****
Later that afternoon, Tessa came over. The salon was closed on Sundays, and we sometimes made a lazy day of our time off. She waited until Tanner was happily playing in his room before she confronted me.
“Tell me everything about last night!” she said, clapping her hands together. “You look different. Did something happen between you and Michael?”
I checked to make sure Tanner was still in his room before bringing Tessa into the living room. I kept my voice low so Tanner wouldn’t hear anything. It would be just like him to repeat things I said to Killian. Then he might have a reason to want to take Tanner. Which was another reason why I needed to quit. After breakfast, I’d polished my resignation letter and sent it to my work email to print the next morning. I hoped that Michael would somehow be able to find it in my inbox and save me the trouble, but I doubted he would admit it if he went snooping.
“We slept together,” I said to my hands.
Tessa squealed, and I shushed her.
“It’s not that simple,” I said. “Remember those rumors you were telling me about?”
Tessa tilted her head to the side. “The ones about the mafia?”
I nodded. “They’re true.”
Tessa snapped her fingers. “I knew it! How did you find out for sure?”
I couldn’t get into the details about Sal’s murder. That would give too much away. Besides, I didn’t know the specifics, and I wasn’t going to get my best friend involved. “Some men came by his place last night and threatened him about something.”
Tessa reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “Rainey, you need to get out of there now. You can’t be involved with someone like that.”
“I know,” I said, and my voice cracked. I was unable to hold my emotions in anymore. I’d stuffed them deep down on the cab ride home since I didn’t want to sob in front of the driver. And then I didn’t want to worry Mom about it either. I could cry in front of Tessa.
She knew more about Michael and his brother than anyone else, even if it was from rumors.
“I need this job, though,” I said. Even though I’d completed the letter, nothing was final until I’d given it to Michael.
“You can get another job,” Tessa said, shaking her head. “I haven’t seen you this way in a long time. All this back and forth and drama over a guy. Not since the divorce from Killian. Remember how you vowed to be stronger than you used to be?”
I nodded, wiping my tears from my cheeks.
“Now’s the time to do that. It sucks that you have to find another job. Maybe you can work the reception desk at the salon until you get back on your feet? That idiot Kiersten called out three times this week. You’re overqualified but its money in your pocket. And the hours can be flexible for you to go on interviews.”
“Thank you for that,” I said, meaning it. I hoped I’d be able to go on unemployment so I could have a paycheck while I went on the job search again. I mentally groaned. Michael screwed up my life even more than I thought. I wondered if he would have never hired me if I had been honest with him about Tanner. He might have assumed that I couldn’t do the job and I would be out of this mess. This is what I got for lying.
I let out a deep breath and tried to internalize my feelings.
“Do you love him?” Tessa asked.
My eyes flicked up to hers. “What?”
“Is that why this is so hard?” she asked. “You haven’t been involved with someone for a while. And I know you well enough that you wouldn’t have a one-night stand.”
I never thought about it. I knew I was overwhelmingly attracted to him. But did I love him? Could I love a man who had a hand in murdering another?
My breathing increased, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I was in love with him. And instead of being upset about it, as any other love-struck woman would be, I was angry. Not with him. Other than the whole mob thing, he’d been honest with me from the start. I had no doubt he had the best intentions, but I let myself fall so deep even with the mounting evidence against him.
“Should I pick up some wine for tonight?”
“Yes, please,” I said, needing to numb my brain, even if it was for a little while. “And I’ll make some pasta to go with it.”
“Throw in some garlic bread, and I’m game.”
I laughed. I had the simplest recipe for garlic bread, but Tessa always insisted that it was better than anything she’d ever tasted. She hadn’t eaten with Michael though. There were several places I could recommend from the restaurants we’d gone to in my duration working for him.
My phone rang from the other room. I excused myself and ran to the phone, in case Tanner had the need to pick it up again.
I picked it up on the last ring, not comprehending the name on the screen.
“Rainey?” Michael said on the other line.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I can’t talk right now, Michael.”
“I need to see you. We have to talk about earlier. I’m—”
“No,” I said. “This is not a good time. I can’t deal with this right now. I think it would be best if we didn’t deal with this at all.”
A long pause dragged over the line.
“Will I see you at work tomorrow?” he finally asked.
“Yes,” I said. For the last time. As much as I wanted this to be over with, I didn’t want to leave him high and dry. I made a plan to spend the day finishing up a list of duties that Michael could pass onto my replacement. It was one of the projects that Michael asked me to do early on as I learned the job. It was detailed and robust, and I was happy I’d started it when he asked. I had to tweak some of the Christmas charity bullet points since the event was over, but otherwise, it would only take a few hours to finish up after I handed him my resignation.
“Good.”
I was the first to hang up. I held my phone in my hand, staring down at the screen. If I was making the right decision, why did I feel so terrible about it?