“I’m serious. Let's not be strangers," he says. "Even if you do actually fall off a damn wall, Rickie. I don’t care anymore. I’ve missed you."
Oh, hell. I don't have the fortitude for more emotions today. “Thanks, Dad.”
He claps me on the back. "You look beat. I'm going to go so that you can get some rest."
"Yeah, okay." I hear a creak from somewhere upstairs. Must be the wind. "Thanks for the ride back to town.”
"Anytime."
I show him out. And the minute the door is closed, I sit down heavily on the staircase. I'm almost too tired to get up and head for my room, no matter how badly I want to see my bed.
Behind me, I hear another creak, and all the hair stands up on the back of my neck. "Keith?" I call out. But his car wasn’t in the driveway with the Volvo.
When I hear a footfall above me, I turn around fast. I'm startled to see that it's Daphne who's descending the stairs.
“Oh, hi," I say stupidly, scrambling to my feet. I'm so not ready for this.
"Oh God, your face,” she whispers. “What happened?"
“It ran into a cop's fist. But it looks worse than it is.”
Her eyes get red as she descends the stairs. “They beat you?"
"It was one punch. That's what a dumbass gets for hitting the son of the most powerful man in Connecticut."
A tear rolls down her cheek. "You didn't reply to my texts."
Shit. I hold up my phone. “It was, uh, dead until exit 10. Charger was in the Volvo.” But I realize I’m just being a dick right now. “Daphne, look. I know I could have tracked you down. But I honestly don’t have any idea what to say to you.”
Her beautiful eyes narrow. “Maybe you could have begun by letting me know you're still alive?"
Shit. I guess we're doing this right now. I take a step backward, because I cannot reach for her. It would probably break me. And I have to get this out. “I failed you from the very start, right? No calls or texts when I stood you up. That’s kind of a pattern with me. I tell you that I’m the man for you, and then I let you down.”
“Rickie,” she gasps. “There were a few extenuating circumstances. I wanted to tell you how happy I was that you pled not guilty. And that it worked. I’ve been waiting all day to see you. Don’t do this.”
But that’s the problem. I’m basically a toxin in her life. “Yeah, I rolled the dice in the courtroom, and it came up lucky. That was selfish. I would have dragged you into my mess.”
She shakes her head. “I wanted you to beat him. We were pulling for you. May said she’d tell you to go for it. But she wouldn’t let me come, too. She said you wouldn’t want me there. And anyway, I had to go speak to the dean. You want to hear what she had to say?”
Yes, yes I do. But that isn’t what I say. “I hope it’s all good things, Daphne. You deserve that. But I hope you understand that you also deserve better than me.”
After I get those difficult words out, I turn and walk away, finally reaching my room. Where I lock the door behind me.
Forty-Five
Daphne
My mouth drops open as he walks away.
I’ve been waiting—waiting in this empty house for hours, just hoping he’d turn up. Now he’s here. He’s home. And I feel like I’ve been slapped.
Once again, a man I trusted has thrown me overboard. I stand here, feeling foolish, heaving in a breath so deep it hurts my lungs.
But then I let it out again, and I realize a few things in quick succession. Rickie came face to face with our common enemy. At which point he put himself between me and Reardon, to try to save me from my own stupidity.
Then he flew at Reardon right after the guy called me a whore. After which he was punched by a cop and spent a night in jail, before facing down a judge.
That’s a lot.
In fact, I’ve buckled under far less pressure than that, and I’ve done worse damage. Just ask my sister.
I take another deep breath, and then I do what needs doing. I walk through the house to Rickie’s door, and then I knock.
No answer.
I knock again, but he still doesn’t open the door. So I take out a credit card. Dylan and I