Step Darkly Page 13

  “Okay, look. You know I’m all for being honest with each other. You both have a lot of things to talk about, but I don’t think this is one of them right now. I think -”

  I cut Noah off. “How can I not say something? Kyle is going to take all of her money. If he -” Now it’s Noah’s turn to cut me off as he lowers his voice, telling me to match his tone or Emilia may hear us arguing.

  “What money?” Noah asks and it stops me cold as Emilia’s situation sinks in.

  Emilia has no money, not right now anyway. Kyle is hanging around waiting for an outcome before he decides what to do.

  “You’re right.”

  “If we share more of Emilia’s dire situation, or offer him an out, maybe everything will resolve itself. If you’re asking for my opinion, I say we wait until after the funeral. Emilia is extremely vulnerable right now. You said you gave her rules. She sleeps in her own bed each night from now on no matter what until we can deal with Kyle. He gives her the support she needs from ‘an old friend’ to get through the day, then we make our move on our terms. Can you do that?” He asks and, for a moment, I’m not sure.

  Flashing back to my high school years and I couldn’t be bothered to spend any of my time on Emilia. I let her down until she stopped relying on me at all and look where it got her. I let her down.

  I won’t let her down again.

  “I can do that.”

  “Good. One last thing. Try not to be alone with the guy. He has a habit of pushing your buttons and I wouldn’t want him to focus on your money instead.” Noah says as he stands and I rise and follow him to the door.

  I open the office door just in time to see a shocked Emilia sitting at Faye’s desk as Tawny hovers over her announcing she is my fiancé and I glance over to see the ‘you’re fucked’ look on Noah’s face as he quickly leaves me in my own hell.

  “Miss Davenfield. It’s a pleasure to see you. I didn’t think we had an appointment today.” I say.

  In all honesty, I used to gloss over all of her advances in front of Faye. It was no one’s business who was or was not mine. But things are different now that it is Emilia sitting in front of us.

  I care very much that she know this is a lie.

  “Oh, I just wanted to stop in and say hello. I heard about Adam, Darling, and I just wanted to offer my condolences in person. I ran into your mother and she told me you weren’t doing well with the news.” She says feigning altruism and I catch Emilia rolling her eyes off to the side.

  “I’m sorry, I should introduce you.” I start and Tawny cuts me off.

  “Oh, it’s not necessary.” She says as though she has no need to learn the names of those she deems less than her.

  “Oh, I think it is. Tawny, this is Emilia Connor, Adam’s daughter. Emilia, Tawny’s father owns the new arena we recently acquired for them.” I answer and I watch as two distinct personalities take over.

  Emilia graciously stands, setting aside any impressions she just made and extends her hand to welcome Tawny who she currently thinks is my fiancé. I can’t help being proud of her for holding herself together. She is her father’s daughter.

  Then there’s Tawny, who technically doesn’t own anything and truly does live off of her father’s money, staring down her nose, clearly threatened by my temporary secretary.

  The two shake hands and I’m ready to cut this surprise visit short.

  The truth is, I always forgot about Tawny as soon as she left my sight, but now I need to draw some lines.

  “I think I interrupted something when I came in. You were saying something?” I direct my question to Tawny but I know she won’t answer so I look at Emilia who helps me out.

  “Miss Davenfield was just telling me she’s your fiancé.” She speaks and I catch a hint of sadness in her tone which sets me on fire.

  “Tawny, is this true?” I ask, pretending to be more shocked than I am.

  “I… well, you know it’s just a matter of time really. I mean…” She begins to fall over her words and I think Emilia gets the point so I change the subject. My day is becoming too long.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Davenfield. I have a conference call about to start. Can I ask the reason for your visit today?” I ask curtly.

  “Well, your mother reminded me about your employee dinner at the end of the month and she said you were going to ask me. You know, as a representative from my family’s company.” She says and I can’t believe the nerve of my mother.

  I’m just about to say no when I hear Emilia clear her throat, drawing my attention to a file she has open on the desk.

  “I just added Kyle as my plus one on the seating arrangements. Do you want me to change yours as well?” Emilia asks.

  The question stuns me for a moment and it’s just the amount of time Tawny needs to wedge herself in as my date.

  “Sure, put me down. I’m looking forward to it. Joshua, I’ll be in touch.” Tawny spins on her heels quickly, no doubt trying to make a quick exit before I come to my senses.

  As my momentary fog clears, I look over to see Emilia erasing the +1 on the chart and adding in that crazy woman’s name and I’m reminded all over again how much worse this is all going to get before it gets better.

  I know another thing Emilia doesn’t know and this secret sucks. Stripping away all of our history and I see a lost girl sitting in front of me who has innocently chosen to trust a user and I want to make everything better for her but I know when she looks back at me, she doesn’t see her hero, at least not yet.

  “Emilia, I’m giving you the rest of the week off.” I begin and I notice her straighten up in disagreement. “Thank you for coming in this week. I know how difficult this is for you. You will attend your school in the morning tomorrow and I’ve already advised your instructors you have a funeral and will be gone on Thursday and Friday. They will be giving you your work for the week at the end of classes tomorrow. I heard from Sylvia, your boxes from your dorm arrived. You can spend some time settling yourself and we have the dinner tomorrow night. I’ll be available if you need anything and I’ll see you at home for dinner.”

  Suddenly I feel tired. All of this news about Kyle has worn me out and the effort I’m using to not hurt him is draining me. Top that off with Tawny and I’m done. I need to be in this office alone tomorrow. I need to compose myself before I invite Kyle back into our home for dinner and I need to work out a few other details.

  She stares at me for a moment before nodding and I see her exhaustion as well. Jumping into a new life without taking some time to mourn the loss of her father and separate herself from her old school is taking its toll on her.

  “Thank you, Joshua. I appreciate you trying to help.” She answers and I feel guilty.

  Am I trying to help her or am I trying to help myself?

  Or are they both the same thing?

  29

  Emilia

  “I love that blue-gray color on you Ems. It highlights your eyes. Like, I mean, I know you have blue eyes, but this dress draws them out.” Rosalyn says as she rifles through my jewelry box for a necklace to borrow.

  This reminds me of our time in high school. Rosalyn and I shared so many pieces of clothes and jewelry that I’m sure she still has a bunch of my things in her closet.

  “Here’s my old necklace. I forgot about it.” Rosalyn laughs as she holds it up between us.

  “It would go great with your dress. Want me to help you put it on?” I answer as she hands me the dainty silver thread and spins around, lifting her curly auburn hair out of the way for me.

  As I release the clasp, Rosalyn turns back to me and takes a deep breath before speaking.

  “Are you okay?” She asks and I suddenly feel tired.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. I barely got through class today. Everything is starting to sink in. I feel like I’ve been running around for a solid week and I haven’t had time to really think about tomorrow. Sometimes it feels like he’s not gone. But he is, and tomorrow is coming and I need to
deal with it. I’m thankful Joshua told me to stay home for the rest of this week and I don’t know what I would do without you or Kyle here.” I answer as she pulls me into a big hug before we both start crying.

  The sound of the front doorbell, catches our attention and we break apart, taking deep breaths to compose ourselves.

  “This should be the guy you’ve told me all about. I saw Noah and Joshua downstairs earlier when I came in.” She says with a smile and I check my hair in the mirror before ushering Rosalyn out of my room and down the hall to the stairs.

  As we hit the top of the stairs, Kyle smiles up at us. A wave of sadness hits me with each step I take down the staircase. This is the beginning of my public mourning. The next couple of days will be filled with the stuff you do when you lose someone you love.

  I still remember my mother’s funeral. It felt like my tears flowed forever. There was a dinner, a viewing, a funeral, a luncheon and an endless sea of I’m so sorry and my condolences. I don’t want to do this again, but I have no choice.

  As the memory of my mother’s passing hits me, I feel my throat begin to close and I look to the ground and cough to hide my sob. Rosalyn jumps around from my side and takes over the conversation and I’m happy I have her with me again this time. She stayed by my side for all of my mom’s funeral and she knows me well.

  “You must be Kyle. Emilia has told me all about you. I’m Rosalyn.” She extends her hand out to shake and he reaches over to return her gesture.

  “I am, I hope it’s all good things.” He smiles at her and continues, “Emi has told me a lot about you, too.” He answers as he withdraws his hand from hers and circles my waist, pulling me into him for a kiss as the door to the dining room opens.

  As we break away, I feel eyes weighing heavy on the two of us. Rosalyn has a sly smile on her face and Joshua and Noah watch quietly from across the room as I remember, I’m missing an introduction.

  “I’m sorry. Noah, this is Kyle. Noah is a close friend of the family.” I stop short as I suddenly feel exposed in front of everyone. I haven’t enjoyed being the center of attention for a long time now.

  Noah takes my cue and walks across to extend his own hand out and the two shake. I keep my eyes focused on the two speaking in front of me, but a nagging voice at the back of my mind tells me Joshua is still looking at me and I’m too nervous to look over at him.

  “Mr. Darkly, I have all six place settings ready. Would you like to wait for our last guest or shall I seat you now?” A woman announces from the doorway and I swivel my head at our group counting our number to myself. There are five of us.

  “We’ll sit and have our drinks. Our last guest will be along shortly.”I watch Joshua as he answers and my stomach knots at the thought of who it could be. I’m not sure I can handle his mother or his friend Tawny tonight.

  Without hesitating, Joshua turns to meet my eyes and continues speaking to our group, “I’ve asked Sylvia to join us as our guest.” My heart flutters at his announcement. I’m so happy he thought of including her. She is our family, too. “Ladies, after you.” Joshua steps back and allows Rosie and I to follow our hostess and the boys fall in behind us as we are each seated in our spots.

  I notice again, both heads of the table are empty. Six of the eight seats at the dining room have place settings, three on each side. As I sit in the middle of my side, I notice Rosie is seated to my left and Sylvia will be seated to my right.

  I know either Joshua or Sylvia submitted the seating arrangements. Kyle sits down across from me and Noah takes his seat across from Rosie leaving Joshua sitting opposite from Sylvia. As I watch the two men exchange glances at each other, I’m struck by the thought that it was Joshua who had requested the arrangement and Kyle looks a little uncomfortable sitting between the two friends.

  “I hope I’m not late.” Sylvia enters from the kitchen area as she speaks and the men stand. “I had to talk to Chef for a moment.” As Joshua silently chastises her for being on the clock, she cuts him off with a stern smile. “Oh, don’t give me that look.”

  Everyone around the table chuckles at Joshua’s reprimanding as Sylvia circles the room and I stand to give her a hug before we all sit down.

  The conversation flows between everyone smoothly except for Joshua and Kyle. During the three courses, neither has looked or talked with the other and I think I’m the only one who’s noticed.

  As dessert is served, Kyle and Rosalyn start talking about our neighborhood as the rest of us listen in. Rosalyn is offering information on the best places to rent when he moves out here that will place him close enough to me and his new school.

  With each sentence Kyle speaks, I notice Joshua and Noah exchange glances, suddenly making me feel uncomfortable and I’m not sure why.

  As Kyle continues sharing his plans to move here, I’m struck that neither Joshua nor Noah are offering him any advice on real estate since this is the business they are in. Instead, they both listen from either side of him as he continues to share his plans.

  At a brief lull in the conversation, Joshua lets out a long sigh and he looks as though something is weighing on his mind and I’m thankful for him taking on most of the funeral arrangements for my father. He looks extremely tired.

  Reaching for his glass, he takes his last gulp of his drink and slides his cup back into its place, looking at Kyle for the first time since we started eating.

  “You know, I think there are some good properties over on Gershaw Avenue that might be a good fit for you.” He offers and I search my memory for the street name.

  “Gershaw Avenue?” I question and I notice Kyle look confused between us as I continue, “I don’t remember that street. Is it new?” I look around the table and Rosie shrugs at me. I don’t think she’s aware of it either.

  “It’s part of a new district near the university Kyle said he was attending.” Joshua answers and Kyle nods.

  “I’ll have to check that out.” Kyle says quietly.

  “You should check out Gershaw Avenue. It’s worth looking into.” Joshua answers confidently as he leans back in his seat and changes the subject. “Anyway. It’s getting rather late and Emilia told me you’ve agreed to honour her father by being a pallbearer tomorrow. We have a few things to go over. Why don’t the three of us go to the office and leave the ladies here to catch up over a final drink of their own?” Joshua motions to himself, Kyle and Noah and the three of them stand to leave together and I smile at Kyle as he walks out behind the other two.

  A little voice at the back of my mind nags at me to ask to go along, but Noah is with them and Rosie has already grabbed the bottle of wine off the cabinet and is refilling our glasses as she takes Kyle’s old seat across the two of us so I decide to stay.

  They’re just making arrangements for tomorrow.

  What’s the worst that can happen?

  30

  Joshua

  Nodding to the women, I turn to lead the guys out of the dining room and I catch the hesitant look on Noah’s face.

  I know I agreed to wait but I can’t sit here and allow Kyle to continue to make plans to deceive Emilia. This is a bad time for her, but the alternative is to let her be preyed upon and lied to.

  The walk to the office is quiet. I’m sure Kyle is using the time to try to work out a plan and he’s wondering just how much I know and if Noah is aware as well.

  “Anyone want a drink?” I ask casually as I walk over to the liquor cabinet and pour myself a brandy, then continue “Help yourselves.”

  As Noah gestures for Kyle to go first, he shoots me a glare behind his back and I offer him a shrug.

  Kyle turns his back to me to pour himself a brandy and I take the time to turn on the recording device in the room. Adam showed me how it worked years ago. He used to record his conference calls and some meetings so he could go back over any information he was unsure of.

  The recording device is in his bedroom so there’s no chance Kyle will see it.

  “Have a seat
… Kyle.” I offer, pointing to a chair in front of the desk. He pauses a moment to consider his situation, then takes the seat I was pointing at and Noah pulls up a chair near enough to be a part of the conversation.

  If I was being honest with myself, I knew I would be doing this tonight. I can gloss it over and say the thought just came to me, but it didn’t. It’s been festering since yesterday. Since the moment I found out Kyle was a lie. In that moment, I knew I’d be calling him out tonight.

  I’m surprised I held out this long. Last night after work, I drove around the block of the hotel where he was staying at least ten times before I decided against going in. The only thing holding me back was knowing it would probably be a longer conversation and Emilia was in the house by herself and I wanted to be near her.

  “Emilia tells me you’re happy to support her by being a pallbearer tomorrow.” I start, then pause, taking a long sip of my drink before I continue, “Adam… and Emilia are very important to us. Adam was a good man who deserves to be honored and put to rest by those who love him and Emilia is no different. She deserves to be surrounded by those who want what’s best for her.”

  Kyle looks between Noah and I while I speak, still unsure of the room. This can go one of two ways for him. If Noah doesn’t know, he can play along with what I’m saying and take the warning that will be coming next. If Noah does know, then his con is up. I almost see his wheels turning in his mind as he drinks down a couple of gulps of his drink.

  Then, going all in, he gives up and just asks. “Does he know?” Kyle says as he tilts his head in Noah’s direction.

  I pause a moment longer. I’m not giving him the satisfaction of a quick answer. Now that he’s seated before me, I take a good long look at him and I see a different person than I did even a few minutes ago.

  There’s no competition. For there to be a challenge, he needs to want the same thing I do. He wants money. I want Emilia.