Page 118 of Cakes for the Grump
“It had gotten better,” Mrs. Milla says. “But then some time passed, and she started them up again slowly. Simple asks. They seemed doable until now.”
Anger and fear and sickening regret for not being able to stop Janice before he got hurt—it’s all swirling inside me. My face falls. “If only I had?—”
“No,” interrupts Mr. Albo. “It’snotyour fault.Wekept you in the dark andwetold you not to pursue any legal action.”
Luke clears his throat. He’s composed, but I read the banked fury in his eyes. “While I understand it’s frightening to go after someone in court, any of you could have gotten seriously injured today. Let me take care of this.”
Ms. Baghdadi pulls her shawl tight over her shoulders. “He’s right. It’s time we stop being afraid. Janice needs to be brought to justice.”
“I’ll go make some calls.” Luke squeezes my hand on his way out.
“She’s planning to rent your room out to another vulnerable person,” Mr. Albo tells me. “I don’t think I could live with myself if we allowed this to happen to someone else.”
I sit carefully on the edge of his bed, my heart clenched at the sight of bandages around his arm. The top of his hand is bruised from where the IV drip is connected.
Luke comes back. He tells us that his lawyers will have results soon. If we can provide written testimonies about Janice’s behavior, it will expedite the process.
When he gets another call on his phone, I’m reminded he’s supposed to be in his own meeting today. After some argument, I tell him I’ll be fine and push him to leave. He finally does.
The nurse comes to inform us Mr. Albo has been upgraded to a private room for the duration of his stay. “The man that was here took care of the bill on his way out.”
Mr. Albo, Ms. Baghdadi, and Mrs. Milla all smile at me. I’m in for an evening of prying questions, but I don’t care. I’m so glad to be here with them. That everyone will be okay.
Later that night, when I go back home, I spend the rest of the evening drafting up a personal testimony of everything I have seen Janice say and do.
There is so much.
Around midnight, I send it to Luke’s email so he can forward it to the lawyers.
THIRTY-ONE
I don’t knowwhat the protocol is between us, but that night, I sleep in his bed. I could justify it’s bigger and better, but my own bed in his penthouse is equally grand. Really, it’s because the sheets and pillows smell like Luke. It…soothes me. Especially since I’m having a hard time forgetting Mr. Albo with his hurt arm, or the shadows smudged under Mrs. Milla and Ms. Baghdadi’s eyes.
Guilt coils in my belly. If I had still been living with them, I would have never let him climb that ladder. That’s what I keep thinking about until I finally fall asleep, alone.
Early morning, Luke gets back. I wonder if I shouldn’t be in his bed, but then I feel him tucking the covers so carefully around me.
“Rita. Sweet hell.”
My eyes are still closed. I wait until he’s in bed before turning to face him.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. “Why do you look so murderous?”
He reaches down and pulls my hands into his. “Janice. You didn’t tell me all of it.”
Oh. He’s read the testimony.
“I was dealing with it. In my own way.”
“She should have paid for it already.” His voice is barely under control, the syllables suppressed.
I inch closer and gently curl my thigh between his. “Stop looking like that. Is that why you didn’t come home last night? You were upset?”
He doesn’t let go of my hands, as if he can’t lose sight of them. “The courts will sack her. She’ll have to pay fines. It won’t be enough.”
The way he says it, my body goes still. “Don’t go after her personally.”
“I promise not to go after her personally.”
