Page 134 of Theirs to Ruin

“She even had a project going when she died. Do you want to see it?"

I nodded. Maybe seeing it would help me remember more of the good times we’d had together. Plus, I got the feeling Kage wanted me to see the reminder that his sister had a softer and more creative side than she’d shown most people. "Yes, I want to see it."

He pushed off the bed, giving me a great view of his naked body, and headed to his closet. He searched through a box, then held up the beginnings of a blanket. The woven piece was a mix of dark grays and blues. Setting it down gently beside me, he settled back on the bed, watching closely for my reaction.

I brushed my hand over the soft fabric, not sure what it was made of. It wasn’t the usual wool blend Ava had been fond of. And the colors weren’t Ava’s normal color palette. She was girly, and these colors were masculine.

A gift?

“Kage, what if she was making this for a guy she was seeing?”

He frowned. “Sure, that’s possible.”

I picked up the ball of yarn attached to the blanket and knitting needles. The yarn label was still glaringly new. The yarn was made of a cotton and silk blend with a hefty price tag. The label indicated it was from the same Manhattan boutique Ava had taken me to before when she was picking up yarn.

I reached for my phone on the nightstand and brought up the website for the boutique. “What if she took the guy to the store to have him pick out the colors? Granted, she might have wantedto surprise him, but it’s worth a shot. You could go and ask if anyone remembers seeing her with anyone recently.”

“It’s definitely worth a shot,” he said. He stared at the blanket, his expression neutral at first. Then I saw the moment it filled with determination and hope. He looked up at me. “Will you go with me?”

Chapter 56

Camille

After our classes, Kage and I headed to the city. The engine of the Bugatti purred, weaving us through the bustling streets of Manhattan. The city was alive, its pulse vibrant and fast-paced compared to the slower vibe of our campus. Skyscrapers towered above us, their glass surfaces reflecting back snippets of our journey into the city's heart.

When we parked near The Yarn Basket, I clutched Ava’s blanket a little tighter before we headed inside. The cozy shop was lined with shelves stocked full of yarn in every color imaginable. On the ceiling, yarn stretched from each corner of the room and was woven together to form a massive dream catcher. I wondered if it held any of Ava’s secrets. The answers seemed so close… like all I had to do was stretch onto my tiptoes to reach them…

A woman with graying hair and kind eyes approached us. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, hi. We think a friend of ours bought this yarn here.” I held up the blanket. “Her name was Ava.”

Recognition dawned on the woman’s face. “Oh, Ava! Yes, she was here last month. She mentioned she was knitting that for someone special. Someone from the University.”

“Did she mention who?” Kage asked.

The woman thought for a moment, drumming her fingers on a plush high-backed chair draped with a half-finished yarn blanket, much like the one Ava had been working on. “I believe she said it was for her boyfriend. A man who knew good quality when he saw it. She seemed quite taken with him.”

“So she didn’t tell you his name? Anything else about him?” Kage’s tone was clipped and impatient, and I gently laid a hand on his arm. I turned to the woman, who looked put out by Kage’s behavior.

“This is Ava’s brother. Ava died recently. We were hoping to get the blanket to the person it was meant for.”

The woman’s face filled with dismay. “Oh no! That’s horrible.” She looked at Kage. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

He clenched his jaw but managed to say, “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry I don’t know more than what I’ve told you, but I’ll ask Monica when she gets in. She was here that day, too. Maybe Ava said something to her.”

After thanking the woman and giving her my phone number, I took Kage’s hand and tugged him out onto the sidewalk.

He ran his hand through his hair. “Damn it. She said someone from CU. Not necessarily a student. What about faculty? Did she ever mention a crush on a teacher?”

"She talked about Professor Mayfield a lot during our freshman year.”

“What about Dante?”

It felt his question like a punch in the gut. Defensiveness for Dante up inside me. “No, Dante wouldn’t?—”

“Wouldn’t what, Camille?” Kage interrupted, his voice low and careful. “You think you know him because you’ve seen a certain side of him?”

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