Page 4 of Dancing With Doubt

“If you’re bored, Tanya, I can find somebody else to do this. They’re our ears, you’re our eyes.” He reminded her and frowned in her direction. He caught the way she rolled her eyes before she looked at him.

“It’s fine. I’m just not used to this humidity. Or sitting around for hours doing nothing.”

“I know, but I’m glad you’re here. I know I can trust you.” He replied, nodding his head.

“You can. And I meant it, you know? I don’t think anyone is coming back here. And with that Wendy woman always keeping an eye out, I think Roxie’ll be safe. Plus, you can always get Kai to send more security over if you’re still worried.”

“You could be right.” He sighed and slouched in the seat that was almost too small for him. It had been a long day and he still wanted to see Roxie. Even more now that he was at the place that had been her home for so long.

“You going to bring her back, then?” Tanya pushed for an answer, not looking at him, but at the building to their left, across the street.

“I might. I’m not sure yet.” He swiped at his face with his left hand, not sure what to do. Roxie was probably pissed at him for not being at his house.

Which would be totally understandable, he admitted to himself, he had sent her a text guaranteed to bring her to him. And had run when his sister showed up before she did. What made matters worse was he knew Roxie didn’t want to meet anyone from her old life, especially anyone from his family. She hadn’t spoken to June on purpose, he’d known that all these years.

That’s why he’d told June that Chloe was fine all those years ago and hadn’t mentioned meeting her as Roxie ten years later. Whether it was to keep June safe or to keep her identity secret, or both, didn’t matter. He should have known leaving her to meet June on his doorstep had been a shitty thing to do.

Fuck, fuck, fuck - everything was a mess really, when he thought about it. He shouldn’t have started the affair with Roxie, even if it had come in the form of a contract. He should have made sure she was safe, kept her at arm’s length, and moved on. But here he was, sitting in his PA’s shitty car, watching Roxie’s apartment for any number of men that might be after her for a variety of reasons that went from an ex-boyfriend who owed the wrong people money, to whatever shit it was her father had become embroiled in a decade ago.

“Did I tell you we got some more info about the Abshires?” Tanya asked just as he was about to shove himself out of the car.

“What?” His head whipped around, and he relaxed. “What new info?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why it didn’t show up all those years ago, but we’ve just found out that Mr. Abshire, Chloe’s dad, booked three tickets to Paris right before the fire. Chloe wanted to go abroad to study ballet, didn’t she? Well, she got into the school in Paris, and it seems Daddy Dearest rented an apartment for them all there.”

“So they were going to leave town, but that didn’t happen. Interesting.” He was about to lose himself in thinking when Tanya spoke up again.

“And then there’s Mr. Abshire’s sister that we didn’t know about.” She said quietly, as if dropping a bomb, because of course, she was.

“What sister?” Lincoln shot back, confused.

“Exactly. A sister we didn’t know about. She has a number in Paris that the PI tracked down.”

“Weird. How did we not know any of this?” Lincoln swiped his face again before he looked at Tanya.

“She’s not listed as an Abshire, she’s got a different last name, Chedotal. As for the rest, it seems there are two police files on the Abshires. One that was released to the public and another one from an investigator who died under mysterious circumstances. The PI just got his hands on those files.”

“Damn, damn, damn. What a mess. All of that would have been helpful to know back then. It would have changed everything for Chloe.” Lincoln said, realizing his mistake immediately. She wasn’t Chloe anymore and never would be if he’d come to know anything about her. “What else did the file say?”

“That the Abshires were shot and that’s how they died, not from smoke inhalation as the other reports claim.”

Now that was a bomb. Fuck.

“Why am I not surprised?” Lincoln exhaled, feeling exhausted suddenly.

“Because we know better?” Tanya said as an answer. “I think this stinks of the mafia, or some other gang activity. I’m guessing Mr. Abshire wasn’t the type for gang activity though, was he?”

“No, he wasn’t. Definitely not. But the mob? He might have got on their wrong side by accident.” Lincoln turned his head to stare out at the empty street and watched a stray flyer spin by. The streets weren’t typically dirty there, but on days when flyers went out you would see one or two blowing along a street. Miles better than any day in New York City, even with the street sweepers out.

“What do you want me to do?” Tanya asked, moving around to get more comfortable.

“Nothing, for now. I’ve got to get all this straight in my head.” Guilt ate at him because he still hadn’t told Roxie about any of this. He knew he should have told her, but he wasn’t even sure who it was that had gone after her and her family ten years ago. What could he explain? Oh, hey Rox, I know your parents died and some guys scared the shit out of you so you ran, but guess what? You’ve inherited some money? Oh, and your parents were shot.

That would probably break her.

He didn’t want to break her, he wanted to make her life make sense, make it so she didn’t have to hide anymore. The more time that passed, he found himself wanting to be a part of the future she deserved, but watching his mother had taught him true love didn’t last. Even dollar signs couldn’t keep his mother happy in the end, which was why she’d hopped from marriage to marriage.

Okay, Roxie wasn’t like that, but would this need they had for each other last?

He couldn’t guarantee that, and even if he’d started to want more from her, that didn’t mean they’d even still like each other in fifteen years. Maybe even less time, if he went by his mother’s track record. Even his siblings hadn’t settled down yet.

Damn, this was not his night, he thought and sat up straight. “I’m going to get out of here. Stick around until your relief comes. I’d like to keep eyes on this place for a while longer, even if she comes back. Especially if she comes back, actually.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Young.” Tanya saluted and gave him a wink.

“Bitch.” He muttered as he got out of Tanya’s car and headed for his own. Now, if he could put Roxie in her place as easily as he did Tanya, his life would be so much easier. Something told him that would never, ever happen. Still, the thought made him smile.