Page 87 of Tempt

“He’s stronger than you think. And more determined.” And then he returned to his post outside, leaving me alone to wonder if there was anything left of the future we both so desperately wanted.

* * *

The weekend was exhausting,not because I did all that much, but because I didn’t sleep or eat. All I did was worry. Ava went grocery shopping with me so I could stock up for my Thanksgiving feast. She knew something was wrong, but didn’t pry. She insisted we drink a bottle of wine and watchGone With the Wind.

“You know I’m not Southern, right?” I’d asked after her bazillionth question about plantations.

“What’s the difference?” she asked, totally confused.

I buried my face in my hands. “So much. This could take all night.” And she made me explain it all. The accents, customs, culture, and geographic boundaries. How the war and Reconstruction still dictated so much today. The brilliant girl kept me distracted and busy for hours. And then I passed out and slept on the couch before I was woken up by my new nightly ritual of nightmares.

Monday came around with no word from Theo. Joe took me to work just like he had the week before. I moved through my day without thinking, just operating on habit and instinct.

Until Margaret called me into her office.

“Sit.”

I sat.

I had no energy to do anything other than what I was told.

Margaret moved behind her desk and took her damn time settling in, steepling her fingers, and furrowing her brow. “What’s going on?”

“I just emailed Luis the updated specs—”

“That’s not what I mean. What’s going on with you and Theo? He looks dead on his feet and you look like a ghost. Did you break up?”

I took a deep breath as tears stung my eyes. My stupid emotions were getting out of hand thanks to the lack of sleep. “No?”

“Why did you say that like it was a question?”

And then it dawned on me. She’d seen Theo. “Wait. You saw him? When?”

Margaret jerked her head back and narrowed her eyes. “This morning on the way in to the office. He was headed upstairs. Why? When was the last timeyousaw him?”

“Wednesday,” I breathed.

He was here.Upstairs. Or at least he had been. That seemed like a good sign. In my head I kept picturing him sweaty and bloody, torturing Dan and Toni in a warehouse somewhere. If he was here, dressed for the office, then things couldn’t be all bad. Could they?

“I’m going to ask this one last time and you’re actually going to explain this time, okay?” She softened her voice and I took that as a sign my emotional fragility was showing. “What’s going on?”

I stared at the desk in front of me—too stunned to move and my mind whirling too fast to latch on to any one thought. “Those things you wanted Theo to fix? That’s what he’s doing.” It was safe to talk to Margaret, I just wasn’t so sure if her office was safe, so I kept the details out of my explanation.

Her eyes widened and her voice went up a few octaves. “What?”

“The opportunity arose and Theo seized it. I haven’t seen him since Wednesday night.”

She sat back in her chair, her hand over her mouth. Now we were both lost in hazy thought. “What can you tell me?” she asked after a few minutes.

I shook my head. “Not much. It involves Dan and Toni and loose ends.”

“How’s Nicki taking it?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think she knows.”

Margaret gave me a look that told me I was an idiot. “She knows.”

I shrugged and kind of wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole so I could escape this entire situation. “You’re right she probably does.”