“You being here is dangerous, Cee.”
“My father is dead,” I whisper quietly. “It’s all over. I’ve signed over the company, and I’m here to tie up loose ends. Have another.” I pour and push the drink toward him.
He smirks and accepts the whiskey. “Despite the growing population, this is still a small town. Your return is big news. You have a few people nervous.”
“I’ve kept my mouth shut, and you damn well know it. I’m not here to spill hood secrets. I’m here to get answers.”
“I know that, and you know that, but prying eyes don’t know that.” He lifts his chin, and I see a few of the men scattered around the bar eyeing us both. I meet their curious gazes one by one, unflinching and bring my eyes back to Tyler.
“Oh, I’m aware. I just had a run-in with Mrs. Roberts.”
He winces.
“Yeah,” I say, sipping straight from the bottle. “It went a lot like that.”
“And so you’re here because?”
“A drink?”
He lifts a brow.
“Fine,” I say, tossing more whiskey back. “Maybe I’m here to pick a fight.”
“Cecelia, he’s changed.”
“We all have.”
He slowly rotates his tumbler on the table. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to see you. But this won’t end well.”
“Damnit,” I say, slamming the bottle down. “Fuck him. Okay? He’s not the only one who lost. Don’t you think I deserve answers?”
“You know better than to look for those.”
“Why? Why does he get to be the one to decide?”
“You know why.”
“I’m staying put.”
He eyes me with concern. “Can I help?”
I shake my head adamantly. “I deserve them from him. He’s the one who condemned me to hell.” I can hear the anger in my tone. “He owes me, and I’m not leaving without answers.” I swallow and shake my head. “I miss them,” I say, lifting another shot to my lips. “Being here has made me sentimental, and I’m well aware I’m not wanted, but the day you put me in my Jeep…” our exchange reflects the pain of the memory. “You’re in the know, but you can’t imagine how being in the dark feels after all this time.”
Pure guilt shines in his eyes. “Things got too fucked up. We didn’t want it falling back on you.”
“Don’t think for one minute I’m not grateful. You saved my life. Dominic…” I choke on his name. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I deserve answers.”
“I guess I can’t argue with you,” he sighs. “But some things are better left in the past.”
He lowers his gaze briefly as he continues to rotate his glass.
“I was sorry to hear about Delphine.”
He sobers considerably before he pulls the bottle out of my hand and refills his tumbler. “You gave me a gift when you brought me to her house that day.”
I just wanted to thank you.
His words from our run-in years ago, when Tobias and I were in the kitchen. Delphine is what he was thanking me for.
“You got back together?”
He nods. “We got nearly two years before she died in my arms. I can’t even tell you how much those years meant. She got sober, and she fought hard. It was the most blissful time of my life.” He swallows, his voice raw when he speaks. “But I won’t ever regret it. And it’s because of you that I had that time with her. She told me I healed her just before she passed,” his Adam’s apple bobs painfully. “She wasn’t afraid.”
A tear slides down my cheek as he looks through me, somewhere in the past with her. “I’m so happy you got that.” I take the glass from him and pause it at my lips. “I want the same thing, you know? Some peace of mind after all that was lost.”
“I’m pulling for you,” he says. “But just tread lightly.”
“I’ve done that long enough,” I say defiantly.
He stands and kisses me on the cheek. “Gotta run.”
“No, please no, stay,” I beg. “I’ll buy you a bottle of your own. I’m a rich woman now. Did you hear?”
He nods, pity lacing his gaze.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine.”
“If you say so. Please, just be careful.”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
He flashes a boyish grin. “You’re still the same, insanely beautiful, smart-mouthed, hard-headed woman you were years ago.”