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Adalyn picks up on the third ring.
“Andrea! Are you okay? Where are you? Christopher called freaking out last night when you didn’t come home!”
When I reach the coffee shop, I open the door and walk in before responding. Honestly, I’m unsure how much to say.
Inside, I’m spotted immediately by my normal barista, she gives me a wave. Her blonde hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. I hurry over, to stop her from making my usual. I come here almost every day; she usually starts making my coffee as soon as I walk in.
“I’m okay. Take a deep breath. I texted Christopher last night before I turned my phone off to tell him I was fine and needed space. As for where I am, I’m grabbing some coffee, then going back to work.”
I place my order of a Grande caramel latte with a triple shot of espresso. I need the boost today.
The barista quirks her eyebrow at me, “Long night,” I say quietly to her.
“Back to work? Is that where you stayed last night?”
I scoot off to the side of the counter to wait for my order. My eyes darting around the neutral tones, taking in the customers sitting at the tables. Nothing seems out of the ordinary but I’m unable to fully relax since Dark Eyes was following me yesterday. “Yes, I worked late and decided to stay there. Hey, do you think you can meet me for lunch today? I need to talk.”
The barista calls my name, and I hurry over to grab my drink. Craving the caffeine, I gently blow into the lid, willing it to cool quickly so I can actually drink it. I smile at the girl behind the counter, mouth the wordsthank you, and head for the exit.
“I think I can make that work. It’s busy around here, but I should be able to sneak out for an hour or so at one o’clock. Does that work?”
Relief rushes through me knowing I’ll be able to talk to my little sister about everything soon.
“Yes, that’s perfect! Meet me at the café on the corner of Green and Maple?”
“Sounds good to me. Love you, Sister,” she says.
A small smile pulls at my lips as I make my way back to the studio, I respond with, “Love you, too. See you soon.”
I reach the studio just as I end the call with my sister and unlock the door. I must have checked over my shoulder a million times for the dark-eyed stranger during the time it took to walk to the coffee shop and back. I can’t live like this; it’s too much, but I don’t know how to fix it. Christopher has to tell me what—if anything—he did and why that man threatened us. Once it’s out in the open, we can decide how to deal with it.
I sigh and release a breath of frustration.What a mess!
I still have some time before Tiffany gets here and the studio officially opens, so I go to my computer and do some research. Deciding now is as good of a time as any, I load up the search engine and type inJonathan Swank.
A dozen or so articles show in the search results. Most of them are from yesterday when they found his body, but some go over Jonathan’s position at a big financial firm. The firm is based out of New York, but Jonathan ran a big branch here on the west coast.
Christopher used to oversee the marketing part of the firm.
There are a few articles from this morning updating Jonathan’s cause of death. The medical examiner has ruled his death as a homicide.
My breath whooshes out of me all at once, and my head starts to spin. I knew this was a possibility, but damn. I hoped with everything I had that it was an accident of some sort with poor timing.
Maybe it’s naïve of me to want to think that Christopher and Jonathan had gotten into an argument, Jonathan then sent his lackey to scare Christopher, and that Jonathan’s death was an accident at a less than opportune time.
There was still a small hope that it was all a coincidence, but this changes everything. This makes it real beyond all my nightmares. Now all I’m left with is one burning question.
Did I really overhear my fiancé call a hit on another man?
Chapter 6
Themorningseemstodrag by, but it’s finally one o’clock. Anxious to get to lunch and talk this whole crazy situation out with my sister. I’m sitting at a table tucked in a back corner, watching the door for Adalyn. I picked this spot because I wanted to be sure we had privacy, and hopefully I could watch out for dark eyes.
Right on time, she walks through the door with a bright smile on her face. She’s an effortless beauty with perfect, wavy blonde hair, that is close to my color, flowing over her shoulders and dressed in jeans and a simple tank top. I smile as she seeks me out, her brown eyes scanning the room.
Her smile fades into an expression of concern as she makes eye contact with me. Barely hesitating, she walks my way, and I stand for a hug, squeezing her tightly when she reaches for one as well. I think I needed that hug more than either of us knows.
“What’s going on, Sis?” she whispers. “You look… tired.”
