It was hot and muggy outside. Miserable. I went to the Duane Reade around the corner for a bottle of cold water to drink on the walk home and a bag of mini chocolates to enjoy once I got through my Krav Maga class. When I left the drugstore, Angus was waiting just outside the door at the curb, shadowing me. As I turned the corner back toward the Crossfire to start the trip home, I saw Gideon step out to the street with Corinne. His hand was at the small of her back, leading her toward a sleek black Mercedes sedan I recognized as one of his. She was smiling. His expression was inscrutable.
Horrified, I couldn’t move or look away. I stood there in the middle of the crowded sidewalk, my stomach twisting with grief and anger and a terrible, awful feeling of betrayal.
He looked up and saw me, freezing in place just as I had. The Latino driver I’d met the day my father arrived opened the back door and Corinne disappeared into the car. Gideon remained where he was, his gaze locked with mine.
There was no way he missed me lifting my hand and flipping him the bird.
Abruptly, I was struck by a thought.
I turned my back to Gideon and moved off to the side, digging into my purse for my phone. When I found it, I speed-dialed my mom, and when she answered, I said, “That day we went out to lunch with Megumi, you freaked out on the walk back to the Crossfire. You saw him, didn’t you? Nathan. You saw Nathan at the Crossfire.”
“Yes,” she admitted. “That’s why Richard decided it would be best to just pay him what he wanted. Nathan said he’d stay away from you as long as he had the money to leave the country. Why do you ask?”
“It didn’t hit me until just now that Nathan was the reason why you reacted the way you did.” I faced forward again and started walking quickly toward home. The Mercedes was gone, but my temper was rising. “I have to go, Mom. I’ll call you later.”
“Is everything all right?” she asked anxiously.
“Not yet, but I’m working on it.”
“I’m here for you, if you need me.”
I sighed. “I know. I’m okay. I love you.”
When I got home, Cary was sitting on the couch with his laptop on his thighs and his bare feet on the coffee table.
“Hey,” he called, his gaze still on his screen.
I dumped my stuff and kicked off my shoes. “You know what?”
He looked up at me from beneath a lock of hair that had fallen over his eyes. “What?”
“I thought Gideon took a hike because of Nathan. Everything was fine and then it wasn’t, and shortly after that the police were telling us about Nathan. I figured one thing was linked to the other.”
“Makes sense.” He frowned. “I guess.”
“But Nathan was at the Crossfire the Monday before you were attacked. I know he was there to see Gideon. I know it. Nathan wouldn’t go there to see me. Not a place like that with all the security and people I know around.”
He sat back. “Okay. So what does that mean?”
“It means Gideon was fine after Nathan.” I threw up my hands. “He was fine that whole week. He was more than fine that weekend we took off together. He was fine Monday morning after we got back. Then-bam-he lost his fucking mind and went crazy on me Monday night.”
“I’m following.”
“So what happened on Monday?”
Cary’s brows rose. “You’re asking me?”
“Grr.” I grabbed my hair in my hands. “I’m asking the fucking universe. God. Anyone. What the hell happened to my boyfriend?”
“I thought we agreed you need to ask him.”
“I get two answers from him: Trust me and wait. He gave my ring back today.” I showed him my hand. “And he’s still wearing the one I gave him. Do you have any idea how confusing that is? They’re not just rings, they’re promises. They’re symbols of ownership and commitment. Why would he still wear his? Why is it so important to him that I wear mine? Does he seriously expect me to wait while he screws Corinne out of his system?”
“Is that what you think he’s doing? Really?”
Closing my eyes, I let my head fall back. “No. And I can’t decide if that makes me naïve or willfully delusional.”
“Does this Dr. Lucas guy have anything to do with this?”
“No.” I straightened and joined him on the couch. “Did you find anything?”
“Kind of hard, baby girl, when I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
“It’s just a hunch.” I looked at his screen. “What’s that?”
“A transcript of an interview with Brett that was done yesterday on a Florida radio station.”
“Oh? What are you reading that for?”
“I was listening to ‘Golden’ and decided to run a search on it, and this came up.”
I tried reading, but my angle was bad. “What’s it say?”
“He was asked if there’s really an Eva out there and he said yes, there is, and he recently reconnected with her and hopes to make it work out a second time.”
“What? No way!”
“Yes way.” Cary grinned. “So you’ve got your rebound man lined up if Cross doesn’t get his shit together.”
I pushed to my feet. “Whatever. I’m hungry. Want something?”
“If your appetite’s back, that’s a good sign.”
“Everything’s coming back,” I told him. “With a vengeance.”
I was waiting at the curb for Angus the next morning. He pulled up and Paul, the doorman for my apartment building, opened the back door for me.
“Good morning, Angus,” I greeted him.
“Good morning, Miss Tramell.” His gaze met mine in the rearview mirror, and he smiled.
As he started to pull away, I leaned forward between the two front seats. “Do you know where Corinne Giroux lives?”
He glanced at me. “Yes.”
I sat back. “That’s where I want to go.”
Corinne lived around the corner from Gideon. I was certain that wasn’t a coincidence.
I checked in with the front desk and waited twenty minutes before I was given permission to go up to the tenth floor. I rang the bell to her apartment and the door swung open to reveal a flushed and disheveled Corinne in a floor-length black silk robe. She was seriously gorgeous, with her silky black hair and eyes like aquamarines, and she moved with a lithe grace I admired. I’d armored up in my favorite gray sleeveless dress and was very glad I had. She made me feel downright homely.
“Eva,” she said breathlessly. “What a surprise.”
“I’m sorry to barge in uninvited. I just need to ask you something real quick.”
“Oh?” She kept the door partially closed and leaned into the jamb.
“Can I come in?” I asked tightly.
“Uh.” She glanced over her shoulder. “It’s best if you didn’t.”
“It doesn’t bother me if you have company and I promise, this won’t take but a minute.”
“Eva.” She licked her lips. “How do I say this…?”
My hands were shaking and my stomach was a quivering mess, my brain taunting me with images of Gideon standing naked behind her, their early-morning fuck interrupted by the ex-girlfriend who wouldn’t get a clue. I knew how well he liked sex in the morning.
But then I knew him well, period. Knew him enough to say, “Cut the shit, Corinne.”
Her eyes widened.
My mouth curved derisively. “Gideon’s in love with me. He’s not fucking around with you.”
She recovered quickly. “He’s not fucking around with you, either. I would know, since he’s spending all of his free time with me.”
Fine. We’d talk about this in the hallway. “I know him. I don’t always understand him, but that’s a different story. I know he would’ve told you upfront that you and he weren’t going anywhere, because he wouldn’t want to lead you on. He hurt you before; he won’t do it again.”