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Rue nods, leaning into me. I give her a reassuring look. We’ve rehearsed this so many times that even I’m starting to believe it.
“Valen had proposed.”
“Right before I had to fly out to Boston on business. I should have waited.” I sigh, ad-libbing because we both know me leaving like that was because I was pissed off.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Rue tells me with a serious look on her face before turning back to look at Officer Dean. “I said yes, of course. I was so happy. It was the first time since waking up with no memory that I truly felt like everything was going to be okay. I stopped worrying about whether I’d ever remember my past and started looking toward the future.”
Officer Dean looks down at Rue’s bare ring finger.
“That was my fault. I was supposed to propose tonight after picking up the ring, but I was too fucking impatient.”
I pull the ring box from my pocket and open it, holding it out for Rue. She looks at the four-carat orange diamond that reminds me of her eyes, the ones that have haunted me since the moment I first saw her, and sobs. I take the ring out of the box and slide it on her finger.
“There, perfect.” I kiss the back of her hand before turning back to the officers.
Rue blushes. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Congratulations. Now, where were we?” Officer Dean says, steering the conversation back on track while Wild stays quiet.
Rue blows out a breath. “Valen flew out for a meeting late Thursday night. He wasn’t due home until tonight. I didn’t want to be at home by myself, so Friday morning, I called Nathan.”
“To clarify, you called Detective Nathan Hask?”
Rue nods.
“Why?”
“He was my friend. He found me, dragged me out of that grave, and he stayed with me. He… he was my friend,” she whispers, sounding devastated. If I didn’t know differently, I would have believed every word out of her mouth.
“Okay, so you called him. Then what happened?”
“He picked me up. He wasn’t Valen’s biggest fan, but we were friends. We spent time together. I told him about the engagement. And even though I could tell he wasn’t happy about the news, he didn’t tell me I was a fool either. I figured we would work it out. That’s what friends do. Anyway, I still had a few things to pick up from my house, and he offered to take me. Nothing important, just the last of my clothes and some books. I felt safer at Valen’s and knew after the proposal I wouldn’t be going back.
“When I told Nathan that Valen was away for another couple of nights, he asked if I wanted to stay at his house, knowing I don’t like to be on my own anymore with the killer still out there. I thought he was being sweet. So, I said yes.”
She closes her eyes for a moment to gather herself.
“I suddenly got a migraine. So when we arrived at his place, he showed me to the spare room and left me to rest.”
“You sent me a text. I was worried,” I add, knowing they might want to check the phone logs.
She nods. “After I sent the text, I turned my phone off, knowing I needed to sleep it off. And I did. I slept the rest of the day away. When I woke up, I realized Nathan had been in the room while I was asleep, and he’d unpacked my bag and hung up my clothes.”
Officer Dean frowns. “You were only staying a couple of nights, correct?”
“Correct. I reminded him of that when he brought me something to drink. He said he was trying to be helpful, so I let it go. By then, my migraine was gone. But I was starting to miss Valen, so when he started making snide comments about getting married too soon and not really knowing someone, I got upset.” With her free hand, she starts twisting the sheet with her fingers.
“Keep going. You’re not alone now, baby,” I murmur.
She nods and blows out a breath. “He was trying to calm me down and was being really touchy-feely, which made me feel uncomfortable. I made an excuse about still having a headache and asked him to leave. And he kissed me. I was so shocked that I froze for a minute before I pushed him away. He apologized and left. I…” She bites her lip.
“What is it? Any small, insignificant thing can be helpful,” Dean tells her gently.
“He freaked me out. I thought he was my friend, but I realized he wanted more. Part of me thought about calling a cab and heading back to Valen’s, but I didn’t know if I was overreacting because of what happened to me. I ended up grabbing a pillow and the duvet and slept in the tub because there was a lock on the door.”
Wild cocks his head, but this time I don’t see judgment in his eyes. He seems to be genuinely listening to what Rue is saying.
“When I woke up and realized he’d left me alone, I decided to pretend like nothing happened, and I went downstairs and made something to eat. He seemed genuinely happy when he came down. We ate and?—”
