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“I’m not Mrs. Turner.” He frowns.
“Not anymore. I had to change it.... listen, I’m trying to get a job, and it’s weird to have two guys in black suits following me. Isit possible for you to find something else to do while I’m at work? Take a break. Go for a walk.”
“I’m afraid I can’t?—”
“Please,” I plead. “I need this job. I know it seems weird, and you don’t understand, but I really need this.”
His eyes soften, and he looks at the other guy in the suit with brown hair and brown eyes. “You really need this job?”
I look over at the entrance of the diner. The lady is talking with someone looking this way. I look back at the bodyguard. “Yes. I really need this job. I know it seems–– stupid. Why would Lane Turner’s widow need money, but you don’t understand. I don’t come from money, and my late husband’s family wants to take whatever he left me if they think I can benefit from it. I have no family except for my son, but until he is of age, I have nothing to offer him in the meantime. They will not stop until they destroy what his father was trying to leave him. My husband wanted nothing to do with them, and I know why, but right now, this is the best I can do for us.”
Both men look at each other and then back at me in disbelief. “Are you fucking shitting me right now?”
I shake my head. “No. Trust me. They are powerful people, and they have money and connections in places you’d never think it was possible to have. They will find a loophole, and all they need is a reason. They don’t want their name associated with me.”
The blond one nods. “My name is John, and this is Milo. We’ll keep watch but far enough away so they don’t question you here.”
I sigh. “Thank you,” I say with a smile.
John smiles nervously. Milo elbows him. “You’re welcome, Mrs.—”
“Aura. Aura Rayne.”
“Okay, Aura.”
35
AURA
I’m glad I was given the morning shift five days a week, and it is not far from Kalum’s house. It has been three months, and still, Kalum hasn’t called me. Instead, he leaves messages with Camila. She gives him an update but doesn’t tell him about my job at the diner and neither do the bodyguards. They drive me to work every day instead of me paying for an Uber since they need to follow me anyway.
Most of the people living in the South of the Hamptons have money, so the tips I have received are generous. I haven’t decided where to move yet, but I’ll know soon. Things have died down a bit with the media. I can’t believe how much time has gone by. It seems like it was yesterday, and the ache in my chest is still there when Dex called me while I watched the TV in horror as the flames were being extinguished. Lane’s body was burned to ashes. A lump lodges in my throat, and I’m unable to swallow every time I think of that moment.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I snap out of my thoughts.
“Oh… I’m so sorry. What can I get you?” I ask.
The young guy seated in the booth of the diner stares at me.
“I would like the special, and if it is possible, your number.”
My gaze lands on his face after the last part of writing down his order. “The special. Coming right up.”
I hand the ticket to the kitchen and take a deep breath.
“That’s Bradley. His father is a whale,” Nancy says as she saunters up to me.
“A what?” I ask confused.
“A whale. Rich. Bradley is a nice guy, not stuck-up like the usual trust fund kids around here. He is twenty-six and single. She glances at him and continues, “He keeps staring at you.” She lowers her voice. “All the guys that come in here stare at you, but you don’t notice. Do you?”
“No. I don’t. I have a son to think about.”
“I know your husband passed, but sometimes we need someone to talk to. Friends. You are far too young to alienate yourself because of your husband’s passing. It is not as if you are disrespecting his memory, but you can’t be alone all the time, sweetie. Judy wants to hang out on Saturday. If I babysit, maybe you girls can hang out.” She bumps into me playfully. “Maybe go dancing,” she says, giving me a wink.
The bell rings, signaling the food is ready. Nancy smiles at me and pulls the ticket and hands me the plate.
