Page 106 of Hearts of Stone

People really needed to stop asking me that. I wasn’t the one hurting. Daniel… I blinked and surreptitiously wiped away my tears before forcing myself to smile.

“I’m fine. I’m…”

This was where I would give him some socially acceptable answer so that any concerns he might have would be brushed under the carpet. But my brain wasn’t functioning and I couldn’t come up with anything. I swallowed, tried to think, furiously, but just felt a growing sense of hysteria as a small frown formed on his brow. Then I spied a familiar-looking round white band-aid on his arm.

“What’re you at the hospital for?” I asked.

“This?” He held up his arm. “Turns out I’ve got a rare genetic disorder. A lot of witch families are subject to them.” He smiled wryly. “Too much interbreeding.” The smile faded. “It might be something you want to check out yourself. If you ever decide to have children…”

That pregnant pause, I knew exactly what that meant, but I just didn’t have the spoons to deal with that right now.

“Right. So—”

“Can I get you a coffee?” he offered. “I was just about to grab one.” I should’ve said no. Sitting down and drinking coffee with this man was exactly what I didn’t need to do, but as my mouth opened to say no, he smiled. “C’mon, it’s just coffee.” He threw his hands up in surrender. “No ulterior motives, I promise.”

“Sure,” I said, my need to be polite providing a response, even if it wasn’t the right one. “That’d be lovely.”

So that washow I came to be sitting at a table with a flat white in front of me, stirring a sugar through it with way too much care. Adam sat down opposite me and then placed two chocolate muffins in the space between us.

“I ordered one, but they ended up giving me two,” he said, with a wink. “You’re gonna have to help me out.” Or he could’ve just reported the mistake to the server, I thought, but I forced myself to smile. “I guess I figured not much in the world isn’t better with a chocolate muffin.”

“Some things aren’t,” I said, peeling off a piece of the muffin top and munching it so my mouth was too full to say much more. But lo and behold, after a few sips of coffee and a few more bites of muffin, I did let out a long, shuddering breath.

“Those shoulders are starting to come down from around your ears,” he noted. “Good. Now…” He leaned forward, long fingers tapping on the table. “You don’t have to say anything, not if you don’t want to, but… if you need a sympathetic ear, I’m here for you, Jade.”

He was trying to be helpful, but that was problematic in itself. We didn’t have the kind of relationship where we talked about stuff like this. Instead, his words forced me to rememberwhat he’d put on the table the last time we’d talked, so I didn’t know if he was offering to listen to get closer to me or… He smiled ruefully, sliding his hand towards me then stopping himself from touching me. Instead he drew careless circles on the glossy tabletop, scattering the grains of sugar left there.

“It’s OK. I’ve got no ulterior motives. Did I sit at the restaurant for a while last night, hoping you’d come? Sure. But when you didn’t, I got the message.” Those blue eyes contained pain, but also empathy as they met mine. “I admit I’m disappointed, but if pursuing something romantic isn’t on the table, then… Let’s be friends.” He offered me his hand then. “If only because we’re the only Whiteleys left, and having a friendly face at one of the witch held events would be a very nice change.”

My fingers twitched, seemingly not content to stay where they were, around my mug. I felt like I shouldn’t take up his offer; that I should thank him politely for the coffee, promise to pay him back and then return to Daniel’s side, but… A breathtakingly selfish side of me just wanted this. A warm hand holding mine, an attentive audience, but someone that wasn’t just as torn up as I was by what we’d seen. Someone outside of all of that, just a bystander to other parts of my life.

“Yeah,” I said, finally, smiling for real now. “I’d like that too. So, I’m here because a friend of mine got hurt.” His brows creased as his grip on my hand tightened. “Badly hurt. And I think it's my fault.”

“That can’t be true,” he said, leaning forward. “I admit I don’t know you that well, but from what I’ve seen…” His eyes met mine. “You seem like someone very focussed on ensuring those around you are happy. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

Chapter 58

Jade

I’d been doing so much talking. It was all I seemed to be doing. As I started to tell the story again, I realised talk wouldn’t help. My words died in my throat and I shot Adam a sidelong look before I shook my head. I had money, influence, so I needed to use some of that to protect Daniel. A private security guard at his door, an investigator to see if they could find anything the police missed.

A trip to Agnes to see if she or another practitioner could unveil who Mr Big was and bring him to justice.

I would happily use my entire fortune to bring that prick to his knees.

I blinked, coming back to the cafe, hearing the sound of the coffee machine and the clink of crockery. I got to my feet, wanting to talk to Mellors and put measures in place as soon as I could.

“I’m sorry. I need to get back.”

“Let me walk with you.” A refusal was on my lips, but Adam smiled as he continued, “Just until you’re back with your support group. Harry and Mellors are still here?”

“I think so,” I said.

“I just want to make sure there’s someone there for you when you get back to your Daniel.” He looked down into my eyes. “Friends do things like that, right?”

“Right.”

Honestly, I was beyond arguing about this stuff. I had walked out without a thought, needing to get away. But having achieved that, I felt like there was a line reeling me back in. What if Daniel’s condition had worsened? What if he woke up without me there? But as I set off to get back to him, I realised I hadn’t taken note of what ward he was in. I looked around blankly until Adam provided some direction.

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