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Tears well deep in my chest, suffocating my hot sobs as I try to swallow them down as quickly as they threaten to overwhelm me. It’s impossible, and after a moment or two, the dam breaks, and I’m left staring at the blurred card in my hand as the world threatens to cave in on me. If I only loved Henry, it would be easy to walk away. But what we have is so much more, and I know that it doesn’t matter how long I fight him, eventually, I’ll lose, and he’ll be right there to pick me up and steal me away.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
EVE
“And you don’t think that’s creepy?” Jess laughs as I watch her get ready to go out.
“Is it?” My question fades into the silence as she debates what earrings to wear with her cute black dress.
When she settles on a pair of gold hoops, she peers at me in the mirror. “Well, he essentially ghosted you, and now he’s stalking you.”
“With pretty flowers,” I say, barely able to keep my smile from cutting all the way across my face. “And love notes. He leaves me these cards.”
When I pull the envelopes from my backpack, she rolls her eyes. “Oh, and you carry them everywhere. Obviously.”
“He left the first one on my doorstep, and ever since, there’s one everywhere I go. Like at the conservatory and at work. He had the chair from his suite brought into the lounge because that’s where I used to sit when I only played for him.”
Like he told me, he’s giving me space while making it known that he’s still there, watching and waiting for me.
“Wait.” She pauses in front of me, pulling her knee-high boots on. “You used to play for him?”
“It’s complicated.” Fuck, of all people to let this slip to, she’s the worst. Jess analyses everything with a fine-tooth comb. When she’s done with that, she’ll pick it all apart to make sure that she has the right end of the stick before she beats you with it.
“Doesn’t sound like it. He had you playing for him in his suite,” she says, zipping up her boots before she starts transferring her purse and other items from one handbag to another. “Was this before or after he started fuc—the two of you became a thing?”
“It’s how we became a thing. When you don’t know the full context of it all, it sounds bad, but it’s not, Jess. He never touched me, not once. At least not until I made it clear that I wanted him to.”
Jess nods with a soft, narrow-eyed scowl. “I don’t want anyone taking advantage of you. You’re young, Eve, and he’s…”
“Older. I know.” Everyone likes to point it out like it’s this big deal. “But no one would care if I was in my thirties and he was in his forties.”
“You’re not in your thirties, Eve.”
“Henry isn’t in his forties either.”
“God, you’re so fucking stubborn,” she groans, throwing the packet of wet wipes in her hand at me. “You’re just like your brother and your nephew. You always have some kind of retort at the ready.”
“You’re just annoyed because you know it’s true.” Turning my back on her, I head for the lounge.
“You’re annoying me,” she yells down the hallway, poking her head out of her bedroom doorway. “You’re telling me it doesn’t matter that he’s older like you’re mature enough to be with him, but you’re silly playing games like a child.”
Whoa. Where did that come from?
“You just said he was being creepy.”
“Because it is fucking weird to be leaving flowers in random places with random love notes and—”
“And what’s wrong with you?” I ask, blurting out the question before she finishes her crazy rant.
“I hate funerals,” Jess tells me, letting out a long sigh while she meanders towards me. “I don’t know why I even volunteered to go to this thing. I just…”
“Momentarily forgot you hate funerals? I didn’t even know that’s what you were doing this afternoon. Whose funeral is it?”
“Ryan’s dad’s. You remember Ryan, don’t you?” She sounds as nervous as I felt when Henry took me to the gala. It’s only now that I’m really noticing how on edge she is.
“No, I’ve totally forgotten the guy that was in and out of here, making sure we were all okay after Joe died. No idea who that guy is.”
My attempt at lightening the mood falls flat as she pauses in front of me with a deep huff.
