“Dammit, Anna, this is precisely why I didn’t want you to see that devil. Don’t let Noah do this. Don’t let him poison you against me. You see he’s already got his hooks into Tommy somehow, in order to give him another weapon to fight me? Us? I swear to you, Tommy never told me anything, or did anything, to give me an ‘in’ with you. The only thing he did was show me some of your paintings, at my request, before I ever contacted you on that dating site.”
“You asked to see my paintings, after you’d gotten my name and information from that detective agency you used.”
“Yes. But I didn’t need to pretend amazement when it came to your work. You’re brilliant. I was mystified, and half in love with you, just by looking at your paintings. I don’t believe I’m being hyperbolic by saying that, either. And as for your favorite painting at the museum, Tommy never told me anything about it. What I told you was one hundred percent true. I just knew somehow it would be a favorite, because I knew you.”
Maybe it was odd for me to be so preoccupied on this aspect, out of all Madaster’s claims. But somehow, if I didn’t clear up this incident in my head—if I couldn’t believe in that one thing in my life I’d held so dear—I wondered if I could ever untangle anything.
I wondered if I could ever believe in anything again.
Evan saw my doubt.
“Think about it, Anna. Did you ever even tell Tommy what your favorite painting at the museum was?”
I saw his point. I didn’t think I had mentioned it to him. Tommy would have known that particular painting, it’s true. He was an art expert and a huge donor to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
But I don’t think I’d ever discussed my partiality to that painting with Tommy.
“I don’t think I did,” I said slowly. “No, I’m sure I didn’t,” I said with more confidence.
Evan exhaled, clearly relieved. He’d seemed to guess how important the whole issue was to me. It seemed to me that it was just as crucial to him.
“You can’t let Noah insert himself between us,” he said.
It’s not just Noah Madaster who has done that.
I wanted to ask him what other things Madaster had told him yesterday. But I was afraid of his possible answers. It overwhelmed me. As if Evan had sensed that, he reached into his pocket and took out a white pill.
“The doctor prescribed you a sedative. He said that one of the side effects of the ketamine can be insomnia. I know how restless you were last night. This will help you to sleep easily, so you can recover more quickly. Are you okay to take one?”
I nodded, more than willing to surrender to forgetfulness for a period of time.
I swallowed the pill.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I woke up at around two that afternoon, feeling groggy. A nasty fuzz had grown inside of my mouth. Evan was there, sitting on one of the chairs in the small lounge area. He wore his glasses and was reading a page in a thick binder. When I rustled beneath the sheets, he looked over the top of his glass frames and met my stare.
“The merger,” I murmured, glancing down at the binder he read. “You must have fallen behind on it all.”
“I haven’t fallen behind on anything,” he said, taking off his glasses and setting the binder on the coffee table. “And if I had, it wouldn’t matter.” He walked toward me. “How do you feel?”
I stretched, considering his question.
“Not bad, I guess.”
It was kind of true. Some of that glorious mental insulation had been erected while I’d slept. I’d never consider denial
a bad thing again in my life. It saved me, during those dangerous days.
“I’m hungry,” I said.
“That’s a good sign,” Evan said, a small, wonderful smile shaping his mouth. It kicked me, that smile. I looked away, anxiety rising in me like a flash fire.
I showered and dressed, and we went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for a meal. I started out ravenous. I’d been nauseated on and off since awakening in the hospital, and hadn’t eaten solid food in two days. Now, I was lightheaded with hunger. I asked the waiter if he could bring me bread before my entrée arrived.
After three quarters of a roll and butter, the nausea returned.
Nevertheless, I forced down a portion of my meal when it arrived. I worried I might throw up at any moment, but was highly aware of Evan’s concerned gaze on me. Aside from trying not to worry him, I needed the strength food would give me.