Overture (Rain Dance, Book 1) (Rain Dance Series) (68 page)

I
stopped moving. Time stopped with me. Numb - that was all I felt. Not surprise.
Not shock. He had been there Tuesday night. Of course he had. But the fact that
he hadn't made any attempt at talking to me must've meant that it couldn't have
been too important, right? If something were wrong, his message would've
sounded more urgent.

     
…Shit.
Noel was at the fundraiser with Ethan, who probably knew what he looked like
now thanks to the pictures he'd seen earlier. Would he recognize him? And if he
did, what would happen? Would he ignore him? Would he speak to him peacefully?
Would he try to beat the living crap out of him?

     
I stood there
thinking of everything that could go wrong long enough for my phone to go
completely dead. I had to see him as soon as possible. I would wait for him to
get home, however long it took. I couldn't stand here waiting, not knowing what
would happen, or if anything would happen at all. For all I knew, shit could've
already gone down. Noel obviously knew about Ethan and I. Would he be the one
to try and make an approach instead? Too impatient to wait for my phone to
charge, I called a cab using the home phone. Then I slipped my shoes and coat
back on and left to wait outside.

     
The rain was
almost as bad as it'd been the night before. It seemed like pretty poor
planning to have an event with weather like this. Then again, no one could
truly predict when the rain would fall. Or maybe storms and such didn't matter
here as much as they did elsewhere.

     
When the cab
reached the entrance to Ethan's home, I quickly paid and practically jumped
out. Luckily, I remembered the gate code number that I'd seen him enter
multiple times before.
Now
if only I could remember any of his phone
numbers that easily.
Once in, I made my way towards the house. The rain was
loud, dreadfully cold, and did absolutely nothing to soothe the muscles that
were still aching from all the work I had done. 

     
I ran up the
steps, trying not to trip over my heels, only to find that the front door was
locked.
Well, damn.
It hadn't even occurred to me that I might not be
able to get in. I was suddenly angry over the fact that Ethan hadn't given me a
key. It made sense, but if he still wanted to be my new 'safe place,' he was
going to have to hand it over at some point.

     
Backtracking
down the steps, I decided to circle the area, hoping to find another way in.
But after doing some careful surveying, I realized that it was impossible.
Ethan's home was safely protected by a wall that was hidden by shrubs, trees, plants,
and columns that only provided the illusion of openness. There was no way to
access the back.

     
With no phone
to call another cab, I had no choice but to take shelter at the foot of his
front door. I took a seat, feeling extremely pathetic and stupid. I couldn't
even tell what time it was. Who knew how long I would be waiting here.
Wouldn't
it be funny if he didn't come home tonight at all?
Good job, Daphne.
That's what you get for being impatient and acting without thinking things
through.

   
  
I started humming, trying to enjoy the rain as I would
have under normal circumstances. As I had enjoyed it last night…while he was
inside of me.
Sighing, I leaned my back against the door, far too
worried to enjoy the bad weather.

     
Even if it wasn't
urgent, Noel wouldn't have come unless he had a reason to, right? Had someone
found me? Did
she
have a lead on my whereabouts? Although, if Noel had
expected me to show up at a public event with Ethan, that probably wasn't
it…God, I hated not knowing what was going on. How could I prepare myself if I
didn't know what was coming?

     
…How did
Noel even find out about us?

     
It might've
been fifteen minutes or it might've been forty, but at some point my ass fell
frozen asleep. Thankfully the rain had settled down a bit, so the rest of my
body wasn't as freezing. I shifted to one side and slowly lowered my body to
lie down, trying to get more comfortable. I suppose I could try to head back
home, but this was a residential area off the side of the city. It would be a
while until I'd be able to find a pay phone.

     
This wasn't the
first time I'd been locked out in the cold, so I knew that relaxation would
eventually come to me. I closed my eyes and imagined that I was back at home,
still lying down on the couch, about to fall fast asleep.

     
My eyes shot
open in fear when I heard the sudden slam of a car door. I didn't remember
anything for the first few moments, but when it all came back to me I felt
instant relief. Ethan was home. At the sound of footsteps nearing, I slowly
began to sit up.

     
"What the
hell?"

     
I froze. It
wasn't Ethan's voice. It was Karina's.

     
I glanced up to
find them both staring down at me. Ignoring the glamorously-dressed blonde, I
looked directly at the man beside her. Confusion was apparent all over his
face. Seconds passed as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing, or if
what he was seeing was actually even real. Eventually, his expression settled
into some other unnamed emotion.

     
"What are
you doing here?" His voice was hard.
Ah, so he's mad.

     
I couldn't
answer him properly with that bitch standing right there.
Hurry up and think
of something, Daphne...
"I-It was an emergency," I stammered.

     
Ethan's anger
instantly turned to concern.

     
"My
laptop," I continued. "I really needed my laptop."

     
I could visibly
see all the air leave his body. Anger made its return, only this time it was
increased by tenfold. I looked away, reminded of Jillian's words. Only the kind
of intensity he currently had fixed on me was entirely different than what I was
used to. One single look and I wanted to shrivel up and self-destruct.

     
Karina scoffed.
"Is she serious? Ethan, are you sure she's not mental?"

     
Well, so
much for her wanting to get along
. When I heard the sound of keys, I stood
onto my feet and moved out of the way. Ethan moved right past me to open the
door. After flicking on the entrance light, he stood in the doorway and pointed
inside.

     
"Go.
Office," he told Karina.

     
What?

     
Karina raised
an eyebrow and stepped inside, but not before giving me one long last, pitiful
glance. "Don't make me wait too long," she told Ethan as she brushed
past him.

     
He waited until
she was completely out of sight before he grabbed my arm and dragged me towards
the opposite side of the house, straight into the dining room.

     
"You were
at the apartment. You were
supposed
to be at the apartment. Why aren't
you wearing the necklace?" He actually had the nerve to be angry at me.
Well, fuck him. What the hell was he doing bringing his former fuck-partner
into this house?

     
Taking a deep
breath, I tried to steady myself before I could start yelling. That would get
us nowhere. For my own sake, I needed to play things cool. "There was
paint on it so I took it off to clean. I couldn't get it back on," I
answered honestly.

     
After a moment,
he exhaled and backed away. "Why are you here?"

     
I trusted
Ethan. I would not pass judgment onto him until I knew everything. But the fact
was that he'd thought I was at home, and I was pretty damn certain that he
wouldn't have brought that woman here if he'd known otherwise.

     
"Why is
she
here?" I was glad that my question came out sounding more anxious than
accusing.

     
"If you're
thinking I'm about to commit some act of immorality, you're wrong," he
replied, just as warily.

     
"I told
you before - I trust you. I just don't understand why she's here."

     
He leaned
forward, resting his hands on the dining table, and began tapping his finger
against the surface. "I have something for her. It's business-related.
It's also not the sort of thing that can be handed over in a public setting. I
figured it would be less sketchy than meeting up at some cheap, vacant
motel."

     
You have to
be understanding, Daphne.
"So is it the kind of business that requires
strict confidentiality?"

     
He nodded.

     
"...So it
would be wrong of you to tell me exactly what it is?"

     
He was quiet
for a moment, contemplating over what it was I was really asking. "...Not
entirely wrong," he admitted. "But illegal."

     
"Illegal
as in you have some kind of non-disclosure agreement or illegal as in…you're
doing, like,
illegal
shit?"

     
For some reason
my question made him smile. "There's an NDA involved, yes." That
seemed to be all he would say on the matter.

     
"…Are you
mad at me for showing up uninvited?" My voice was small. I wasn't pissed
at him anymore. I was hurt. Was it so important that I was at home while their
little business transaction was going down?

     
He sighed.
"No, Daphne, of course not. I'm mad because you're not wearing your
necklace. You should never have left your apartment without it. It's important
that I know where you are at all times. You know that."

     
I nodded. He
seemed to be telling the truth. "So…How was the fundraiser?" I asked,
remembering the real reason I had come here.

     
He paused
before giving me another easy smile, but I could see that his eyes were hard.
"Same old, same old."

     
"...Nothing exciting happened?"

     
There.

     
His face gave it away. It was only for an instant, but it
was enough for me to know the truth.

     
"No,"
he answered.

     
So he wasn't
going to share. Well, whatever his reason for not doing so, I could not accept
it.

     
"...I'm
sorry I showed up like this. I was already here by the time I realized I had no
way of getting in," I laughed. "But I really need this for tonight."
I picked up my laptop and held it close, no longer feeling bad about the small
fib. After tonight, I probably
would
need it. Badly. "Can I use
your phone to call a cab? Mine died." I didn't want to mention that I'd
left it at home.