Alec’s voice was low. “I don’t want you on that street. Take Oak then Vermont. There’s an alley. You can get in through the back.”
“I think I got it.” The man sounded embarrassed, like he wasn’t used to being unsure.
I could hardly blame him for being confused. My neighborhood was one of the oldest in the city, and had been altered over and over. You really had to live there to know where you were going.
“I should’ve showed you yesterday.” Alec sounded patient, not annoyed. “Adriane,” he said louder, “may I borrow paper and a pencil?”
I answered without thinking, “Top drawer,” then prayed he wouldn’t see his notes. To my relief, he didn’t pause long before again speaking to the man.
Then a different thought occurred to me.
This man, and likely the other three, knew where to find Alec, knew he’d been with me all night. They would certainly make assumptions. I worried about what they thought, about what Hanna would think. She was old-fashioned, and Alec and I had become more…friendly…only a few days ago.
I worried what all of them might think about my motivations. Surely, many women constantly threw themselves at him for all the wrong reasons. Did they think I was like them? Did they think I was a…slut?
The bedroom door shut, and I came back in to see him replacing my nub of a pencil in the drawer. This time he paused. He picked up the little stack of his notes, the card from the flowers on top.
“I like your handwriting,” I said.
He glanced through them. I moved closer, wondering if I should say something.
He looked up. “Do you keep them only for my handwriting?”
I paused. He didn’t seem freaked out or feeling smothered, but he was good at hiding things.
“No,” I said.
He reached for my hand and pulled me into a hug. We stood there for several minutes, just holding on.
“May I ask you something?” he asked.
I took a breath. “It’s only fair.” I’d asked him several difficult questions last night.
“Why did you lie? About being hurt when I stopped.”
“I don’t know if I want to answer that.”
He paused, and then his voice was softer. “Was it for me? So I wouldn’t feel guilty for moving on?”
I pressed my face against his chest.
He wrapped his arms more tightly around me.
It was a couple minutes later that he spoke against my hair. “I suppose I need to get moving.”
I nodded then stepped back. “Can I ask you something before you go?”
“Of course.”
“Providence Street.”
“You heard.”
I nodded.
“We’ve been watching.”
“My house?”
“Dean has people waiting,” he said, “waiting for you or anyone else to show.”
“They won’t see you, will they?”
He laughed one dark laugh under his breath. “I am very skilled in surveillance.” He sighed. “We need evidence of his connection to something illegal, something that would ensure maximum prison time, but it’s proving difficult. He’s good at hiding his tracks.”
I still didn’t understand why he was watching my house.
“If we can find something on one of his associates,” he continued, “we may be able to link it back to him. Everyone won’t be as careful as he is. We’ve been paying attention to the people he’s been utilizing and then taking a closer look at them.”
“Have you found anything?”
“Two days ago one of Bishop’s men saw Jonathan Talbert.”
“Who?”
“Dean’s assistant. He works closely with him at City Hall, but we don’t know if he works with him on everything.”
“What’re you going to do?”
“Look more closely at him.”
I paused. “Please be careful.” Then I took another step back to allow him a path to the door. “I don’t want to keep you.”
He moved forward and leaned closer. He murmured against my cheek. “I wish I could keep you.” Then he walked out the door.
I watched the door close behind him. I almost called for him to come back, to explain. But I didn’t. A part of me didn’t want him to explain.
I turned and headed toward the shower.
When it was time to choose clothes, my thoughts from earlier returned, about what everyone else might think. I couldn’t imagine how much any disappointment in Hanna’s eyes would hurt him.
I was just buttoning my shirt when there was a knock at the door.
I opened the door, and Alec held his hand out to me. “Would you care for some breakfast?”
“You’re not leaving early?”
“I’m in trouble with Hanna for not eating.”
“Good.” I took his hand. “Someone needs to take charge of you.”
The corner of his mouth twitched.
We walked down the hall together.
He glanced at my shirt. “Won’t you be warm in that?”
It was a long-sleeve blouse. I didn’t have many short-sleeve options anyway, mostly work clothes. “I’ll be fine.”
“Have you even looked at the clothes in your dresser?”
“Only the bathing suit.”
An evil grin crept into his eyes. He didn’t say anything more.
A few minutes later, we sat to breakfast. Alec stayed only a few minutes, just long enough to eat something. He kissed me on the cheek before he left.
Hanna stared. I had the feeling the others were, too, but I didn’t want to look up to confirm my suspicions.
Someone cleared their throat.
I glanced over. Vincent was looking pointedly at one of the men, the one with the cocky swagger and who talked a lot. The man resumed eating.
Forks scraped plates.
Not much was said except a few “Please pass the whatever.”
I tried to behave normally, tried not to notice that everyone kept glancing at me. And yet, no one talked to me. I felt like there was a spotlight on me and also like I was five miles away.
I didn’t eat much.
“Shut it, Charlie,” Vincent muttered.
The one with the cocky swagger stopped his murmuring to the bulky guy sitting next to him, and then Charlie glanced at me—again.
I wanted to drop my fork and yell, “What?” He’d only kissed my cheek. Was that little bit of attention really that mind-blowing? But then, they surely all knew he’d stayed the night with me. They had to figure…
But it was Alec. He even said people assumed he slept around.
Maybe…maybe it was me. They were shocked he was giving me, in particular, attention, me in the accountant-esque blouse.
Well, crap. No matter what I did, I couldn’t win. I either looked like a prude or felt like a slut. I wished Alec were here, wished I could hide inside that barrier of his.
The men scattered after breakfast as usual, and left me alone with Hanna and her curiosity. I followed my day’s project to the kitchen to help clean up. We worked in silence for a few minutes.
Hanna turned the water off and rested her soapy hands on the edge of the sink. “Why don’t you accept his gifts?”
I responded brilliantly with, “Huh?”
“The clothes, the books—”
I stopped putting the leftover bagels in a Ziploc bag and looked over at her. “I read the books.”
“Then you put them in the library.”
“Isn’t that where books go?”
“And you never ask for anything,” she said.
“I don’t need anything.”
With pursed lips she kept scrubbing the pans. “Even the pencils. Yours is nothing but a nub anymore.”
“I use the notebooks,” I offered.
“You use one notebook.”
But I had used two, having thrown the first one off a cliff. What did any of this matter anyway?
“He wants you to be happy,” she said.
“I am.” For now, anyway.
She kept her attention on the sink and her smile curved the wrinkles in her cheeks. I waited for her questions to change focus.
The sound of the front door and Ben’s voice. “Adriane.”
I went to the foyer to see him again holding roses. Instead of two, it looked like two dozen. Perfect timing. Now I had an excuse to escape Hanna for a little while. I carried the flowers up to my room.
I put them on the dresser next to the others and read the card. “To my love, the only thing you will accept.”
I stayed upstairs for a while. The scent of the roses filled the room, and I held the note in my hands while I sat on the edge of the bed.
With plenty of time to help Hanna with lunch, I started down the stairs.
“She seems like she’s feeling better,” Vincent said, stress and indecision in his tone. His voice came from the dining room. I turned to retreat back upstairs. It sounded private.
“So does he,” Hanna said.
I realized they were talking about Alec and me and froze.
There was a pause before Vincent responded. “And you said she hasn’t asked for anything.”
She sounded slightly annoyed, like she was tired of answering this question. “She doesn’t even use most of the things he’s already given. Actually, I think it’s frustrating him. You heard him when she first came. He said to give her anything she wants, but she never asks.”
I decided perhaps I should at least look in the dresser drawers.
Vincent muttered, “She doesn’t pay attention to that social circle. She probably doesn’t realize—”
“She’s not stupid. She sees this house and the cars. She knows it’s all his.”
“She’s been to the garage?” he challenged.
“She helped Ben wash the cars.”
He was quiet.
That shut him up. Okay, Hanna told you I’m not a money-grubbing whore. Let it go now.
Hanna interrupted his silence. “She’s a nice girl.”
Vincent sighed. “I know she is.”
“Is…is he in trouble?”
“It’s not what you think.”
She moved on to warning, like the mother hen chiding the fox. “Don’t be getting in the way, Vincent. They’re both happier than I’ve seen them in a long time.”
A prolonged pause. I started to wonder if something was wrong.
“Thank you, Hanna,” Vincent said. Then his footsteps moved toward the front door. I began up the stairs and was, thankfully, out of sight by the time he was within view.
“Vincent?” Hanna said.
He kept going.
I hid in my room for a few more minutes. I knew something was going on. Vincent was obviously stressed about it, and Alec was…ignoring. No, pushing to the side—for now. Vincent told Hanna Alec wasn’t in danger, but was he lying so she wouldn’t be upset? Whatever was wrong with Vincent, it couldn’t possibly be more important than looking out for his friend.
Before I went back down, I reminded myself that Alec liked to give people things, and it surely made him happy when those things were accepted. The dresser loomed over me like an attacking bear. I didn’t like accepting things from others, especially when I didn’t really need them. But Alec wanted me to have the clothes, so I started browsing through the drawers.
The top drawer I used for my own things. The bathing suits had been in the bottom drawer, so I tried the second drawer. There were several pretty tops and a few pairs of jeans. I picked out a cotton, cream-colored shirt, made myself remove the tags, and put it on. It was definitely more comfortable than my blouse.
I went back downstairs, and Hanna smiled at her cross stitch.
At least everyone else was gone. Then again, that meant I was alone with Hanna. I started on the subject of the nursing home she liked to visit to get her going. I found this to be an excellent distraction. It seemed as though she had a strong drive to care for people, and if there was no Alec to raise, this was the next best thing. With my constant but gentle nudging, she jabbered on through lunch. I made it most of the way through the afternoon without the subject of Alec coming up.
“How long have you been going there?” I asked as we walked down the hall toward the laundry room. She wouldn’t let me help with the household laundry, but I wasn’t about to let her do mine.
“Since Alec was about twelve.”
“Since he was able to take care of himself,” I surmised.
“Oh, he could take care of himself by about five. If he could’ve reached the stove, I’d have been obsolete. By about twelve, he stopped letting me pretend to take care of him. He started insisting that I get out of the house, go have some fun.” We walked into the huge laundry room. It was the size of an average house’s kitchen and had two sets of washers and dryers.
“So, you picked a nursing home.” I opened the dryer I was using and started taking my clothes out.
She smiled. “An old friend of mine was living there at the time, and I made so many friends that even after she was gone, I kept going back. Besides, I would’ve had those green eyes glaring at me. I don’t know how he makes Beth’s eyes look like that. Even my blood runs a little cool when he really lays it on.” She pulled towels out of the dryer into a basket then started moving the load from the washer to the dryer.
“He got that from his father?” I’d gotten the impression his father hadn’t been very nice, but I wondered if he’d just been misunderstood. I could see that about Alec. Perhaps it was inherited.
Her smile faded, and she closed the dryer door. “I suppose so.”
“What was his father like?”
“He was a strong man.”
Okay, can we elaborate a little more? “Like Alec?”
“Alec is very different from his father.”
Could no one give a straight answer? Different how? In just the way they did business? She seemed to mean more, but what else could there be beyond organized crime? He’d told me of that fairly easily. I couldn’t think of what else there could be.
She seemed uncomfortable, so I dropped the subject and prepared for her attack.
Her voice returned to pleasant. “Did you grow up around here?”
I paused, not sure where she was going. She’d always avoided specifics like this. “You know that area on the north side,” I said, “with all the Queen Anne architecture?”
“Oh, it’s pretty there.”
I smiled.
“You’re so young…” She paused as she was putting clothes into the washer and looked over at me.
“Twenty-three.”
“You’re young enough to still live with your parents?”
I kept my voice as normal as possible. “My mother died when I was little, and my father died in a car accident about five years ago.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’m so sorry, dear.”
I nodded and gave an attempt at a brave smile.
“Any brothers or sisters?” she asked.
“Only child.” I turned on the washer.
“So…you live by yourself, then?”
“I was lucky. My father had managed to pay off the house before he died. I couldn’t have kept it, otherwise.” That obviously wasn’t quite what she wanted, so I added, “I don’t have any roommates—and no, I haven’t had a boyfriend in a long time.” Ever.
Her smile strained with embarrassment. “I know you wouldn’t… I know you’re a nice girl.”
“But you have to look out for Alec.”
“I just worry,” she said. “He hasn’t…”
“I understand,” I said gently.
I was ready for her to continue in this direction, but then she asked, “So, what do you do for a living?”
It was starting to feel like a job interview. I really did understand, though, so I answered all her questions. There were no secrets in my life, nothing to hide, and only a few things about which to be embarrassed. Luckily, I was able to avoid most of that, or it worked in my favor with her. Although she didn’t seem to have realized where Alec had slept last night, or rather, stayed—I was pretty sure he hadn’t slept.
“You’ve been happier,” she said gently.
“Yes.”
“You were so sad before.”
“I’m better now.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. I promise I won’t flip out again? I watched the shirt in my hands as I laid it out and smoothed each fold.
She set her last folded towel in the basket and looked over at me. “He’s happier than I’ve seen him...” she thought for a second then finished, “ever.”
I glanced over at her. And then I continued folding my jeans.
“May I ask what brought on the change?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
Hanna was still looking at me.
“I don’t know why he’s changed his mind,” I said.
“He’s always been a little difficult to figure, especially with women, but what about you?”
My eyebrows lowered. What about me?
“You’ve always cared for him,” she surmised.
I took a breath. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you…? Was it…? Was something wrong?”
I finished folding the jeans in my hands. “A lot of things are wrong.” I wasn’t going to tell her about everything that was going on or that I knew Alec was keeping secrets, but she should know this wasn’t a happily-ever-after kind of moment.
She let the questions go after that. We finished with the laundry a few minutes later, and I went upstairs to put my clothes away.
Besides Alec, there were two missing from dinner—Charlie and Vincent. Hanna glanced at their empty seats with disappointment. I understood now why Alec had invited them into his home. He trusted them and knew Hanna enjoyed caring for people. He couldn’t allow much of her care for himself, so he provided her with alternatives, men who were more comfortable with a mothering hand.
She pushed the platter of chicken at Ben.
He grinned and took three large pieces. “You know my weak spot.”
“I know what you probably ate the other day when I wasn’t here,” she said.
“Ain’t nothing wrong with fast food, and besides, Adriane made me lunch.”
The door opened as he was talking, and Vincent gave a quick apology and took his seat. Anthony looked at him funny. No one was ever late.
Hanna smiled at Ben. “Good,” she said. “Adriane is getting to be a very good cook.”
I laughed at my plate, and then realized Vincent was watching me again.
“Yep,” Ben said. “She made the sandwiches just right.”
Hanna looked at me. “Turkey?”
“And Swiss,” I said, “with one piece of lettuce, and—”
“A whole lot of mayo.”
I smiled.
“You’ve got him figured out, all right,” she said. “Now if you can figure Alec, let me know. I’m still working on that one.”
I returned my gaze to my plate, as if I was very interested in the proper etiquette of dining on peas. Vincent was still watching me. He was covert, but peripherally, I saw his gaze continually flicker.
“Adriane,” he said in a casual tone.
The four peas on my fork fell off. I looked over.
“Will you pass the sweet potatoes?” he asked.
I picked them up and handed them to Hanna, who handed them to Anthony, who handed them to Vincent.
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome.”
He never ate the sweet potatoes.
It felt like he was testing me somehow, like I was a dog taking its final test in obedience school, but I wasn’t going to roll over and play dead.
The others gone, Vincent lingered after the meal. Hanna took a stack of plates to the kitchen, and I decided to risk speaking to him. He was the only one I could trust to know the answer for sure.
I leaned to pick up a serving bowl and paused, making eye contact. “Is he safe today?”
He looked at me steadily. His hesitation started to make me nervous.
“Yes,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said, and then hid in the kitchen under a pile of dirty dishes.