Meeting Strangers

The man who knew so much about my husband and his secretary was none other than the handsome stranger who kissed me on the dance floor.

He smiled and gave me a finger wave. "Hello again."

"I'm so sorry for the punch you took. Ben is King's brother. He was acting on behalf of King."

"Yeah, well, I knew there was a chance someone would hit me, only I thought it would be you."

"Why do you know so much about King?"

He motioned to King. "Why don't we take this conversation elsewhere before Mr. Heavenly wakes up and notices his wife is spying on him?

Too late. In the next second, King's head turned toward the window. His gaze met mine before flickering to the man next to me.

The man smiled and put an arm around my shoulders. He waved to King.

King exploded out of the chair and darted toward the door.

"Time for us to go, Night Shadows. My car is parked nearby."

"Night Shadows? Hey, wait. Who are you?" I froze in place as King darted out the bistro door. Traffic slowed him down from crossing the street.

"Michael Allen or you can call me Stiff. Now, can we go?"

King shouted my name as I let Stiff lead me away.

We didn't run. Speed walked at best as I comprehended what was going on. My hacker buddy, who I'd known but not known for years, was a sexy blond who I'd kissed. He knows way too much about me, but why am I surprised? If anyone could track me down, it would be Stiff.

I stopped again as a thought hit me. "Have you been following me?"

"A little bit. Let's go."

"Teela!" King's feet pounded the concrete behind us.

I followed Stiff's lead. We stopped beside a Maserati. King caught up and grabbed my arm.

"Where are you going?"

I tried to shake off his hand. "Let go of me."

"This is the guy who kissed you, isn't it? Is he the reason you don't want my money?"

Well, Stiff was the reason, but not in the way King meant.

"He has nothing to do with what is happening between us."

"He does if you're sleeping with him."

"I told you. There's no one. There won't be anyone until long after we are legally divorced."

Stiff didn't help matters. "I'll hire you an attorney tomorrow. I know a good one."

King pointed a finger at Stiff. "You stay out of this."

"No, King," I said. "He's my friend, and I choose to leave with him. Go back to your secretary. It looked like you were having a good time with her."

"We have an appointment with Dr. Pacer in an hour."

"I'm aware. I'll be there."

"Or you can come with me right now."

"No. You promised me thirty days. I've got twenty-nine days left. Now go. You wouldn't want to make a public scene and embarrass the Heavenly family."

That was a low blow but the best I could muster under the circumstances.

Stiff opened the car door as King visibly shut down, his expression going ice cold. He stepped back.

"One o'clock, Teela. Don't be late."

I slid into the car. It smelled of leather and that undeniable new car scent. Stiff joined me behind the wheel.

"Where to?" He asked.

"Anywhere. Keep it close by, though. I have an appointment."

"Wait a minute. You're going? You just got away."

"King and I have a deal. I must uphold my end of the bargain, or my best friend will suffer the consequences."

Stiff grinned. "I thought I was your best friend."

I smiled back. "My other best friend."

"Will I like them?"

I thought about it. The fact that they both cared about me gave them the foundation to become friends. It might be interesting to have them in the same room together and see what happens.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Ah, so she's a woman?"

"What?"

"Never mind."

 Stiff changed topics. "King isn't good for you."

"I know, but I don't want to talk about him right now. I want to talk about you."

"I'll tell you anything you want to know. Just ask."

"When did you start tracking me and why?"

"I'm five years older than you, Teela. I discovered that while you were still in high school. You were a damn fine hacker, regardless of your age. Better than me. I was intrigued. Then I saw your picture, and I was more than intrigued.

"But you were underage and coping with your mom's illness, so I kept my distance. The next thing I knew, you'd married King and disappeared.

"The only trace of you that remained was your bank account, and you seldom touched it. So, when I saw you withdrawing the daily limit, not to mention that massive transfer from King, I knew something was up. I hacked city and bank cams and cross-referenced the footage with an AI facial recognition app that notified me when you showed up. Then it was a matter of guessing your next move."

"That is why I kept feeling I was being followed."

A part of me was upset it had been Stiff and not King. I should have known better. King didn't care enough to send people after me when Bea was such an easy target.

"What about the club?"

"Sheer coincidence. But I wouldn't have missed it for the world. You probably think I was looking forward to kissing you. I say after waiting so long to see you face to face, I showed a lot of restraint considering what I wanted to do."

"Stiff, I'm married."

Married, and I didn't really know him. Frankly, I didn't know myself anymore. Getting involved with anyone was a bad idea. Getting involved with stalker tendencies was just crazy.

Stiff nodded. "For now. I can wait. I've waited this long. A little while longer won't kill me. In the meantime, Teela—I've never called you that before. Even in my head, you're Night Shadows. In the meantime, accept me as not only your virtual buddy but your real-life friend. Okay? Don't send me back into the cold alone. I don't have a lot of friends, and you're my first pick."

"All right, I can do that. Friends. Now take me to the Heavenly building."

Stiff dropped me off at the building, but not before I invited him to dinner the following night. If he wanted to be my friend, then he needed to meet Bea and Father DiMarco. The dinner would be a good time to do that.

I stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the high-rise. It symbolized how I felt about my relationship with King. King was the pinnacle of the building. He reached for the sky and stayed warm in the sun. I was on the sidewalk, grounded, living in the shadow of the high-rise. I bore the weight of our relationship. Anytime the building gave way to allow the sunlight to slip past and reach the sidewalk, it felt like a gift, but the sunlight never lasted long. The shadows always returned.

There was too much distance between us. This therapy thing was useless, especially if King was having an affair with his secretary. I wouldn't go up against Lettie if I also had to fight his long-time lover for his attention as well. I'd already proven myself incapable of making him happy. Why bother?

I took the elevator to Dr. Pacer's floor and found the office easily enough. I should have done some research on the doctor. I didn't even know if I was going to see a man or a woman. It shouldn't have mattered, but for some reason, it did.

When I entered the waiting room, I was surprised to see King's secretary looking at her phone. What was the name Stiff gave me?

She looked up, not at all surprised to see me standing there. "Good, you are here. You don't know me. I'm Nan, Mr. Heavenly's personal secretary. I'll be attending the session with you today."

"Excuse me."

"King is tied up in a meeting this afternoon after that debacle of hack job you paid for. He won't be attending."

"But this is couples therapy."

Nan nodded. "I'm prepared to stand in for King. I know him better than anyone. I'm qualified to act on his behalf."

She had to be joking. This was King's idea, and he was sending in a proxy for his therapy sessions. Not only that, but the person he sent was his rumored long-time lover.

Oh, hell no. This wasn't going to happen.

I felt my face heat, and the blood thrummed through my body. If I stayed here with this woman, I'd end up committing physical violence. Instead, I did what any logical person would do. I went to the receptionist and made sure she noted I'd arrived.

I'd promised I would show up for each session. I never promised to sit through one, particularly this one with this put-together woman who could make my husband smile when I couldn't. This woman looked so perfect in her high heels and designer dress. She was still wearing the red and white scarf from the park.

I felt dowdy in comparison in my ripped jeans and sweatshirt. I wasn't even wearing the kickass boots I'd gotten from Bea. Instead, I wore the worn-out high tops I bought when Mom was still alive. I added buy new clothes to my to-do list. Now that I had income coming in, I could relax a bit and splurge.

This would never do. I turned on my heels and walked out. I headed straight to the elevator, intending to make a quick escape, but instead of pushing the down button, I pushed the up button.