“Take it easy.” Lila put a restraining arm on Frank. “Rena must have been a Blocker. And a damn good one. We didn’t sense anyone until Chait arrived. You must be worth a lot to them. Otherwise, why would they kill one of their own to save you?”
“Maybe it didn’t have anything to do with me. I think it was more a matter of Rena crossing the line.” Tessa shrugged. “Why would Boris make a special trip to see me? And I’m guessing he doesn’t live around here.”
“You have no idea why Boris would go out of his way for you?” Frank asked. He probably couldn’t figure out what his boss was up to any more than we could.
“I guess none of us do,” Tessa replied.
“We should ask Boris.” I smiled. “Over dinner tonight.”
Chapter Thirty-one
Tessa
“He’s getting your lunch.” Nadia wiggled her brows. “Must be serious.”
“We have a long ways to go before we call it that.” I glanced at Hayden piling food on two trays. “We’re just hanging out.”
“You must feel safe with him,” Bryce added, taking the seat next to me.
I chuckled, remembering when Hayden had man-handled Bryce. “Yeah.”
“I’ve been exposed to him since ninth grade and I’ve never known him to spend so much time with one girl. Going on two weeks, right?” Corinne asked.
“We haven’t been together all that time though,” I said. “Only since the weekend.”
“So you’re together now?” Nadia grinned. “It’s official?”
I swallowed, the heat rushing to my cheeks. “Yes.”
Corinne squealed. Bryce groaned. He was a bit of a geek, but he was still a guy and I imagined the girl talk was getting a bit thick for him.
Hayden’s arms brushed my shoulders and a tray appeared in front of me. He dropped a kiss on my temple and eyed Bryce who scooted away. Hayden filled his spot.
“Thanks.” I smiled, aware of many eyes on us.
“Damn.” Hayden growled and took off toward Skyler and a couple of their friends. He pulled one of them off a smaller kid. “Guys, let him eat, huh?”
“I don’t like his attitude.” Sklyer straightened his own shirt.
“You’re not in kindergarten anymore,” Hayden said. “Try acting like it and don’t let me catch either of you picking on anyone again. I mean it.” He cuffed Skyler in the head and walked away.
I beamed at Hayden as he returned to our table.
That was it. I’d gone over the edge with him. Even Chait, with all his sweetness and physical perfection, wouldn’t be able to help me through the heartbreak once Hayden dumped me. And he would leave me. It was only a matter of time. My heart ached thinking about it.
* * * *
When Hayden dropped me off in front of my house, Mom’s car was parked in the driveway. He needed to check on his own mom anyway, so he left, promising to return shortly for our dinner appointment with Boris.
The aroma of pot roast met me at the door. Too bad I wouldn’t be staying. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, sweetheart. Dinner will be ready in about an hour.” She wiped the cutting board and set it in the sink.
“Hayden and I are going out to dinner. Hope that’s okay.”
“You two are getting serious?” Mom still hadn’t glanced my way. Typical for me to get stuck talking to her back.
“It’s only been two weeks. We’re still getting to know each other.” I sat my purse on the counter.
She patted her hands on a towel, then pulled a large envelope off the counter and handed it to me. With her eyes still averted, she returned to the sink and faced the window. “Your father and I agree to all your terms, even the child support. We’ve declined visitation, as you suggested.”
What? I took the brown envelope and read the return address. Abrams and Abrams, Attorneys at Law. I pulled out the papers, slowly revealing them. Grandma had a hand in that, no doubt.
“We’re covering the legal fees, too,” she added.
When we’d spoken about it the other day, I didn’t think Mom would actually go through with it. But as I took a chair at the dining room table and flipped through the documents, I occasionally saw Mom’s and Dad’s signatures. Dad… how could he? My eyes were fixed on the papers, but I’d lost focus. “Really, Mom, is it that easy? You’ll just let us walk away?”
She sat next to me, turned away and gazed out the window. “Easy? You think it’s easy to lose a child? You think it’s easy to have two others around, constantly reminding you of your loss?” She spoke softly and I knew she didn’t mean it in a bad way. Still, she had two other children who were very much alive, but apparently meant nothing to her.
Things were the way they were and I couldn’t change any of it.
“You fed and clothed us, nursed us when we were sick.” I rose and kissed the top of her head, a kind of goodbye. “You did your best. I know you did.” As I glanced back, I saw her head drop into her hands and heard her weeping softly.
* * * *
Hayden insisted we drive his Viper to Boris’s, in case we needed to make a quick getaway.
The grounds outside the gate to the palatial estate were exquisite. Various shades of salmon-colored earth surrounded huge, perfectly arranged cacti that partially obscured the high stone wall. The security man nodded from his cubicle and the immense iron gate slowly opened, welcoming us into all that it protected. Smiling faces greeted us outside the front of the house.
As usual, Boris was surrounded by bodyguards, most of whom I recognized from the park. Boris, with his easy wave and casual stance, reeked of impeccable moral fiber. But as the car rolled up the driveway, I didn’t feel like we’d entered a safe haven. Anything but. If I hadn’t already spoken to my grandmother and gotten an inside view of Boris and his people, I would have bought the innocent act.
My stomach knotted and I reminded myself that this was a friendly meeting. Dinner. That’s all. Hayden and I still had time.
Boris showed us to one of the salons and made small talk. Hayden sat close to me on the settee, squeezing my hand occasionally as if to comfort me. But by his clammy hands, maybe he was the one who needed assurance.
After what seemed an eternity, a well-dressed man, Boris’s butler I assumed, announced that dinner was served. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief at the lowered expectation of conversation while eating.
Diane and Kyle, who Boris had introduced us to at the park, sat at the long table with us while ten guards inconspicuously lined the walls of the room. The topics of discussions remained light and everyone laughed at the appropriate times.
The food was to die for. I was spearing the last bite of chicken when Boris dabbed the sides of his mouth with the white linen retrieved from his lap. “You’re probably anxious to meet with Kyle,” he said.
Hayden lit up and took my hand as he stood. “You have no idea.”
I couldn’t wait either. Anything Kyle had to offer, I’d take. Things would heat up soon and I needed any skills I could possibly learn. Besides, working off the tension from our visit with Boris didn’t sound like a bad idea to me.
Flanked by his usual goons, our host led us through the labyrinth of tastefully decorated rooms and hallways to the spacious training area. Weapons of every sort lined two of the walls; mirrors covered the other two.
Hayden grinned as his eyes devoured the shapes and metals. “From now on, you should bring all your recruits straight to this room and bypass the ‘getting to know each other’ crap. They see all this and you own them. No real man can resist this kind of temptation.”
I remembered Chait’s stories about his mentor and seeing those fancy bullets. I wondered what else Chait had. I suspected that once Hayden spent some time at Chait’s house, Boris’s toys would be long forgotten.
“Kyle, work with Tessa first. But be careful. She’s much stronger than the average newbie.”
My head whipped around. Why would he say something like that? “What do you mean?”