My gaze drops down to my cup, and a heavy realization settles in. “I lied to you, too. I lied about what I did for a living. About my history… being in prison. I was afraid to tell you because I was afraid you wouldn’t like me if you knew the horrible things I’d done.”
Griff’s hand takes mine, and it forces me to look at him “I’m sort of fumbling, Bebe. I didn’t expect someone like you to come into my life. Frankly, the timing is fucking awful, but I’m sure as hell glad Bogachev sent me. Anyone else, you’d be dead right now. Anyone else, and I wouldn’t have met you. I’d just really like to know you forgive me for my duplicity. I need you to know that while a lot of what was going on between us was built on lies, there was a lot that wasn’t. I hope you can see the difference and forgive me for maybe letting things go too far last night.”
And it’s suddenly clear to me. I’m not angry anymore since I now know what we shared intimately wasn’t part of the ruse. That it was genuine.
“I can see it,” I admit.
Griff just stares a long, hard moment, seeming to judge if I really mean that. Finally, he nods in acknowledgment and rises from the couch.
“Listen,” he says hesitantly, glancing at my staircase. “Think I could talk to Aaron? I assume you’ve told him everything, and well… I want him to know exactly what I just told you. My friendship with him was as real as it gets. I need him to know that.”
“Yeah, of course,” I reply quickly, rising from the cushions. I can’t pretend my heart isn’t squeezing in awe over his thoughtfulness.
I lead Griff up the stairs to Aaron’s room. After I knock on the door, I only open it after he calls out it’s okay to do so.
Stepping inside, I find Aaron on the bed—on his stomach—reading a book.
“Aaron, honey,” I say, and his gaze swings to me. “Griff is here. Wanted to talk to you.”
Aaron’s eyebrows rise. He sits up on the bed, looking past me to Griff with interest. There’s no anger on my kid’s face, but there’s a whole lot of curiosity. He had a million questions today when I told him who Griff really was and why he was here, most of which I just couldn’t answer.
Griff moves past me into the room, and I step into the hallway to give them privacy, leaning against the wall. I shamelessly eavesdrop through the open doorway.
“Hey, buddy,” Griff says, and I can imagine him holding out his hand to fist bump my kid. “What are you reading?”
“The Last Olympian,” Aaron replies. I smile because I adore that my kid loves to read. I wasn’t a big reader at his age, and it brings me joy that he’s interested in it.
“Any good?”
“Yeah,” Aaron replies. “It’s the last book in this series and my favorite so far.”
“That’s cool,” Griff says, and I can hear the hesitancy in his voice. “So… um… I wanted to apologize to you about all this mess going on.”
“Why are you sorry?” Aaron asks, but not in a disgruntled way. He’s genuinely curious, and that’s probably because I didn’t place any blame at Griff’s doorstep when I explained what was going on. My anger stemmed from issues personal to Griff.
“I just hate you and your family have to be disrupted by this bad guy, but I want you to know I’m going to work hard to bring him down. Then you will be safe and can go back to your normal life.”
“Yeah… my mom’s pretty upset about it,” Aaron says sadly, and my heart twists. “She’s had it rough, and I just wish this was all over.”
“Soon, buddy,” Griff promises. “Your mom is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. With her help, we’re going to have enough evidence to arrest this guy and put him away forever.”
“And you’ll watch over her and make sure she’s safe?” Aaron asks. My kid… looking out for me when he’s the child and I’m the adult. Tears prick at my eyes.
“Don’t you worry. You and your grandma just have fun in California while we put this matter to rest.”
“I’ve never been to California before,” Aaron says.
“I have,” Griff replies, and I hear Aaron’s bed creak to indicate Griff has taken a seat. “There’s all kinds of great things you can do out there.”
I move down the hall toward the staircase to let them continue their talk. I’m assured Griff said the right things to my son and further satisfied that Aaron seems to be taking this upheaval in stride. I’m thinking maybe he deserves a trip to Disney or something when this is all said and done.