Page 91 of Mile High Ex's Dad
Same blonde hair. Same composed face. Same expensive kind of beauty that looks effortless until you realize how much effort must go into it. She’s coming out of one of the smaller side rooms with a shawl over one arm, and the second her eyes meet mine, I see it.
Recognition.
And just as quickly, retreat.
She starts to move past me like she did this morning, like I’m some stranger who happens to be in her way.
Not this time.
“Stop.”
She keeps walking.
I step in front of her.
She lets out a quiet breath, annoyed now, and lifts her eyes to mine. “You need to let this go.”
“No,” I say. “I really don’t.”
The hallway is empty around us. Late enough that most of the house has finally gone still, the lamps low, the carpets swallowing sound. She glances once toward the staircase as if considering whether she can still brush me off and leave.
I don’t give her the chance.
“You were on the plane,” I say. “You saw me come out of that cabin, and you told me to stay away from him. Then this morning you pretended you’d never seen me before.”
Her mouth tightens. “Lower your voice.”
“It was you.”
She looks at me for a long second, like she’s deciding whether denying it again would be worth the effort. Then, finally, she says, “Yes.”
The answer should feel like a victory, but it doesn’t. It just makes everything harder.
I fold my arms. “Who are you?”
“That’s not the question you really want answered.”
“Try me.”
She gives me a tired look. “Just know I meant what I said.”
My pulse picks up. “About Viktor being dangerous?”
Her eyes flick over my face, measuring what I know, what I suspect, what I’ve already chosen not to walk away from.
“Yes,” she says. “About him not being safe.”
The words hit differently now that I know she’s real. Not some after-the-fact invention. Not a dream, not paranoia. A woman who knew exactly who he was before I did.
“Why did you warn me?” I ask.
A shadow passes over her expression. “I don’t explain myself to you.”
“Did you have anything to do with what happened this morning?”
That catches her off guard. “What?”
“The champagne.”
