Page 47 of In the Shadows
She stared at the text. Closer. They were getting closer to the truth. Closer to answers. Closer to the moment when everything she thought she knew about her hometown would collapse.
She wasn't sure she was ready for that.
But ready or not, it was coming.
Delia arrived at noon with sandwiches from the deli on First Street and a look that said she wasn't buying any of Lila's excuses.
"You look terrible."
"Thanks. You look beautiful too."
"I'm serious." Delia set the food on Lila's desk and dropped into the chair across from her. "I've known you since we were six years old. I know when you're hiding something."
"I'm not hiding anything."
"Liar." Delia's voice was matter-of-fact. "You've been weird for weeks. Distracted. Jumpy. And now someone breaks into your office, and you're acting like it's just another Tuesday."
"What do you want me to do? Fall apart?"
"I want you to talk to me." Delia leaned forward. "Whatever's going on—whatever you're dealing with—you don't have to deal with it alone."
Lila looked at her best friend. At the worry in her eyes. At the years of friendship and trust and shared history that sat between them.
"I know," she said. "And I promise, when I can tell you, I will. But right now?—"
"Right now, you need me to trust you."
"Yes."
Delia was quiet for a long moment. Then she sighed and pushed one of the sandwiches toward Lila.
"Fine. But you're eating this entire thing. And you're going to tell me about the security consultant."
"What about him?"
"Don't play dumb. Izzy told me she saw him coming out of your office yesterday. Said he looked at you like—" Delia made a vague gesture. "Like a man who's not just thinking about security."
"Izzy should mind her own business."
"Izzy runs a flower shop on Main Square. Gossip is her business." Delia grinned. "So? Is there something going on?"
Lila thought about Ronan. About the way he'd touched her face in this very office. About the promise he'd made—to find answers, to protect her, to give her the truth when this was over.
"It's complicated."
"It always is." Delia's expression softened. "Just—be careful. After Jason, I don't want to see you get hurt again."
"Ronan isn't Jason."
"No?"
"No." Lila met her friend's eyes. "He's nothing like Jason."
She didn't know how to explain it. Didn't know how to put into words the difference between a man who'd made her feel small and a man who made her feel seen. Between someone who'd wanted her to be less than she was and someone who expected her to be exactly who she was.
"Well," Delia said finally, "at least he's easy on the eyes. If you're going to fall for someone mysterious and possibly dangerous, he might as well be attractive."
Lila laughed. It felt strange—laughing, after everything that had happened this morning. But it also felt necessary. A reminder that even in the middle of chaos, some things stayed the same.
