Page 87 of Corrupt Game

He’d done this as a way to protect and monitor my health.

All the things that he’d done that I absolutely hated weren’t so much to torture me, but more to keep me safe and cared for. When held up against his motives, it felt like such a different type of situation. He wasn’t the horrible person that I’d originally thought.

I was almost positive he hadn’t participated in Andy’s murder, but he might have information that hadn’t made it to the FBI yet. Information that could lead to the killer. I needed to know, as much as I needed Ian.

When lunch and dinner came and went with no sign of Ian, I began to really worry.

Everything that we’d worked on from the last few days flashed before my eyes as I tried to think of something that he would have needed to check on.

If there hadn’t been three meals, I wouldn’t have known it had been a day without the regular delivery of food. Time passed in such a different way when there weren’t any windows to mark the changes.

I lay there on the bed, wondering what I’d done. There was nothing that would have required him to leave me alone for this length of time. It could only be attributed to something that I’d done. He didn’t want to see me because I’d made a mistake. That was generally how things went in my world.

Had he left because after surrendering I wasn’t interesting any more?

One little mistake and people left me. More like they ran away from me as fast as they could. Perfection was the only thing that kept people around. Andy had been the exception. I was able to be myself with him.

It hurt that Ian had left, and that I’d opened myself to that pain. It was as if the light had gone out of the room, even though Rossi had left the lights on.

Turning them off had been a little weird before I’d crawled into bed.

The microwave light was annoying with its little blue light just taunting me that Ian hadn’t been there, and I’d had the lights on for the day.

Sunday was the day we’d spent together for a while now and it just hadn’t felt right with him gone.

What kept him, I wondered. All of the most improbable things flitted through my mind.

Was he on the side of the road somewhere hurt? Could he need assistance while I was lying here unable to go to his side?

What the fuck was I thinking? Had I sunk so low and given into himthatmuch that I couldn’t survive if he wasn’t there telling me what to think or do? For a day?

Why had I let him into my world and quit looking at him like a killer?

There weren’t any good answers and I tossed on the bed all night, completely miserable. Sleep never came.

Another day went by with Rossi delivering my meals.

It was super weird that he hadn’t taken me in to work. Even if Ian wasn’t around, it’s not like I was the only one that could work, but there was a way to help him out. I felt that I’d managed to be useful and had gotten a lot accomplished in a short time.

Why wouldn’t he use all the assets he had available to get things ready for the extra work my suggestion had caused?

It didn’t make any sense. He had so much to finish up before the production would be ready for mass processing.

We’d worked all weekend on it and were making progress, but that didn’t mean it had all been finished.

When Rossi came in with lunch, I confronted him.

“Is he okay?” Even as the words left my mouth, I knew that he was fine. Rossi wouldn’t be standing here in front of me if Ian was hurt or missing.

“I can work from down here. Don’t make me sit here all day with nothing to do, please.” I wasn’t above begging when needed. “There has to be something I can do to keep busy.”

The only response I got was the tightening of Rossi’s lips.

“What did I do wrong?”

He walked out, and I was left feeling frustrated once again. But not only that, I was deflated. I missed him and was useless.

It wasn’t like I was a mind reader. Something was going on, and I just didn’t know what it was.

---