Page 37 of Cruel Hearts

“She’s in there, somewhere. I took her engagement ring, and that seemed to make her feel better.” I give him the ring, and he whistles again.

“I could retire in a nice place if I pawned a rock like this.” He passes it back to me, and I drop it into a pocket inside mypurse and zip it closed. Thank God Quiet Meadows didn’t have metal detectors. If they didn’t like us asking questions, they sure wouldn’t have liked Quinn’s gun. I forgot all about it and I should have left my purse in the car, but it was fortunate I had her phone.

He merges onto the busy street.

The jerking movement churns my stomach, and I have no choice but to ask, “Can we find a place and eat? I don’t feel well.”

“Yeah. Sorry. I’ve been running on adrenaline since I picked you up last night.”

“It’s okay, but it’s been a while since I’ve had something, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

Denton finds a family-style restaurant, and the waitress seats us in a dark corner. I order chicken strips and a double order of French fries, and while I wait for my food, drink two glasses of water.

He studies the medication list again. “I’m going to email this to myself so we have access to it on another device. Your battery’s almost dead. No one needs this many meds. They’re keeping her in a non-stop conscious sedation. You said she responded when you spoke to her?”

I told him what I said, what little she said back, and about drawing the martini glass on her wrist hoping it would remind her that I hadn’t been a dream.

“Smart.”

“Until someone washes it off. But now what?”

“We can’t go up against the Blacks alone.” He states the obvious and I want to snap at him, but I force myself to stay quiet. I’m hungry, not angry.

Taking a deep breath, I say, “I know. If it weren’t for Zarah, I’d walk away.”

He pats my hand. “You have a good heart, Stella.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what got me into this mess in the first place.” I can’t keep the bitterness out of my voice. Maryanne had been right all along. I should have kept my eyes on my own paper.

His tired eyes appraise me over the table. He lost a lot, too. The Blacks have destroyed many lives, not just mine, not just Zarah’s and Zane’s, and I have to remember that.

“I’m sorry I thought badly of you,” I say, crumpling a napkin in my fist.

“You were supposed to, but I played my part too well. You’ve wanted to protect Zane since the minute you met him, and I admire that. Kagan was a good friend. The best. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for the people he cared about, and Lark was the same way.”

The waitress places our meals in front of us, and I eat slowly, one small bite at a time. I’m queasy, and I don’t want to feel any worse than I already do.

He continues, “I did everything I could—networked, cold called, kissed ass. I worked eighteen-hour days to help Kagan and Larry turn Maddox Industries into what it was before Kagan’s death. Zane’s done a tremendous job. He brought his father’s company to the next level. It’s what Larry and I were trying to get him to understand before you disappeared.”

“After Ash took me, all he did was work?” I nibble at a piece of chicken.

“He dated, but mostly he kept to himself. He took Zarah’s breakdown pretty hard.”

“I’m sure he did.”

“We can’t do this alone,” Denton repeats, cutting into his steak.

“Besides making sure Zarah’s safe, there’s nothing more I want to do. There are people who want me dead, and thatincludes Zane. I need to check on Quinn, break Zarah out of that hellhole, and leave King’s Crossing as fast as I can.”

Denton pushes his plate away, rests his elbows on the table, and clasps his hands together. “I can’t let Kagan’s and Lark’s deaths go. They need justice.”

“I don’t know how you think we can be the ones to do that,” I say, dragging a French fry through a puddle of ketchup. “Zane won’t believe anything we say, and at the moment, Zarah’s too out of it to help us. He’ll never think badly of the Blacks, and if we don’t have him on our side, if he’s not going to fight with us, we have nothing.”

He presses his lips together in an unhappy frown knowing I’m right. I gave Zane proof in black and white. That was my mistake. Thinking he’d believe me. I didn’t know about Sergio or the photos. Maybe if I would have listened to Quinn, asked her to show me what in the hell she was talking about, I wouldn’t have been so quick to give away the only evidence I worked so hard to find.

Now my life is in danger, and my best chance is to disappear.

Denton pays our bill, though I offer. I have a little cash, but he waves me off.

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