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“That is the president of Tabiq,” I said.
Her eyes widened and she took my phone from me looking at it closely. “She’s...she’s a woman.”
“Yes, she is. As I said, I think a lot has changed since you left.”
Lenia handed me my phone and said, “Thank you for showing me. But Damien, I can’t tell her the truth. Not now. Not after all this time. And definitely not until I know Michael’s family can’t hurt her.”
“I agree. Let me do some digging and see what I can find out.”
She reached out and grabbed my hand. “Please do not draw attention to us. I never would forgive myself if anything happened to her.”
Neither would I.
“I promise no one will know anything about you. Michael Morse is a very common name, and I don’t have much to go on. Unless you can think of anything else that might help.” I wasn’t sure she would tell me even if there was more. Shockingly, I was wrong.
“He...he was eighteen like me and I think he said his family runs resorts or something like that.”
Resorts? Like the one on Tabiq now? I hope I didn’t cross the Hendersons off my list too early.
“Thank you.” I got up to leave and I turned back and said, “Do you remember what you told her last time I was here?”
“You mean that I said you were here to talk about your intentions with my daughter?” I nodded. “I haven’t forgotten any of that conversation. Why?”
“You might have been lying then, but it wouldn’t be a lie now,” I said.
She nodded and smiled. “I knew it that day. I was just hoping that you’d figure it out before it was too late.”
I chuckled and headed out the front door. Lenia or Venus. Whatever name she went by, she was a unique individual. I’m just glad her daughter is nothing like her.
Looking at my watch, I knew I had just enough time to go to the hotel and get ready for my date. It’s not that I didn’t want to see MaKayla that night, but damn, I’d learned so much that I wish I could dive into it right now. But it looks like that’s going to have to wait a few more hours.
I showered quickly and that gave me just enough time to google the name Michael Morse. The list as expected was so long that I never would get through it. So I narrowed my search. Morse resorts. Nothing. Morse Hotels. Instantly, I knew I had the right family. A man with dark curly hair popped up. Steven Morse.
That’s not Michael, but let’s see if you’re related.
A little more research and I found an obituary. It was for his father. That was a man I had met before. Mr. Morse senior was a cruel person, and I had witnessed that for myself. I had been in a restaurant on a date when the man at the next table started getting louder. I couldn’t help but listen to him during his business meeting. There was no respect for the other person, and I listened while he crushed him just with words. Never thought I’d see a businessman get up from a table and leave, crying. At that time, I remember thinking that if this is how he acts in public, I could only imagine how mean he was in private.
Was this what Venus had meant? That he would be verbally abusive to children? Maybe. But a lot of kids faced that. I can’t see that being what made her go to such drastic lengths to hide MaKayla from him.
His obituary said he had died at home alone. That didn’t surprise me at all. It was more of a shock that someone didn’t kill the bastard long ago. What it did list, was his son Michael who had predeceased him twenty years earlier.
Damn. He was young. Twenty-three.
It never mentioned how Michael had died, or any achievements or anything about him. It was a basic, dry, emotionless obituary for him. The only thing the obituary told me was that MaKayla did have her father’s eyes.
I felt bad that she would never know her father. When Venus told me she had only made up the fact that Michael was deceased, I actually hoped that I could find her father for her. That he’d be a good man and had been looking for her for years. Unfortunately, she was never going to really know him. Not like she had hoped.
I was going to make sure I found out enough about him and that he was more than just a name on a piece of paper.I just hope that what I learn about him isn’t anything like what I know about his father.
Before I could look into Michael any further, my cell phone alarm went off. I closed my laptop. I wasn’t going to stand MaKayla up. That’s not the surprise I had planned for her.
Grabbing my keys, I left my hotel room and was ready for a night we will both remember.
CHAPTER20
MaKayla
This is why I hated surprises. I’d spent the last hour changing my clothes, looking for the right outfit when I had no idea what we were doing. For all I knew I was way overdressed, and a pair of jeans and a t-shirt would’ve been a better choice.
