Page 51 of By His Side

“Then I’ll tell Felix after. There’s no point in him worrying before he needs to.”

“Nice of you to make that decision for him.”

“He’s got enough shit going on without me adding to it.”

“And Hayden?”

“And Hayden, what?”

“Are you going to tell him about this master plan of yours?”

“No.” I winced as I realized what the next words out of my mouth were going to need to be. They were unfair and extremely uncharacteristic of me, but I was going to say them, anyway. “And I’d appreciate you not saying anything to him.”

Levi’s jaw tightened. “You want me to lie for you?”

“You don’t need to lie. You just… don’t need to mention this part of the discussion. That’s all.”

“That’s lying by omission.”

“Please, Levi. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

His stare went on for a while, neither of us blinking. Eventually, he let out a frustrated breath. “Fine. I guess I owe you that. But… we both know he’s like a bloodhound with secrets, so when he finds out and calls the wedding off, you’re the one I’ll expect to make him see sense by whatever means necessary.”

“He won’t call the wedding off.” Levi raised an eyebrow. “He won’t! Hayden’s desperate to marry you. He’d do it tomorrow if he could.”

“We’ll see.” Levi didn’t look convinced. He finished his tea and, despite his body language giving away his temptation to hang around until Felix made an appearance, got up to leave. It came as a relief. I didn’t want Felix getting caught by surprise because there was no telling how he might react if put on the spot. I’d seen that first hand, our first meeting being a case in point. And even though Levi, of all people, would understand someone putting on a front, it was best not to tempt fate.

Chapter Twenty-one

Darien

The bang on my car window nearly had me jumping out of my skin. My heart was still pounding as Levi opened the passenger door and climbed in. I stared at him as he made himself comfortable and fastened the seat belt. “What are you doing?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“Since when?”

“Since… I decided I’d be a terrible future brother-in-law if I let you do this on your own.”

“And Hayden?”

“If he finds out, I’ll tell him you kidnapped me. Did you tell Felix?”

“No.” Even admitting that out loud made the ball of guilt that had been ever present over the last few days, while I’d been waiting to hear from the prison, grow. Things had been goodbetween us. Well, as good as things could be when you were paranoid about a) the neighbors working out who he was and b) someone at work realizing I’d not only moved one of my clients into my house but also into my bed. No doubt any edginess Felix might have picked up on, he’d put down to one of those two things.

I was grateful when Levi had nothing to say in response to my confirmation. I guess he’d said everything he needed to a few days ago. And he’d been right. But this was a tricky situation with no correct course of action. Therefore, all I could do was trust my gut. And my gut was saying not to tell Felix until I had something concrete to report.

Levi cleared his throat. “Well…”

“Huh!” I stared at him blankly for a moment. Until it sank in I’d been sitting staring into space. “Right. Are you sure you want to come?”

Levi waved a dismissive hand in my direction. “Just start the damn car, would you?”

I started the damn car. The drive to East London would take at least an hour, longer if we hit traffic, and I was glad of Levi’s company. “You know you won’t be able to come in when we get there.”

“No! Really? Thanks for telling me how prisons work. If only I’d set foot in one myself. Those two years inside must have been a fever dream. Which would mean I didn’t need a probation officer, and you don’t exist either.”

I smiled at Levi’s snark. “Just be glad you weren’t in Belmarsh.”

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