Page 11 of Unraveling Fate

Canon’s eyebrows drew together. “When are you leaving?”

“I need to have the money and my plane ticket by the end of September.”$4700 in thirty days.She straightened her shoulders to fight back the panic. “Which I will.”

He didn’t respond. His frown deepened, and they rode in silence for a few miles. Cadenza fidgeted, worried she’d shared too much, but then he spoke.

“Your mom sounds really supportive of you. If she got you that part, you must be pretty close?”

Cadenza sucked in a breath. After this evening, the last thing she wanted to talk about was her mother. But Canon didn’t know that; it wasn’t his fault. She flipped the question instead of answering.

“I didn’t get to meet any of your family tonight. Were they there? They must be excited for you.”

He shrugged. “My mom lives down in San Diego now, so it’s a bit of a drive. And my dad died when I was thirteen.”

She looked at him, her heart clenching in empathetic memory. “I’m sorry. I lost mine when I was twelve.”

He just nodded, but she understood. There wasn’t much to say that helped.

“So, why do you want to go into politics so badly? And don’t say to serve the people.” She rolled her eyes.

“I guess I’m like you,” he said, his tone light again. “I don’t want to be anonymous.”

Midnight stars glinted overheadwhen they pulled up in front of her garage. Their song hovered in the back of Cadenza’s mind as she climbed out of Canon’s car. She breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever had happened with the music at the patio, so far it hadn’t happened again.

Canon cut the engine and walked her to the door. “Thanks again for coming with me tonight.”

“No problem.” She keyed in the door code and turned back to wave. “Goodnight, Canon.”

“Goodnight.” He bent down and kissed her cheek.

Startled, she didn’t say anything until he’d driven down to Drostan’s cottage.

“Moxie,” she muttered. But a small smile snuck onto her face.

The Ferrari gleamed in the garage light, and she leaned against it. “What do you think? A few dates with Canon just for fun before I go to Italy?”

The Berlinetta was silent.

“Yeah, you’re right. Probably not a good idea.” She pushed away the car and shut the garage door. “We’ll just close up shop, take a shower and go to bed, eh, bello?”

She slipped her heels off and carried them up the stairs to her apartment. The steam in the shower helped wash the evening out of her hair, but restlessness drove her to the balcony instead of to bed. Outside, a breeze sang against her skin, all dark-night, August heat and warm cedar trees. She leaned against the balcony railing, watching the half-moon turn the windshields in the sales lot into dark ponds.

Someone groaned underneath the balcony.

A man stumbled into view in front of the garage. He coughed, ragged and wet. Dark hair hung in knots to his shoulders. His clothes were so worn Cadenza couldn’t tell what color they were supposed to be. Another cough spasmed through him, bringing him to his knees. He retched. Turned his face to the moon and hollered something unintelligible.

Cadenza backed away from the railing. The stranger staggered to his feet and lurched through the open garage door. She froze. Why was the door open? She’d locked it for the night. Hadn’t she?

Metal crashed on concrete, and a grunt sounded from the garage. The mechanic cart. He’d knocked into the mechanic cart.

She ran to lock the deadbolt on her front door and snatched up her phone. Back against the wall, she craned her neck to peek through the window to the garage. The man paced, arms clamped over his stomach, and shoulders hunched, right where the Ferrari should have been.

But wasn’t.

She clapped a hand over her mouth. The Ferrari was gone.

“No. No, no!” Her fingers froze over the call button. Drostan had taken her in, given her a job, a home. And she’d managed to get his car stolen in return.

Footsteps clanged on the stairs. Frissons of fear electrified her limbs, and she fumbled the phone to the floor.