Part 26 (1/2)

”It wasn't on purpose, a.s.s.” But she smiled nonetheless.

The pressure in her chest eased a little, enough that she no longer felt like each breath sent a knife through her chest. G.o.d, she hated being stupid, and she'd been a cla.s.s-A fool where he was concerned. Maybe she'd live through this after all.

”Tell me the s.e.x was worth it, at least.”

Kyra thought about that, and a little s.h.i.+ver rolled through her. ”Yeah. It was.”

”That's something at least.”

”What about you and Foster?”

”No s.e.x.”

With a scowl, Kyra folded her arms. ”You know what I'm asking.”

”You want to know what happened. How I ended up tied to a chair.” Mia drooped a little, studying her lap. ”I came looking for you . . . and ran into him. He said he'd help me. At first he seemed to. He kept me in the loop whenever he talked to your hit man.”

”Reyes. And he's not mine.”

”Whatever. He kept me away from the casino. Didn't want his boss seeing me, he said. But he must've been followed to one of our meetings because the next time I went out, I noticed I had somebody following me. I couldn't think what else to do, so I went to him for help.”

”And he turned you over to Serrano.” Kyra's hands curled into fists. ”No wonder you were terrified. I'm so sorry.”

”Not your fault,” Mia said automatically. ”Well, actually it is, but not . . . directly. It's not like you told me to trust him. It's just . . . worse because I . . . liked him.” She squeezed her eyes shut. ”At one point I tried to kiss him and he jerked away like I had screaming fourth grade cooties.”

”He's a weird one,” Kyra said. ”But don't take it personally. He had some vendetta against Serrano. He was using both of us.”

”He whispered to me not to be scared-that Serrano wouldn't do anything to me before you got there-but how the h.e.l.l was I supposed to believe that, after he lied about taking me someplace safe?” Mia's wounded eyes demanded an answer.

Kyra didn't have one. ”We sure can pick 'em. But we'll be okay, right? It'll just take time.”

The other woman shrugged. ”I guess.”

She felt oddly diffident about asking this. ”Speaking of time . . . I wondered if you could take some off. I'd really like to just . . . I dunno. Hang out with you. Take a long break and start figuring out what to do next.”

Mia nodded slowly. ”I'd like that. I wouldn't mind going somewhere warm. We can lay in the sun for a while and bask away our sorrows.”

”Sounds fantastic.” If it couldn't take away the pain, at least they'd have suns.h.i.+ne. She hesitated, and then added: ”I got away with a huge amount of money, and I need to get it out of the country. I was hoping you could help me with that.”

A frown knit her friend's dark brows together. ”You know I specialize in catching people who try to do that, right?”

”Does that mean you can't help me?”

A fulminating silence. Kyra opened her eyes wide, trying to appear cute and imploring. It wasn't her best look.

”You know I can,” Mia muttered. ”Let's take that vacation and then we'll talk more. I'll think about it as we go.”

”Okay.” She knew the other woman well enough to realize that pus.h.i.+ng at this point would just make Mia dig her heels in. A maybe was almost as good as a yes.

They stayed almost a week in Missouri. From there they meandered south, heading toward Florida. Mia wanted to go to Disney for some reason, and because it tickled Kyra's sense of the absurd, she went along with it.

You just killed a bunch of guys, took revenge on your father's murderer, got your heart broken, and stole three million dollars. What are you going to do now?

I'm going to Disney World.

And they did.

Mia rented a condo for a few weeks in Davenport, a two bedroom place with a long balcony and tropical decor. The plants were fake, and the floors were tiled in cool faux marble. It had no soul, just like Reyes's loft.

After the first week, which pa.s.sed in a flurry of tourist attractions, they spent the time lounging in the sun and catching up. She bought a bikini and high-SPF sunscreen. Mia bronzed like a G.o.ddess, but Kyra just gained another layer of freckles.

Time went in spurts, alternating fast and slow. Sometimes a patch of days sped by when she hardly thought of him at all. And sometimes she woke in a tangle of sweat-hot sheets, her body straining for someone who wasn't there.

She didn't want to remember lying in his arms in the backseat of the Marquis, didn't want to listen to his raw, whispered confessions that made her feel as though she was the only one he'd ever trusted enough to talk to. And she didn't want to remember that, in the end, she'd just been a job to him.

Not when he'd been so much more.

Kyra could no longer deny that was true. Though she had no personal experience to draw on, it seemed her tentative a.s.sessment of ”I think I'm falling for you” hadn't encompa.s.sed the whole. In truth, she'd fallen like a brick, and she still hadn't hit bottom.

If there were a pill that could make her forget, she'd take it.

But there wasn't, so she had to soldier on.

They'd been living in the condo for a month when Mia came in from the pool, looking brighter and more resolute than she had in weeks. It seemed she was finally starting to heal. That was good for her, bad for Kyra because she knew what was coming. Mia must be tired of the holding pattern and wanted to get back to her life.

That made total sense; she understood. Even so, she braced herself.

”I have a job offer,” Mia said without preamble.

”And you want to take it.”

”It's lucrative.”

”It's fine,” Kyra told her. ”Go. I'm all in one piece. We've had our bonding time. I'll stay out of trouble.”

Mia sank down slowly on the white and wicker sofa. ”I don't want to leave you. You're . . . not okay.”

”Sure I am.”

Mia touched her arm. Evidently she didn't mean to start work today. She'd known about Kyra's ability for a long time, but it had never altered the way she treated her. Kyra loved her fiercely for that.

”You're not not . I hear you crying in your sleep sometimes.” . I hear you crying in your sleep sometimes.”

She cringed. That was beyond what she could tolerate, weakness displayed when she let her guard down. How utterly pathetic.

”I just miss my dad.” Which was true. It wasn't all of it, but it was true.