Page 100 of Nefarious
“Half right.”
“Well, Kitty did have some grievances to air she’d apparently been holding onto.”
Dane gritted his teeth, wondering when this slow death by Festivus would end.
“She said you always thought you were smarter than everybody in the room and more than likely had broken multiple laws before draining the company of capital on a severance package you shouldn’t have taken.”
“Wow. And this is how you planned to convince me I’m just a saint in wolf’s clothing?” All this reminiscing over Dane’s treachery was beginning to tire him out. He’d been flagellating himself just fine on his own. He started to stand. “I think I’ve heard enough.”
“No. You haven’t quite.” Her smile melted. “I asked her if there was anything truly good she could recall, and she told me about the things you did for people that nobody ever talked about. Is it true you paid off the loan on some food truck outside R&M headquarters?”
Had he? “I don’t remember that.”
“Kitty said the guys who owned it swore it was true. They said, you’d struck up a conversation with them every time you’d stopped for their chicken shawarma.”
“Oh, the chicken shawarma. My guilty pleasure. Seven bucks for street meat heaven.” Maybe he could pay for those guys to move to Key West.
“Well, one day they apparently told you they were closing up because they’d missed a few payments on their truck. When they got home that night, the bank told them the loan had been paid in full.”
“So how do they figure it was me?”
“The bank told them.”
“Oh.” He’d probably had his accountant do it. “I have no recollection of this.”
“Because you’re naturally charitable, Dane.”
He snorted. “Hardly. If I paid off that truck, it was pure selfishness. If I don’t remember it, it’s because money isn’t charity to me. That would have been a financial investment into my own happiness. I wasn’t buying that truck for them; I was buying it for me.”
“Okay. Then tell me about Rosamund?”
“What?”
“If money’s so easy, why did you personally take the time to keep her company? Bring her food? Check up on her and make sure she was secure?”
Dane swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Morty Becker isn’t as terrible an investigator as you thought he was. You do realize he worked for me, not you.”
“Leave Rose out of this.” He snatched the letter he’d been writing and stood. “It’s been fun catching up. Maybe I’ll run into you again sometime. Where are you staying?”
She pushed her chair back. “I thought I might stay with you.”
Vertigo caused the ground to tilt, and he grasped the table for support. “You can’t, Noelle.”
She came around the table and laid a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. “Why not? I’m here.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
“Because you don’t want me?” She asked it like she knew the answer already, but he wouldn’t make it that easy for her.
“I’m not fit for anyone. I need time.”
“You’ve had time. Tell me you don’t want me, Dane. Tell me the truth.”
The truth. Why had he made that vow? He evaded with a different truth. “I’m a broken man, Noelle. I’m not the man you thought I was.”
“I know who you are, Dane. Tell me you don’t want me, say you never loved me, and I’ll leave here.”
