I’m never going to let her out of my sight again. Just remembering Fico’s message about Lane being involved in an altercation that required police assistance was enough to leave his blood cold. His fists clenched and unclenched and he worked hard to get his rage under control.
“D-Do I really have to repeat everything she said?” he heard her ask.
The police officer nodded. “I’m afraid so, ma’am.”
“Everything?”
Angelo saw Lane’s chest rise and fall as she drew her breath. And then she started to speak. “She came up to me at the VIP lounge, and her first words were—- ‘So you’re Angelo Valencia’s new fuck buddy.’”
“Did you recognize the person who said this?”
Lane shook her head.
“She’s pretty famous, ma’am,” the police officer said skeptically.
“I’m afraid I d-don’t watch much TV.”
“She’s a former tennis champion.”
“Or s-sports.”
The police officer said finally, “What happened next?”
Angelo listened to Lane recount the incident, his lips tightening at the mention of his ex-lover warning Lane about Angelo getting rid of her as soon as boredom set in.
“S-she said that...” Lane stopped, her hands wringing anxiously on her lap.
“I know this is difficult, ma’am, but you must tell us everything.”
Lane said tonelessly, “She told me she and I were the same, only I w-was just too foolish to realize it. She said that w-we were just t-there to fill a hole left by Angelo’s...”
The police officer’s mouth opened and closed.
Lane was crying silently.
Ah.
He was frozen, unable to take his gaze away from the silent stream of her tears, knowing that if he tasted them now, it would...break his heart.
And then he heard her whisper, “S-she said w-we were just there to fill a hole left by Angelo’s f-first love.”
“She said that no matter what we did, we would never compare to her.”
Angelo slowly turned away.
“That I should leave, before I g-get hurt, too.”
Angelo left.
He had heard enough.
IT WAS ALMOST TWO IN the morning when the police finally allowed her to leave, and a brewing storm was there to greet Lane the moment she stepped out of the precinct. Fico and Umberto came forward upon seeing her, snapping their umbrellas open so they could keep her dry.
“The car’s waiting by the curb, signorina.”
But Lane didn’t go with them right away, asking, “W-Where’s Angelo?”
“He’s not here, signorina.”
She shook her head. “Officer Samuels told me he came by.” In fact, the officer also told her Angelo had been present during a portion of her interview. She glanced around her searchingly, but when Angelo still didn’t appear, she asked the bodyguards, “He’s here somewhere, isn’t he?”
Fico looked at Umberto for guidance, and the older guard said in a perplexed tone, “No, ma’am.”
But the signorina shook her head again, saying, “He p-probably told you to lie. Didn’t he?”
This time neither bodyguard spoke, and it was their silence that finally made it clear.
Panic started to stir inside her, but Lane told herself to keep it together. This was another trick, just another trick to make her cry, and then he would come and make her feel better.
Forcing a smile, she said, “He’s probably just hiding from me, and h-he wants me to find him. Right?”
Neither man answered.
“Maybe he’s just hiding behind those shrubs—-”
Fico and Umberto were stunned to see the signorina actually turn around to check if their boss was indeed hiding behind the shrubs, which would have been understandable...only they were more than two feet tall.
When Lane turned to look at them again, Fico said reluctantly, “I’m sorry, signorina. If Signor Valencia is here, then we have not been made aware of it.”
Oh.
Lane’s heart started to ache, but she told herself that maybe Angelo just didn’t want the guards to accidentally ruin his surprise.
But he would be here.
He had to be.
He had to be here because if he wasn’t—-
Lane didn’t let herself finish the thought.
He would be here.
Unable to bear the way her heart was aching, she started to run, trying to look for any sign of Angelo.
Her guards called out to her, but Lane ignored them.
He would be here.
She only had to find him.
Her vision blurred, but she no longer knew if it was rain or her tears blinding her. Still, she kept running, unwilling to stop because she knew the moment she did, she would be forced to—-
A discarded box that she saw too late made her trip, and she started to lose her balance.
Nooooo—-
But it was as if fate was forcing her to accept the truth, and as she fell to her knees, it was like the sky had fallen to its knees with Lane, raindrops mingling with the tears trailing down her cheeks.
But still, she refused to believe he would not come.
He’s going to see me now, she thought feverishly, and he’s going to come out and tell me I’m such a fool. He’s going to tell me he was just joking and—-