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“I’m not joking. She recognized me and felt bad that I was going to be stuck at the airport for hours. Of course you came up. Mostly because I brought you up. But she’s really hurting from all this, Colton. I think you should call her. Maybe not at this hour, but she needs to know you haven’t given up. I tried telling her that, but it needs to come fromyou.”
The words were getting jumbled in my head. Thinking past the fact that they had dinner together wasn’t easy. I knew Jack - he was a player. We had dated the same girls several times in the past. But this was one I didn’t want to share, not with Jack or anyone.
“How…was she?” I asked, in a softer, calmer tone.
“Confused. Heartbroken. I’m sure you could figure that out yourself. But I saw hope in there, too. She hasn’t given up on you, Colton. But I honestly have no idea how long she is going to wait. Don’t be so stuck over the past that you lose the best thing in your future,” he warned.
Jack meant well. He always had my back, just like I did his. But this was something I needed to go through alone.
“Thanks, Jack. I’ll keep that in mind.” There was a knock on the door and I knew it was time to go to dinner. “I’ve got to go. I’ll keep you updated if I learn anything. And if you hear from Annabella, let me know.”
“Will do. Don’t do anything you’ll regret, Colton.”
“I’ll try not to,” I replied and ended the call.
I opened the door and Bennett was standing there in a suit. I owned suits, but they were back at home, where I had a reason to wear them. My time in Boston was supposed to be more relaxing and casual. I had a dress shirt and black slacks with me. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spare jacket I can borrow, would you?” We were about the same size.
“I do. We can stop by my suite on the way.”
It wasn’t long before we were back in the SUV and on our way. This time we had a visible escort following close behind.
“Something you want to tell me?” I asked.
“Reesa received another death threat today. With you being here, I decided to increase security, not just around her but you as well.”
Another?“You make it sound like this is a routine occurrence,” I said.
“More common than we would like, but as I said before, there are people who don’t want to see Tabiq flourish again, at least not legally.”
Sick bastards.
I understood why the president would need added security, but I’m no threat. “What do I have to worry about?” I asked. “I’m not the president.”
“You’re having dinner with her at her home. For people who aren’t happy that a woman is in charge of the country, they will view you as siding with her. You know the saying, a friend of my enemy is an enemy of mine,” he stated.
“Good to know.” I already knew to keep my eyes open. Now I would be twice as cautious.
Twenty minutes later we pulled up to a house that didn’t resemble anything else we passed. It wasn’t just the size, but also the architecture. “This place is…different.”
“Finn and his brother Liam built it,” Bennett said. “Back home in Ireland their parents are in residential construction. Finn did it when he was young before going to school to become a heart surgeon. Liam now owns a large commercial construction business back home.”
“That explains this unique design,” I said.
“We’ve connected with Liam and are working on a program for him and his crew to come and train some of the locals in newer types of construction. Like I said, it’s all about the growth, the future, of Tabiq that we are concerned about. Making this country financially stable will help to keep the corruption at bay.”
“Some of the greediest people I know are the ones with the most money,” I said. “And from what I’ve learned, my father wasn’t hurting for cash, yet look at what he did.”
“Evil doesn’t have a social level.” Bennett looked at me and said, “You might not believe this, but every day is a battle of good and evil in every single person. It’s all about the choices we make. Some people just make some really fucked up choices.”
He was the second person to talk about choices to me today. Was the universe trying to tell me to reevaluate mine?
Too late. I’m already here.
The front door to the house opened and Finn stepped out. “We’d best get inside before Reesa thinks there’s something wrong,” Bennett said.
Finn shook my hand and said, “Welcome. Reesa is inside cooking up one of her favorite dishes. I tried to get her to let me make one of mine, but she insisted you didn’t come all this way for Irish food.”
“I’d love to try some Tabiqian food.” I felt a pang in my heart – or was it my stomach – when I realized it could be something my mother would’ve made for me if she’d been able to raise me.
