Chapter Three

I’d decided to do a little shopping. Of course, with the kind of budget I was on, it wasn’t at any special stores, actually, it was at a thrift store, but I was okay with that. I’d scored a couple super cute dresses, and it had all been under $50. So really, how could a girl complain about that? Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dropped down onto the couch and stared at the screen. Dean had texted a couple times just to see how I was doing. I hadn’t replied, so maybe he thought I was sleeping or something. I flipped through my contacts until I found the one I was looking for and hit the call button.

It took three rings for my mum to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey Mom, how’s it going?”

“Alright, you?”

“Fine.” I wasn’t sure why I’d decided to call her, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. “I just got back from doing some shopping. I found a cat for your collection.” My mom had over 500 clay cats. It was a stupid collection, and one I hated growing up, but it made her happy, so really I couldn’t hate it that much, even if it had taken over my old room now that I’d moved out.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I had a rough night last night; I decided to take the day off.” I didn’t bother lying.

“Everything okay? Is it about that new guy you’ve been seeing?”

“Everything’s fine. I’m just not feeling great.”

“You … you’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No!” I didn’t think I was at least. “I’m just not feeling awesome. I’m not pregnant; I’m not anything—I just felt like taking a day off.”

“And you’re still with that guy, right?”

I groaned. “Yes Mom, I’m still with Dean.” I’d told her about him over a quick phone call when I was explaining to her why I couldn’t talk.

“So, you’re still with him.”

“Yes, I’m still with him.”

“Oh, good! I want to meet him.”

“Uh, isn’t it a little soon for me to make him meet my parents.”

“No! I wanted to meet him, can’t you guys come over at the weekend?” Normally I had a hard time saying no to my mom, so I was thrilled that I actually had an excuse. “Sorry Mom, we can’t. I’ve got some big thing at the casino.” I hadn’t told her yet that Dean owned the casino, and I wasn’t quite ready to tell her that.

“Oh.” I could hear the disappointment in her voice.

“I think we’re going to try to do something just the two of us the weekend after that, but maybe we can do dinner on Sunday or something; how does that sound?”

“Well? You think we could do that?” I could hear the hope return to her voice.

“Yes.” I couldn’t say no to her. “I’ll see if we can make it work.”

“Alright. Good. I’ll make your favorite.”

“Well, you know I’ll be there for sure then.” I grinned.

Knock. Knock. Knock. My brow furrowed.

“Hey, I’ve got to let you go; there is someone at my door.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later!”

“See ya Mom. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I hung up as I jumped off the couch and headed for the front door. My fingers curled around the handle. I knew it wasn’t Katie; she didn’t knock unless the door was locked.

I pulled it open to see a man staring at me.

“Miss Kyle?”

“Yes?” I stared at the man in front of me; obviously a delivery man, but I didn’t see any packages. He was middle-aged with graying hair.

“I’ve got something for you.” He bent down and picked something up. I gasped, staring at the huge bouquet in his hands. It was so big I actually couldn’t see him behind it. “These are for you.”

“Are … you sure?”

He laughed softly. “Name on it says Rebecca Kyle, that is you right?”

“Yea.” I reached out and took the flowers tentatively as if they might not be real. “Thank you,” I said taking the flowers from him and looking them up and down. I spotted a note on the top of the bouquet. “Have a good day.”

“You too, ma’am.”
Closing the door with my foot, I made my way to the kitchen, laying the flowers down on the counter. I grabbed the note and tore it open.

Get better soon.

Xoxox

Okay, so that probably meant they were from Dean, but they could also be from Melina, knowing her. I smiled, still looking them over, my smile growing wider. My boyfriend sent me flowers. My heart skipped a beat, and for a split second, I felt like I was 14 years old again and had my first crush.

Why did he bring out these feelings in me? I grabbed the phone out of my pocket and sent him a quick text.

Love the flowers. Thank you so much.

My fingers hovered over the screen as I froze realizing what I’d just been about to type. I hit send. I was going to tell him I loved him. The thought scared me more than I was willing to admit, but I didn’t dare think about it anymore.

It was just a reaction to getting the flowers, to knowing that there was someone who cared about me. And now it’s time to get to the bottom of who Amanda is, I thought, crossing over to my computer and opening it. Jessica Bright was her name. I’d taken a picture of it on my phone, but I didn’t need to look. I knew that name, for some reason, it was burned in my head. My heart raced as I typed her name into my search engine and hit enter. Although my computer was pretty fast, it suddenly felt like it wouldn’t load fast enough.

The first things to pop up were news reports. Oh, that’s not good.

I clicked on the first one I saw; something about a death. I closed my eyes. Every inch of me wanted to know what the deal was, but I was so scared it would be bad. What if he’d killed someone? What if he was some sort of billionaire serial killer?

If I confronted him, would I be his next victim?

Deep breath, I told myself. Just see what it says, and then we will take it from there. I knew that was the rational thing to do, but really, how often do we actually do what we know is rational?

I forced my eyes open and stared down at the news article.

Jessica Bright died over a week ago today, and the police are still looking for her killer. After speaking to a source close to the case, I have the fullest story you will get.

The source close to the case says that one man is being watched closely in connection with the murder.

This man was her business partner, and co-owner of a casino they owned together.

I’d figured all that out from the ones I’d read before—well except the part about them owning a casino together, maybe. I mean, who else could it be? What I wanted to know was her connection to Dean. So, I typed something else into my search engine. Both their names.

My heart dropped into my stomach as I saw results popping up. The ones that caught my attention weren’t actually news. They were from blogs, blogs about billionaire couples.

My hand shook as I moved the curser over to the link and clicked on it. I scanned the article quickly trying to read as fast as I could.

I froze when I got to the picture.

It had been from a few years ago, but it was still obvious to tell it was Dean. He was in a hospital bed, and the caption read that he’d been attacked in the middle of the night on his way out of work. My heart dropped into my stomach.

*

“So basically, to sum it up … some girl died—his girlfriend at the time—and then a couple months later, he got attacked so bad he was in the hospital for a couple weeks.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself as I sat down. Katie stared at me with wide eyes.

“Wow.”

“Yea. And I have no idea if I’m supposed to bring it up or how I’m supposed to.”

“Are you going to bring it up with him?”

“No! I’d have to admit that I was snooping through his stuff.”

“Why not just make something up, like you got a tip?”

“Really?” I raised my eyebrows at my friend in disbelief. “I highly doubt he would actually believe that.”

“You never know. How else are you supposed to talk to him about it?”

“I have no clue.” I let out a deep breath, closing my eyes. Why did the first guy I date in ages have to be so dramatic? Why couldn’t it just be nice and simple like he wasn’t suspected of killing someone?

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Katie jumped to her feet. “I’ve got it.”

“Thanks,” I muttered as my eyes opened and I watched her go over to the door. I heard it open.

“You must be Dean.”

“And you must be Katie.”

I jumped to my feet and rushed over to the door, suddenly aware of the fact I probably looked dreadful. “Hey.”

He looked past Katie, letting go of her hand as he stepped towards me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m … alright.”

Katie cleared her throat. “I um, was just heading out. I’ll see you later Becca, and it was nice to meet you, Dean.”

“Nice to meet you too.” He smiled then turned his full attention to me, but he didn’t say anything until Katie had left my apartment. “So, I’m guessing you’re not actually sick, are you?”

“I … no,” I admitted.

“So, do you want to talk about what is actually wrong?”

I stepped away from him, paced over to the couch and took a deep breath. How did I say it? Would he even understand? I exhaled and turned to him. He’d followed me to the couch and sat down.

“I … I’m just going through some stuff right now, and I needed to take the day off. I’m sorry if that’s not alright with you, but I’m doing the best I can.”

“What kind of stuff? Does it involve me? Or a woman that showed up at my house last night.”

“Yes,” I admitted. I valued honesty, and I was going to be honest. “I have no clue who she is, and you’re not telling me.”

“Because I don’t know.”

“Then we should go to the cops.”

“I’ve already spoken to someone who is going to look into it for me.”

“What kind of shit are you into?” It came out without me realizing it. I gasped. “I mean, I just … there are strange women showing up at your house, and you don’t trust the cops … it doesn’t make sense to me.”

“I just don’t trust cops.”

Well, if they thought he was responsible for his girlfriend’s death and he wasn’t, I could see why, but I didn’t say it.

I made my way over to him and dropped down. “I …”

“I’m sorry if I’m dragging you into something and you’re not happy, or if I’ve stressed you out. I promise it’s all going to be wrapped up soon.”

*

The truth is, I’d stopped by to see how she was doing and to make sure no one had been harassing her, but I realized how much stress I was causing her.

“After this weekend, we’re going to get away for a little while. I already told Melina to book us a vacation. I um, hope that’s okay.”

She stared at me with wide eyes. “I’m not going to lose pay, am I?”

“No, you’re not.” I smiled touching her hand. A wave of relief washed over me when she didn’t pull away. Instead, she moved closer to me, letting out a deep breath.

“It would be nice to get away,” she said with a soft laugh. “Oh, and uh … my mom wants to meet you.”

My heart did a back flip as I processed her words. It had been a long time since I met someone’s parents. I grinned. I couldn’t believe how much I actually liked the idea of that. “Sounds perfect; I can take you two out to dinner sometime, how’s that sound?”

“Sounds good to me.” She sounded so much more relaxed. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to me.

“It will be sorted out in no time,” I promised.

I’d already spoken to someone who was going to look into my situation, and they were going to get back to me about it and the price tomorrow.

God dammit. Why did this have to be happening now of all times? It wasn’t fair. I was finally thinking that maybe I was going to be able to put it all behind me, not Jessica but the pain the whole thing caused me. The pain of losing her and being blamed for something I didn’t do. I thought I was going to be able to move on and maybe actually be happy with Becca. I took a deep breath and glanced down at the girl in my arms. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing deeply. Was she asleep? Already?

She must have been tired. I pulled her closer to me and leaned against the back of the couch, letting out a deep breath before I closed my eyes too. I must have been tired because I don’t even remember falling asleep.