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Zane
Ihadbeenfeelingso good after Katya agreed to have dinner with me, that the overwhelming wave of guilt that crashed over me shortly after she left, felt like it totally came out of nowhere. I knew I needed to talk to someone, to get some perspective on everything I was doing and feeling, but I didn’t know who to call.
Chase was a good friend and he has always had my back, but he’d never had a lasting relationship, so I doubted he would understand. I wasn’t judging him, but three months is the longest he has ever been with the same girl. I immediately scratched him from the list. I thought about calling Sloane as well, but I knew she was too supportive to tell me the truth.
Harry, on the other hand, wasn’t afraid to tell me exactly what he thought. He was the obvious choice, especially considering I knew exactly where to find him.
I strapped Kenlee into the Baby Bjorn and headed to Harry’s office. His secretary told me he was in but I knocked before entering. We may have known each other our entire lives but this was still his place of business, and I respected that. Plus, for all I knew, Sloane could be in there and I didn’t want to interrupt anything.
Harry called for me to come in and looked up from his computer as we came through the door.
“Hey,” he said with a smile. “What a surprise. You never come and visit me at the office.”
“Yeah, well, I was hoping you’d have time to chat…”
He must’ve been able to pick up on my not-so-cheery mood because he frowned and motioned for me to have a seat across from him. “I’ve always got time for you.”
“Thanks, man,” I said. I lowered myself down into the chair, and Kenlee made a little cooing sound before putting her head back down against my chest and closing her eyes.
“I’ve actually been wondering how long it was going to be until you came by for a little chat,” he said.
I raised a brow. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“I saw you and Katya leaving the lodge last night looking like a million bucks.” He smirked. “I had a sneaking suspicion something might’ve been going on between you two, but after seeing the way you were smiling at each other on your way out the door, now I know for sure.”
“Sorry I didn’t stop to say hi or anything,” I said. “We were just sort of in a hurry.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said. “I was just really happy to see you smiling again. And I take it this means she’s no longer with that deadbeat boyfriend of hers. People talk around here, and everything I’ve heard about that guy makes me want to go teach him a lesson on manners.”
“I know what you mean.” Thinking of Aleks made my blood pressure rise, but I calmed down when I remembered the son of a bitch was in jail. At least for the time being. “But that actually brings me to what I came to talk to you about. You know how you set up that room for ‘my friend’?”
Harry nodded. “Yeah…”
“Well, the aforementioned ‘friend’ is Katya, and I needed to get her a place to crash because Aleks is more than just a jerk. He’s an abusive jerk, and the other night when I went over to her place to apologize for snapping at her, he was in the middle of throwing a tantrum and was about to lay a hand on her.”
Harry balked. “He hits her?”
“He used to,” I said. “But I’m never going to let him near her again. Anyway, I ran inside and… well… I took care of things, and brought Katya and her son back here.”
“What do you mean you ‘took care of things’?”
“Let’s just say, I showed that piece of shit that I’m not someone he should mess with.”
Harry leaned over onto his elbows and frowned at me. “I don’t want to know all the details, but if I’m hearing you correctly…” He shook his head and made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Just tell me this—do you have an alibi or anything, in case the guy presses charges?”“He won’t,” I said. “He’s got too much of his own shady shit with the cops right now to blame someone else.”
“You’re sure?”
I sighed and looked down at Kenlee. “Pretty sure…”
Harry didn’t exactly seem satisfied with this answer, but he let it go for now. “Alright, so you brought Katya and her son here, and they’ve been staying in that room down the hall from you for the last couple of nights?”
I nodded.
“Good,” he said. “That’s good. I feel a lot better knowing that Katya is here, and that she’s safe.” He clenched his jaw. “If I had known that he was hitting her, I would’ve—would’ve—”
“Would’ve what? Done what I did?” I gave him a look. “No, Harry, there was nothing you could’ve done. In fact, what I did was stupid and reckless, but it was the only option at the time.”
Harry looked down at his hands for a few seconds and said nothing. After a while, he looked back up at me and let out an audible exhale. “So, is that all you came here to tell me… or is there more?”
