Chapter 44

Rainey

As the driver pulled away from the building, I rested my head in my hands. I couldn’t believe Michael saw me crying! I held it together the entire day at work. Getting into the elevator and making the final trip out of that building had washed over me and my emotions got the best of me. I never thought he would chase after me. I had a feeling he would try something to get me to come back. I hoped, for his sake, that he would get the hint. It sucked big time that I had to start all over again in my personal and professional life, but it's what I had to do to protect Tanner. And I held onto the fact that Tessa had my back.

Next, I had to tell Mom and convince her this was the right choice. I could already feel her disappointed eyes on me, and while I could have told her everything, Michael’s business wasn’t any of hers. To Tessa, it had been a no-brainer about Michael, but Mom always had an optimistic hope that everything would work out for me. If I told her he was involved with the mob and murder, then she would be pleased with my choice. I had to convince her it was the best thing while keeping her out of it.

When I got home and paid the driver, I stepped out of the car and stared up at my home. I took a big breath, the cold air stinging my lungs, and marched up to the front door.

Inside, Tanner was sitting at the kitchen table coloring.

“Hi, Mommy,” he said without looking up.

I kissed the top of his head and put my bag down on the empty chair next to him. “How was your day?”

“It was okay,” he said. His typical one sentence response. I was glad we weren’t at the point of him asking me about my day. I wasn’t ready for that yet.

Mom came into the room from the hallway. “Rainey, how are you?”

I made a sharp glance at Tanner and indicated for her to follow me onto the covered porch outside of the kitchen. I moved to the back of the room, farthest from Tanner. He wouldn’t suspect anything was going on. At times he was wrapped up in his own world and coloring was one of those times. Tanner rarely cared about my business unless he happened upon it. Quitting my job was a private thing. At least until I could muster the strength to tell him and also make sure he didn’t tell Killian until I got another job.

“What is it?” Mom asked in a hushed voice.

Might as well get it over with.

“I quit today.”

“You what?” she asked with surprise in her tone.

“Things got too complicated between Michael and me. Whatever working relationship we had is ruined.”

“You couldn’t work it out?”

I bit my tongue. If she knew about the mafia ties, then she would understand. I was propelled back in time to my interview with Michael. My secret-keeping had started there. And now I was lying to my mother. My stomach twisted uneasily.

“What are you going to do now?” Mom asked.

“I don’t know.” All of this was so sudden. I was dealing with the emotional roller coaster and always tripped over myself in the process. Had I made a mistake or the best choice for my family? It was only a day since Michael confirmed his ties with the mafia and I’d already quit my job. Should I have stayed until the New Year? Or would that have prolonged it too much where he might have been able to convince me to stay?

I wished Tessa was here. She knew how to unscramble the jumbled thoughts in my mind and make sense of how I really felt. Mom was the opposite. Her questioning made me second guess myself.

“Rainey, I understand that you’re upset about all this. But a great job like this doesn’t come along that often. And it was perfect for you and Tanner to build your life back up.”

“There’s nothing I can do about it now, Mom,” I said through my teeth. “And you know what? I don’t want to hear about it. It’s done. I wanted to inform you, that’s all.”

She clicked her tongue. “Rainey, don’t speak to me that way.”

“What way?”

“Like a child.”

I groaned. “Then stop treating me like one!” I couldn’t help the heat behind my voice.

Mom crossed her arms and looked at me. “You didn’t have to sleep with your boss. That isn’t like you.”

I hadn’t even mentioned sleeping with him, but Mom wasn’t an idiot.

Now was the time to lay it all out. What did I have to lose? “I just wanted something for myself. Is that so wrong?”

“Honey, it’s not wrong,” she said. “But it’s not about you anymore. You have a beautiful boy to take care of. And if his father is going to be absent, he needs a strong role model. And up until today, you were showing him how to be a responsible adult.”

She was right, but there was no way in hell I was going to let her know that. I was too pissed off to speak for fear of saying something I’d regret.

I stormed into the house. “Tanner, let’s go.” I knew I was being childish, but I needed space away from everyone except Tanner. He was the only person that wasn’t trying to control my life.

He looked up at me as if I’d ripped his drawing in half.

“You can bring it upstairs with you. I need to start dinner.”

Mom came back into the house as we were leaving. She kissed Tanner’s cheek and patted my shoulder. It was her way of showing support for whatever decision I made. It wasn’t an apology. I’d have to be the one to do that.

Upstairs, I settled Tanner in on the table, and he continued working on his art. I went to the refrigerator to get him a juice box when I heard a sound from outside. I stood up straight and looked at Tanner. None of his crayons had fallen to the floor, and he was still furiously working on his project.

What did I hear? It sounded as if it came from the landing. Not wanting to scare Tanner, I walked over to the door and peered outside. I imagined seeing the two men from Michael’s place on my doorstep. My stomach sank, and my breathing roared in my ears. I didn’t see anyone initially, so I opened the door and looked out. There weren’t any hulking men nearby.

I went back inside and locked the door behind me.

Get a grip, Rainey, I thought to myself.

I watched Tanner for a moment while I took several calming breaths. Nothing was going to happen to him. There was no reason for me to be paranoid. Especially now since I distanced myself from all of Michael’s drama.

“Can I have my juice, Mommy?” he asked. I gave him the box from my hand. I’d dented the side of the cardboard with my grip. He barely noticed as he sucked the thing dry within seconds.

A small bit of paranoia flared up again. I crossed the dining area to the living room and peeked through the side of the curtain covering the front window. The only thing out of the ordinary was a black sedan out front. I didn’t see anyone in the car, though.

My stomach rolled. I covered the window and went for my purse. I grabbed my phone and speed dialed Tessa. I checked the lock on the door again and went into the bathroom, closing the door enough so hopefully, Tanner wouldn’t hear me.

“Rainey, what’s up?” Tessa said when she picked up.

“I need you to distract me.”

“Okay, why?” she asked.

“There’s a strange car parked out on the street.”

“What kind of car?”

“A black sedan.”

“It’s probably someone’s ride. An Uber maybe.”

“It looks fancier than that.”

“Rainey, the mob, isn’t after you,” she said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I know,” I said and came out of the bathroom. I was acting crazy. Tanner had moved into the living room and already had the food channel on.

I glanced into the room to see him eating cheddar popcorn out of the bag. “Not too many. Save room for dinner.”

“Okay!” he said with a full mouth. Several kernels and crumbs fell from his lips.

“Are you good?” Tessa asked.

“Yeah, thanks for calming me down.”

“No problem, now tell me about today. Did you resign?”

I went into my bedroom to change out of my work clothes. I guessed I’d have to get used to dressing in casual-wear again since I wouldn’t be going to work in the morning. A sour taste filled my mouth at the thought.

“I did.”

“How did he take it?”

I recalled Michael’s expression when he was outside of the cab. He looked like I felt on the inside. I had no doubt that he cared for me. But I couldn’t be a part of his life. Not if it threatened my family. “Not well.”

“Well, duh, you’re like the perfect assistant. He’s never going to find a replacement.”

I smiled into the phone. “He’ll be fine.” I did hope that whoever he chose took my notes seriously when it came to the Christmas charity. It was such an important cause. But at least they’d have a year to prepare instead of less than a month.

“How’s your—” my words were cut off by a loud knocking on my back door. “Hold on, Tessa. I think Mom needs to get in.”

“Sure.”

I went out into the hallway and saw Tanner standing by the open door. He didn’t bound back into the living room as he would if it had been Mom. This was someone new. Someone he didn’t know.

Tanner turned to me. “Mommy, there’s a man here to see you!”

I rushed forward, prepared to throw myself in front of Tanner in case those burly men had any intention of hurting him. I grabbed Tanner and pulled him behind me.

“Michael?” I asked with a hitch in my voice.

He stepped forward, and I took two steps back, holding Tanner against me.

He looked out of place in my home, almost like an intruder. An intruder with expensive taste in clothing.

“T-Tanner,” I stuttered. “Go get cleaned up so we can start dinner.”

Tanner shrugged and sauntered off to the bathroom to wash up.

Michael’s chest rose and fell with each of his breaths. He moved his hand forward, and I flinched as something white whipped out of his hand. The piece of paper fluttered to the ground. My resignation letter.

“You have a son?” he growled.

Shit… nothing good could come of this.