Chapter 3
Priya returned with our order, sliding the pecan pie toward me with a knowing look I chose to ignore for now.
“So,” Ethan said, once we were alone again, “Hannah the nurse’s aide, who apparently knows people at every restaurant in Richmond.”
“Priya and I worked together at a diner a few years back. Small city, smaller circles.”
“What happened at the diner?”
I hesitated, unsure how much to reveal to a man whose reputation preceded him through every conversation in the city. “It closed. Financial troubles. Most of us scattered to different jobs.”
“That’s not the whole story.”
“How would you know?”
“Because you got very careful with your words just now, and dangerous men learn to notice that kind of thing.”
I studied him for a long moment, weighing honesty against self-protection, an old habit I’d developed long before tonight.
“My ex-boyfriend owned the diner,” I said finally. “When we broke up, badly, he made sure I couldn’t find work anywhere connected to him afterward. Called in favors. Spread rumors. It took me almost a year to rebuild any kind of stable income.”
Ethan’s expression darkened slightly. “That sounds considerably more complicated than a simple breakup.”
“Most breakups are, when the wrong person decides ending things means destroying everything you built alongside them.”
Something passed between us then, recognition of shared, though different, experiences of betrayal.
“Is that why Priya reacted the way she did?” he asked. “Surprise at seeing you somewhere unexpected?”
“Partly. She probably assumed I was avoiding places connected to my ex’s social circle. This restaurant used to be one of his favorites.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “Should we leave?”
“No,” I said, surprising myself with the certainty in my voice. “I’m allowed to eat pie wherever I want. I’m done letting him dictate where I can and can’t exist.”
Something like respect flickered across Ethan’s expression. “I like that answer.”
“You didn’t ask for my life story when you hired me for seven minutes.”
“No,” he agreed. “But I find myself considerably more interested than I anticipated.”
We ate in comfortable silence for a while, the earlier tension with Lauren fading into something calmer, more genuine than either of us had expected from an arrangement that began as pure desperation.
“Can I ask you something?” I said eventually.
“Go ahead.”
“Grant. Your former associate. What actually happened there, beyond Lauren’s apartment?”
Ethan’s expression hardened slightly. “He’d been feeding information to a rival operation for months before I discovered the affair. The betrayal with Lauren was almost secondary, once I understood how deeply he’d compromised my trust across every level.”
“What happened to him?”
“That’s not a story appropriate for pie and casual conversation.”
The implication settled heavily, reminding me exactly who I was sitting across from, despite the surprisingly normal conversation we’d been having.
“Should I be worried?” I asked carefully.
“About Grant? No. About associating with me generally? That depends on how deeply you’re willing to get involved.”
