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“Yeah, well…” He glanced my way. “Now I hope you’ll understand why I got so upset with you when you washed that shirt. It belonged to Sarah… And when you took Kenlee that one morning, the reason I got so mad then, is because I had this panic moment where I thought I’d lost her too.”
I felt tears in my eyes, and I nodded. “I understand. You’ve been through so much, and it makes perfect sense why those things would’ve affected you like that.”
“It’s still no excuse for my behavior,” he said. The light changed and he drove ahead in silence. After a few seconds, he went on. “I just—I feel like I have no idea how to do any of this. I don’t know how to be a widower, how to raise a child on my own, and some days I think about what I’m going to tell Kenlee when she’s older. How will I ever be able to express to her what an amazing woman her mom was?”
I could feel the love he had for Sarah, and it was both beautiful and tragic. He clearly cared deeply for that woman, and it must’ve broken his heart to think about Kenlee growing up without Sarah in her life. After a while, I cleared my throat and said, “You could start by putting up pictures of her.”
This seemed to catch Zane off guard. “What?”
“Because she is Kenlee’s mother and someone you loved,” I explained. “You shouldn’t try to forget her just because you are moving on. That isn’t fair to either of you. Honor her memory and the love you shared by living your life but by recognizing hers as well. Then Kenlee will grow up having Sarah in her life—in a way.”
I sat back and hoped I had not gone too far. Zane said nothing as we took a right at the next intersection and came to a stop in front of the lodge. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, he looked at me with tears in his eyes. “Katya Belinsky, just when I think you could not be any more amazing, you go and say something as beautiful as that. Thank you.”
Leaning over, I kissed his cheek and said, “Always.”
We were both tired and eager to get to the room, so he tossed the keys to the valet on our way inside, and we headed up to his room. At the door to my place, I told him I’d be right there, but that I needed to grab something from my room first. He smiled wickedly at me and told me to hurry. “I will. Don’t forget, you put the cash for Addie on your dresser.”
“Good call,” she said. “It totally would’ve slipped my mind.”
I ran into my room and grabbed my nightgown and an extra pair of socks, and then took a second to flip through the stack of mail I’d been letting pile up for the last few days. I was so tired, I nearly threw away a bank statement but realized at the last second what it was. I hadn’t recognized the name at first, but then I remembered it was the bank Zane used to set up my secret account.
I opened the letter and retrieved the debit card that had been sent. Deciding Zane could wait another five minutes, I sat down to activate it. I was hoping to use it to go shopping for presents for both him and Luca. I dialed the activation number and waited. I almost dropped the phone when I heard the balance.
$10,000?
That wasn’t right. I’d only ever deposited the $5,000 that I’d been given as a Christmas bonus. How could there be another $5,000 in there? It didn’t make any sense.
The machine prompted me to hit the number 7 if I needed further assistance, so I did that, and the call was put through to an operator. I gave them my name and card information and asked if they could pull my account up.
“Okay, I've got your account right here,” the woman said. “What can I help you with?”
“Yeah, hi, I’m just wondering if you can tell me when all of this money was deposited into my account? And by who? I put in $5000 a few weeks ago, but now it says I have $10,000.”
“Let’s see… let’s see…” I could hear her typing away on the other side of the line. “Well, it says here that both deposits were made on the same night. One of the deposits is in your name and the other one is from an account linked to someone named Zane Gray. Does that name mean anything to you?”
“Uh—yeah. Yes. It does. Thank you.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with? Do you have any more questions?”
I had about a million more questions, but none that this woman would be able to answer. I said no and hung up the call, then sat on my couch and tried to figure out why Zane would put so much money into my account without telling me.
After all that he’d done, all the other things he’d bought and paid for… why would he feel the need to give me a large amount of cash like that. As opposed to the rest of the trappings of his generosity, this almost felt like… like apayment.
Then it hit me like a lead balloon.
Chase’s comment about the agency, Zane buying me clothes and Luca toys; it was all part of his plan. Zane was buying our time and affection. I was an ‘escort’ without even knowing it. I grabbed the debit card before storming out to find out what in the hell was going on.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zane
LucaandKenleewereboth dead asleep, so I paid Addie and said goodbye to her in a hushed voice. After she left, I lit some candles and waited for Katya in the bedroom. She had an extra key, so she was able to just let herself in. She took longer than I thought she would, and I was about to send her a text, when I heard the front door close and her footsteps coming down the hall. I smiled and turned to greet her as she came through the door, but could tell right away from the look on her face that something was wrong.
“What is this?” she asked, holding up a piece of paper and what looked like a credit card of some sort.
“What? Katya, honey, what’s going on?”
She threw the card at me, her face flush with anger. “Don’t ‘honey’ me. I want answers.” She bent down and picked up the debit card from where it fell on the floor and shoved it in my face. “This! What the fuck is this?”
