Page 109 of If We Never Met

"Keira is right," Dante said. "Mandy cut up your clothes, Mark. There was a personal vindictiveness to her destruction. You need to tell the police everything you told us."

"I agree. I'll do that now." Mark got to his feet. "I'm going to step into the other room."

As Mark left, Keira looked at her mom. "Do you believe he told us the whole story?"

"Yes. I believed every word," her mother said, without a trace of doubt in her eyes. "Didn't you?"

"I don’t know," she admitted.

"You do know. You heard what he had to say. You just don't want to let go of your suspicions because you don't want him to be with me," her mother said sharply.

Was her mother right? Was she holding onto her suspicions for that reason?"I do want you to be happy, Mom, but I still think you should be careful. We don't know if this is Mark's only secret."

"I believe it is." She stood up. "I'm going to check on Mark."

She looked at Dante as her mom headed down the hall. "What do you think? You're probably the most objective person in this situation."

Dante gave her a thoughtful look. "I'm inclined to believe him."

"So it's two against one."

"Is it?" he challenged.

She sighed. "Maybe not. It's a bizarre story, but it felt true. I wouldn't mind hearing Mandy's side. I hope Adam can catch her."

"She won't be able to move around so freely now that the police are looking for her. She knows I saw her come out of Mark's room, so her best bet would be to leave town and disappear."

"I would think so, too, but she seems determined to get him to pay. Maybe she thinks he will do so now that she's shown the lengths to which she's willing to go."

"In which case, she'll contact him, and I'm sure the police will use him to get to her."

"Good point." As the doorbell rang, she added, "That must be Adam. I want to hear what he has to say."

"So do I. Is it okay if I stay?"

"Sure," she said, as they stood up. "But when Mark leaves, you need to leave, too."

He met her gaze. "I know. I got the message. We're over."

She let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, yes. But we shouldn't think of it as a bad thing. It's only happening because your arm is better. I am happy for you, Dante. It might not look that way, but I want you to have your life back. I really do."

"Thanks. That means a lot."

"And we had fun, so…" She drew in a shaky breath. "That's what I'm going to remember."

Shadows filled his gaze. "I hope that's what you remember, because I never wanted to hurt you."

"You didn't," she said. And she meant it. Because he hadn't hurt her; she'd hurt herself by falling for a man who was always going to say goodbye.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Keira lookedout her kitchen window on Wednesday morning. The Fourth of July promised to be a hot, sunny day that would end in spectacular fireworks, but she wasn't in the mood for any more explosive surprises. The night before had had too many. After Adam had a long discussion with Mark, where much of the same information he'd revealed to them had been shared once more, all three men had left. Mark and Dante had gone back to the inn while Adam was off to look for Mandy.

She and her mother had eaten some cold pizza in an uncomfortable silence before her mom declared she was exhausted and didn't want to talk about anything. She'd then gone up to her room and closed the door.

She'd decided to go to bed, too, but sleep hadn't come fast or easy. Her brain had jumped from one worry to the next.Could she trust that Mark had told them the entire truth? Could her mother possibly get caught up in this feud between Mark and Mandy?

When she forced her mind off that subject, she'd thought about her surprise visit from Margot, her request that she come to LA as soon as possible to meet with Jessica. Her dream job could be days away.But how could she make that work with everything else going on?

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