth, causing shivers to run down my spine.
I flushed and looked at Gregory and Marley, who were within earshot.
