Page 41 of Nothing to You (Nothing to… #7)

NEW YORK WAS great. She loved New York. It could be home forever, couldn’t it? Maybe not. Restricting contact with Rourke meant avoiding him. While they were on opposite sides of the country, that was easy. But could they ever really be done if she lived and hung out with his closest friends?

“Should I quit?”

Mieux looked up from her laptop. Sitting at opposite sides of her desk in Rouge HQ, they’d been working independently for a while.

Until she broke the silence.

“Should you—what? No!”

“I’m mad,” she said. Slamming her laptop closed, she shot to her feet.

“He’s an idiot. I mean completely ridiculous, but that’s his right.

Right?” Mieux managed a loose nod. She wandered toward the transparent glass wall, then turned to stroll back.

“If he wants to be an idiot, then it’s my right to exclude us from each other’s lives.

But if I do, I can’t keep working for him.

” She stopped, appealing again to the assistant.

“Do you know how difficult it is not to pick up that phone and dial him now? We’d come across each other in person, eventually, if I keep working for Huddle. ”

“Don’t you have his number?”

“Have what?”

“His phone number.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So it doesn’t matter if you work for Huddle or not, you could call him anytime.”

True. Unless he changed his number. Maybe she should change hers. Get a clean break. Roxie told her something about Zairn blocking her number once, though for a different reason.

Blocking him wouldn’t change anything. If Rourke wanted to find her, he would. He’d just hack her computer or her Huddle account. That killed any chance of going back to her old job, if it was even still there.

But Huddle Hope.

She exhaled.

Damnit.

Did she think him getting back with his ex was a good idea? No.

Their friendship wasn’t about laying down ultimatums and rules. No friendship should come with restrictions like that.

Fuck. She’d have to apologize and that would not be fun.

Her phone rang.

Damn, was he psychic?

Must be he could sense her shame and annoyance. Probably sent out a unique kind of bat signal to his spidey sense. And, yes, she knew those didn’t go together.

“Do you want me to answer it?” Mieux asked.

That would be the coward’s way out. And she’d never been a chicken.

“No, I got it,” she whined and dragged her feet back to the desk. Except when she picked up the phone, it wasn’t Rourke’s name on the display. She answered fast. “Mom?”

“Ms. Radley, I’m a nurse from your mother’s residential home. There’s been an incident.”

“An incident? What does that mean? What happened?”

Shit. This wasn’t exactly a shock; she’d had calls like it before. But her heart always sped up a little as trepidation crossed her shoulders.

“Your mother had an episode. She’s been skipping meds and—”

“I thought you were supposed to watch that.”

“She has a new therapist—” the woman sputtered. “In her mania, with her low mood. It’s not a good combination.”

“What did she do?” she asked, rubbing her forehead. “We’ll pay for any damages.” We? She. “Please don’t lock her up again, she gets—”

“No, Mrs. Radley, I’m sorry. Your mom is in the hospital.”

Her hand fell. “The hospital?”

“She locked herself in one of our therapy rooms, cut herself, she’s okay, we think she’s okay, but she lost a lot of blood. Security had to break through the reinforced—”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she said, glad her apartment was in the building. Clothes she didn’t care about, but her cards, her ID, she’d need them to fly. “I’m across the country right now. It will take me a few hours.”

“Your sister is a contact too, but we couldn’t get hold of her.”

“I’ll try.” Though her sister could go weeks without turning on her phone. Most of their communication was via email. “She’s not the easiest to get hold of. I have to get in the elevator. I’ll call from the airport.”

She hung up and used her time in the elevator to search for flights.

Her mom needed her and she was far away. That was never supposed to happen. It was on her to be around, to be available. There she was prioritizing Huddle Hope, harping on about the importance of responsibility while neglecting her own family.

It couldn’t happen again. Her mom needed her support, the support of family. That’s what counted more than anything else.