Page 16 of A Life Imagined

Font Size:

“That’s because I don’t.”

Elise snorted and raised her glass to take a sip.When she put it back down, she turned to him, suddenly serious.“The worst thing is, I know he’s crazy and controlling and a complete asshole, but every time I see him, it just serves as a reminder that there’s no one else, you know?”

Mathias recognized the pained glint in her eye.It was strange to have grown so accustomed to the loneliness that only when it was gone could he see how much space it had taken up.

“What does that mean?Is that the best I get?”She exhaled through her lips.“At least he cares, right?”

“I’m sure that’s what everyone will think when you turn up dead in a dumpster.”

Elise glowered at him.

“Have some self-respect,” Mathias admonished her.“The man clearly has a screw loose.Where does he live?I’ll talk some sense into him.”

“No, no.”She shook her head adamantly, and her cheeks reddened.“I think I got through to him today.I made it very clear.He said he’s not going to bother me again.”

Mathias eyed her skeptically and took another swig from his glass.

Elise fiddled with the coaster under her drink.“Thank you, by the way.For before.”Her eyes darted down to the counter.“I know you did that for me.I didn’t want to assume because I figured you’re not… well…” She stopped, appearing to grasp for the right words.“You’re a very private person.”

Mathias almost laughed.She was more perceptive than his own mother.“I don’t give a shit what you assumed.”

She glanced at him.“Rayan…”

“What about him?”

“You’re lucky.”

That’s new.He’d always thought himself skilled and determined, but never lucky.Everything he’d gained in his life, he’d worked hard to get, except for the one thing that meant more than the rest of it.That had fallen clean into his lap—a credit to Rayan’s formidable tenacity.Perhaps the woman had something there.

“I’ve had enough bad to know a good one when I see it,” she said quietly.

“What do you want from me, Dumont?You’re not going to get advice or sympathy.As far as I’m concerned, the less your personal life encroaches on mine, the better.”

She smiled and leaned over to clink her glass against his.“Amen, Chief.Just listening’s fine.”

“If I see that smug fuck again, I’m all done listening.”

They downed the last of their drinks, and Elise flagged down the bartender for another refill, but Mathias put a hand over her glass and signaled for the bill.

“Please,” she protested.“I’ll take care of it.”

“Don’t insult me.”He dropped a handful of notes on the bar, and she got down from her stool, wobbling slightly.

She must have registered his misgivings because she reached out to pat his arm.“I’m fine, really.”Then she lurched unsteadily toward the hotel elevator.

Mathias left the restaurant and walked to the superette at the end of the street.He bought his cigarettes but no longer felt like smoking.Instead, he returned to the hotel room, undressed, and slipped beneath the covers beside Rayan’s sleeping form.

The man roused slightly and stiffened.“Where are we?”he murmured.

Mathias wrapped an arm around his waist and buried his face into Rayan’s neck.“The hotel.Go back to sleep.”

Rayan let out a breath, and his body once again went slack.In moments like these, the words rose fully formed in Mathias’s mind, and still, even with Rayan asleep, they failed to make it past the threshold of his lips.But they lingered on his tongue, evoking a tenderness that was both fierce and sweet.

When Elise arrived at the hotel restaurant for breakfast, she looked decidedly less perky.There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and her hair was pulled back from her face in a simple ponytail.

“May I?”she asked, placing a hand on the chair across from Rayan.

“Of course.”