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His sleeves were partially pushed up. My eyes fell to his wrist as I noticed three lines tattooed around it, one thicker than the other two. Did he have any other ink beneath that black turtleneck? I must have been crazy for wondering such a thing at a time like this.
“Phil is a good friend of my dad’s, as you know,” I finally said. “They grew up together. Even though I never met Phil and Kate’s daughter—your wife—I felt for them when she passed away. And when they came to visit us recently, I got to spend time with them. I was very touched. And I feel strongly in my heart that I should at least offer to bring their dream to fruition.”
“Sounds to me like you’re telling me what I want to hear and not why youreallydecided to do this.”
I put my spoon down. “You think I’m lying?” My blood pressure rose. “First you accuse me of only being in it for the money. And now you don’t believe anything I say at all?”
He stared right through me. “What’s missing in your life that you feel the need to make this sacrifice for someone else? What are you running away from?”
“What’s missing inyourlife that you feel people always need to have an ulterior motive or some messed-up story in order to want to help?” I leaned in. “Do you trustanyone, Sig?”
He pushed his napkin aside. “Very few people, honestly…and with good reason.”
I straightened in my seat again. “Well, I’ve got news for you. You’re not going to find someone with purer intentions than mine. But I’m not going to spend the next week bending over backwards to prove that when you clearly made up your mind about me before I said a word.”
“Yes, your debut was asmashhit, I must say.”
It felt like steam was coming out of my ears. Lavinia flashed a look of sheer disappointment in Sig’s direction.
“I can’t prove myself to someone who wants me to fail. Clearly you invited me here to mess with me, and for that, you can fuck off.” My chair scraped against the hardwood floor as I shot up from my seat. “Lavinia, thank you so much for this delicious stew. Truly. But I’ve had a long day and would like to rest.”
“Of course, dear,” she muttered.
I stormed up the stairs and picked up the phone to dial Phil and Kate.
Kate answered, “Abby! We were just wondering how—”
“This isn’t going to work out.”
CHAPTER 5
Sig
Track 5: “Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd
A little while after dinner, I was upstairs in my room at The Bainbridge when my phone rang. It was my mother-in-law, calling from the US.
Rubbing my temples, I picked up. “Kate…”
“What the hell did you say to her?”
Abby had apparently wasted no time reporting back to them. I massaged the tension from the back of my neck. “Well, I guess that didn’t take long.”
“How did you manage to piss her off in the first couple of hours?”
“It’s one of my special talents.”
“Sig…”
I sighed. “I wanted to know her intentions. I wanted honesty. And I didn’t feel she was delivering.”
“Not everyone is dishonest. She has no reason to lie.”
“I would’ve had more respect for her if she’d told me she was doing this for the money. At least that would be more truthful than the righteous explanation she’d have me believe.”
“Look, Sig. I know you have mixed feelings about this whole thing. I understand. No one is going to be good enough in your eyes for this task. But at the very least, you trust Phil and me, right? We wouldn’t choose someonewedidn’t fully trust. So you need to trust our judgment here.”
Deep down, I knew she was right. I was sabotaging the situation. It wouldn’t have mattered who walked in that door today. “It’s not Abby, Kate. It’s me.” I pulled my hair as I paced. “I don’t think I’m ready for this.”
