He cut himself off and there was silence for a moment. It seemed Kade knew what he’d been going to say, because he didn’t ask Blane to finish his sentence.
“But the condom’s still there. I’m sure they grabbed the trash. I’m guessing it’s already in evidence.”
“Was this just an incredibly badly timed reunion?” Kade asked.
“We weren’t back together again, if that’s what you’re asking,” Blane said. “We fucked a few times. It didn’t mean anything.” More ice clinked.
My eyes squeezed shut. This couldn’t be happening.
Kade snorted. “How long had that been going on?”
“I wasn’t cheating on Kat,” Blane bit out. “This was after we… broke up. Kandi must have found out about Kat and me—who knows?—but she came by one night. I was angry. She was available and willing. End of story.”
“Apparently not, if you kept fucking her,” Kade retorted.
Silence.
“Did you kill her?”
My legs gave out and I sank soundlessly to my knees on the floor. The fact that Kade was even asking the question had me reeling, as apparently it did Blane, too.
“You’d think that of me?” he asked in a pained but angry rasp.
“No, but shit happens. And if you did do it, then I need to know. You’re not going to jail—I don’t care what I have to do. That’s not going to happen.”
“Wouldn’t my being out of the picture solve a big problem for you?” Blane was angry now.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You think I don’t know you’re in love with Kathleen?”
There was a long silence and I covered my mouth with my hands so they wouldn’t hear my ragged breathing. My knees ached from being pressed against the hardwood floor.
“She picked you, brother,” Kade said quietly. “Long before she knew me. That doesn’t just go away because you fucked things up.”
“She’s better off without either of us.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen and you know it.”
A pause. “Did you sleep with her?”
“What do you care, Blane? You tossed her aside and fucked Kandi. Who else have you fucked the past few months? Yet you expect her to be a nun, waiting for you to come to your senses?”
Glass shattered and I started. My hands trembled, still covering my mouth.
“Can we get back to what the fuck you’re going to do about this?” Kade’s irritated voice cut through the sudden silence.
“What do you think I’m going to do? I’ll do everything in my power to fight it, call up every favor anyone has ever owed me.”
“Will that be enough?”
“I don’t know.”
They were quiet then and somehow I managed to get off the floor and creep back to my bedroom. I crawled underneath the covers, wishing I hadn’t heard everything I had. Images in my head of Blane and Kandi making love wouldn’t go away, though it sounded like it hadn’t really been making love, at least not from his perspective. And I didn’t know if that was better, or worse.
Two things became clear as I finally drifted to sleep. One, Kade hadn’t answered Blane’s question about whether or not we’d slept together, and two, Blane hadn’t said whether or not he’d killed Kandi.
I was awake, dressed, and downstairs before 7:00 A.M., but even that early start wasn’t enough for me to beat Charlotte’s arrival.
Both Charlotte and Blane were sitting at the kitchen table when I walked in. They looked up and I halted for a moment. Charlotte looked as surprised to see me as I was to see her. She recovered first.
“Kathleen,” she said in her come-fuck-me accent that put my teeth on edge. “I—it’s good to see you again.” She smiled and the smile I returned was just as fake.
“Same here,” I lied, heading for the fresh pot of coffee Mona had brewed. I poured myself a cup and took my time fixing it the way I liked. When I turned around to face them, Blane and Charlotte still hadn’t resumed their conversation.
“Kathleen is staying with me for a while,” Blane explained. His eyes devoured me from head to foot, and although it was vain of me, I was glad I’d taken pains to look good this morning. I’d figured the younger and more innocent I looked sitting at Blane’s side—because that’s where I was going to be regardless of what he said—the better it would look for him with the police. If I wasn’t afraid of him, then how could he possibly have done something like that to Kandi?
To that end, I’d chosen a navy sundress with a sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves. The bodice was fitted and hugged my waist and hips, then flared out into a flirty skirt that stopped a couple of inches above my knees. I’d blown my hair dry, then added some curls so it lay in soft waves down my back. I’d painted my toes I’m Not Really a Waitress red and slipped on a pair of white sandals with three-inch heels.
“When will the police be here?” I asked, taking a sip of coffee.
“Shortly,” Charlotte replied.
Blane’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you have class today?”
I smiled and said, “Not today. I thought I might be able to help.”
“I said I don’t want you here for this,” he said, his words clipped.
I looked at Charlotte. “Would it help if I was there?”
She hesitated, then said, “Well, yes, and maybe more so if you and Blane were back together.” A pained expression had flitted across her face as she said this, then was gone, leaving me to wonder if I’d imagined it. “Are you?”
Blane’s gaze was steady on mine as I processed this information, then he turned to Charlotte.
“I don’t want her involved,” he said.
Damn it. That just pissed me off. Blane had risked his life to save mine too many times for me to turn my back on him now, and if saying we were back together was what it took to give him an edge with the police, then that’s what I’d do.
“Yes, actually,” I said, directing my words at Charlotte. “We’re back together.”
Her face was carefully blank as she glanced at my left hand. “You’ll need a ring.”
I looked at Blane as my stomach did a flip-flop. I hadn’t touched the ring he’d given me since I’d set it on his desk those many months ago. For all I knew, he’d returned it.
Blane’s jaw was set in steel bands as he looked at me, but his voice was calm when he said, “Charlotte? Would you please give us a moment?”
Charlotte excused herself and left the room, though neither of us looked at her—our eyes now locked in a battle of wills. Blane got up from the table and approached me. I stood my ground, tipping my head back to look him in the eye when he stopped.
“I don’t want you doing this,” he said flatly. “I know you’re trying to help and I appreciate that, but you’ve been through enough.”
“There’s no record of my flight to Vegas or my stay there,” I said. “I can be your alibi.” I set down my coffee. “You’ve saved my life too many times for me to turn my back on you now.”
Blane gripped my arms. “Kathleen, be realistic. You’re not going to lie to the police for me! I am not getting you involved in a murder investigation!” he said, giving me a shake. His voice was louder than he’d ever spoken to me. I flinched but my resolve didn’t waver, though I couldn’t say the same for my knees, which were practically knocking together. “Do you have any idea of what that entails?”
I gave a slight shake of my head, my lips pressed tightly closed.
“It means,” he said, “that the police will crawl into every aspect of your life. Your work, your friends, your finances. They’ll question your character, your motives, make you feel like you’re guilty of something you didn’t even do. And through it all will be the press, documenting and overanalyzing everything. It’ll destroy you!” His voice wasn’t as loud but was just as intense, pushing me to capitulate, to give up.