Page 40 of A First Sight

Perhaps finding a place to live or getting my stuff from the house should have been at the top of that list, but it wasn’t. No, first on my mind was my job.

A note on the kitchen counter told me I just missed Drake and should help myself to anything I needed.

I assumed he went in early to make up for his missed time. He mentioned he was a hedge fund manager at his uncle’s company. They usually work sixty-hour weeks or more.

That made his sacrifice of time yesterday even more meaningful to me.

I would not dwell on what happened last night. I wasn’t sure if I should be mortified by my behavior or touched by his, but I didn’t have the emotional energy at the moment to analyze everything that happened. Drake would understand.

Work took priority. I did not know what would happen there, but I had a bigger problem. I no longer had an instrument of my own.

Pain ripped through me as the image of my mother’s violin flashed in front of my eyes. Of all the things Dale had done to me over the years, this hurt the most. How he did it had only made it worse. It hadn’t been in a fit of rage. What he’d done was deliberate and calculated. He put it back into the case for me to eventually find.

If Dale hadn’t thrown my case in a rage, I wouldn’t have opened it until we were inside, preparing for rehearsal. I would have been in front of my friends and colleagues, many of whom knew the history of the violin.

Not only would it be emotionally devastating, but I’d be in a position where no response would be a good one.

“Fucking bastard,” I whispered.

I tensed, waiting for that sharp command, asking me to repeat myself, demanding to know what I said. Except it wasn’t coming because Dale wasn’t here.

“Fucking bastard!” I practically shouted it this time, the release shattering something inside me. A good kind of shattering. Like how it felt when a joint popped after stretching.

Freeing.

Wow.

* * *

I smiledat the Uber driver as we reached David Geffen Hall in good time. Stepping out into the chilly February morning, I shivered and pulled my coat tighter around me.

As I passed the spot whereithappened yesterday, my heart pounded, and my mouth went dry. I wanted to run, get to the doors as quickly as possible, and not have to look, but I forced my pace to stay the same.

Finally reaching the building, I smiled at the security guard but didn’t stop to talk.

Nehemiah was already in the main hall, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to go look for him.

“Good morning,” I said as I entered.

The surprise on his face mixed with relief and joy at seeing me. “Maggie!”

When I got close enough for him to see the bruising and swelling on the side of my face, his dark eyes flashed with anger. I put on make-up this morning, but despite how skilled I was at covering marks, I couldn’t wholly disguise my injuries.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you today.” He came up to meet me halfway.

“I know Mr. Mac Gilleain spoke with you yesterday, but I felt like I needed to come to talk to you myself.” My chest tightened. “I don’t know how many details are out there, but what happened yesterday morning is going to have repercussions here.”

“Unfortunately, that’s true.” Nehemiah’s pleasure at seeing me vanished. “And I believe I might know something you haven’t heard yet.”

My stomach dropped. “What’s that?”

“I received a call at home last night from a lawyer stating he represented Dale. He’s filed a police report saying that you assaulted him and any injuries you sustained were him defending himself.”

I was going to throw up.

“He—he said I…” I couldn’t even bring myself to say it. The idea was ludicrous.

“I’ve been…askedto have both of you take the rest of the week off.” Nehemiah looked as if every word left a foul taste in his mouth. “Legal is looking into what we’re required to do and what our options are.”

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