I lay there, my thoughts all over the place, and it wasn’t long before my restless night started to catch up with me. I nestled up to my pillow, closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew, my mattress started to move and a warm body eased up behind me. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know it was Rafe. Only he could make my entire body tingle just by being close to me. I felt the warmth of his breath against my neck as he inched closer and slipped his arm over my waist. I glanced over my shoulder and my heart swelled the second I saw his green eyes staring back at me. “Hey, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Probably because you were snoring so loud.”
“Snoring!” I gasped. “I was not snoring!”
“Yeah, you were.” He chuckled as he teased. “I thought a bear had gotten in here with you. Was afraid I’d have to come in and rescue you.”
I nudged him with my elbow as I fussed, “You are so full of it.”
“Maybe a little.”
“How did you get in here anyway? I thought I had the door locked.”
“You did. Kate let me in.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize she was awake.”
“Not sure I’d say she’s awake. Poor thing is looking pretty rough.”
“Yeah, she’s taking this thing with Eric really hard.” I rolled over to face him as I said, “I’m not sure if she’s more upset about losing him or the future she thought she was going to have with him.”
“So, you didn’t tell her about him—”
“No,” I answered before he could finish his thought. “I didn’t see the point. It’s not like she would believe me, and even if she did, it would only hurt her more to know she was in love with a man like him.”
“You’re probably right.”
“What happened anyway?” I knew how he and the brothers felt about club business but hoped he might tell me something since Kate and I had been involved. I could tell by his blank expression he wasn’t going to answer, so I pushed, “After I dropped off that ledger, I was hoping to hear something from you, but ...”
“You did good with the ledger. That’s all I can really tell you.”
“Really? You can’t even tell me if there really was a gas leak?”
“Telling you what did or didn’t happen isn’t going to change anything, Marlowe. He’s dead. You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“You’re right.” I reached over and placed the palm of my hand on his cheek as I said, “I’m glad you’re okay. I was really worried there for a minute.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
“I certainly hope not.”
I was just about to lean over and kiss him when I heard Kate clear her throat. I turned to find her standing in the doorway, looking even worse than she had when she first got to the apartment. “Is everything okay?”
“I just got off the phone with Mom. They will be here in the morning around nine.”
“Okay,” was the only reply I could muster.
When she twirled around to go back into the living room, I turned to Rafe and whispered, “This is going to be a long night.”
“We’ll get through it.”
I was right to worry about Kate being at my place for the night. It was absolutely miserable. When she wasn’t sobbing on the sofa, she was blabbing about how great Eric was and how much she missed him. It was almost too much to stomach. Thankfully, Rafe was there to help me keep my sanity.
When Mom and Dad finally showed up to get her, it was awkward at best. Things had always been strained between us, but now that the whole adopted thing had been revealed, it was even worse. Mom would barely look at me as she said, “I’m sorry, Marlowe. I know I made my mistakes with you. I know I wasn’t a very good mother, but I was afraid to love you.”
“Why would you be afraid?” I asked sharply.
“I was always worried they would come for you ... that they’d take you away, so I kept you at a distance.”
“Then, why did you adopt me in the first place?”
Before she could answer, my father stepped into the kitchen carrying Kate’s bags. “Come on, hun. We need to get back to the airport, or we’ll miss our flight.”
“Oh, okay. I’m ready.”
“Good to see you, Marlowe.” My dad gave me a quick nod, then rushed towards the door. “Hurry up, Kate. We don’t want to be late.”
“Coming!” Kate came into the kitchen with her shoulders slouched, her eyes puffy from crying, and her lips pursed like a two-year-old. I had no doubt she was going to milk this thing with Eric for everything it was worth and more. Without so much as a hug or a thank you for being her shoulder to cry on, Kate waved her hand as she walked by me. “Bye, Marlowe.”