“Right behind you.” Malory came hurrying down the hall, then held up a bakery box before she stepped inside the apartment. “I made a stop. Brownies—double fudge.”
“I love you guys.” Danas voice broke as she said it and, appalled, she pressed her fingers to her eyes. “Oh, Jesus, Im in worse shape than I thought. Its been a very crappy day so far.”
“Sweetie, you come sit down.” Taking charge,Zoe drew her across the room to the sofa. “You just relax for a minute. Im going to fix you something to eat.”
“I got Chinese. In the kitchen.”
“Thats fine. You just take it easy, and Malory and I will take care of everything.”
They fixed plates, brewed tea, tucked a throw over her legs, and generally did all the things women instinctively know how to do to offer comfort.
“Thanks. I mean it. I didnt realize I was that close to cracking. Bastard really got to me.”
“Tell us what happened.“ Malory stroked Danas hair.
“I went over to our place, to paint. I woke up cranky and needed something to do.” She slid a glance at Malory. “Sorry aboutsiccing Moe on you so early.”
“Not a problem.”
“So.” She soothed her throat with tea. “I started painting. It felt good, and I was thinking about how everything was going to look. Then he was there.”
She started to tell them, as coherently as she could, andZoe interrupted with an indignant oath.
“Thats just bullshit! Thats just a lie. Of course you matter. He doesnt know a damn thing about it.”
“Hes just playing on my weaknesses. I know it. Leaving the library bothered me, more than Ive been willing to admit. I guess Ive been feeling like what I did there didnt really matter to anyone but me. He uses things like that, then makes them bigger, more hurtful.”
She picked up her tea again and told them how hed transformed the rooms into her finished bookstore. “It was my vision of it,” Dana said. “One I hadnt completely realized I had. Not just the way it looked but the way it felt, too. And, of course, loaded with customers.”
Her dimples made a brief appearance in her cheeks. “He made it seem like it couldnt be that way unless he did it for me. That was a mistake, because it can be. Okay, maybe not bursting at the seams with customers, but the way it looked, the way it felt. It can be that way because its mine. Its ours. And well make it that way.”
“Damn straight.” Seated on the floor at her feet,Zoe gave Danas knee a squeeze.
“Then he shifted to Jordan. Ive got to have a brownie now.” She leaned forward and took one off the plate that
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Malory had loaded with them. “Theres this fabulous bedroom, one of my dream rooms, you know? The place you build in your head if you could have a room done any way you want it? And Jordans kneeling at my feet, like a supplicant. Hes all but in tears, telling me how he loves me, how he cant live without me. All this junk he would never say in a million years. The kind of thing Ive had him say in my head, so I could kick him in the teeth after. Payback stuff.”
She blew out a breath. “Jeez, hes even telling me to kick him, beat him, whatever.” She broke off at the snicker and aimed a look atZoe . Then her lips twitched. “Okay, maybe it is funny when you think about it. The Hawke, weeping at my feet, begging me to let him spend his life worshiping me.”
Malory decided it was time for a brownie as well. “What was he wearing?”
After one long pause, Dana burst out laughing. All the aches, the tension, the illness vanished. “Thanks. Man, when I think I was next to sobbing like a baby. I was even feeling guilty because the deal with Jordan was close to a couple I used to toy around with. How he would realize his horrible mistake, come crawling back and beg. It seems satisfying in your head, you know. But let me tell you, when it really happens—or seems to—its just horrible. So, basically, I told Kane he could kiss my ass, and I was back where Id started.”
Zoetook off Danas shoes and began to rub her feet. “You had a pretty lousy morning.” “Theres one more thing. There was writing on the wall, in this greasy black. „Drown thyself! I painted over it.”
“Thats horrible. He was trying to make you remember the island, the storm,”Zoe muttered. “Hes just huffing and puffing, thats all. He couldnt even make you think anything he did this morning was real. You knew it was him all along.”
“I dont think he wanted it any other way,” Dana mused. “I think he was trying a new line of attack. But the writing? Not about the island. Its a line from Othello. I recognized it almost immediately, just as Ive now realized he knew I would. I went running out of our place like a maniac to get back here and look it up. To look for the key in the book.”
“Its from a book?”Zoe swiveled around to pick up one of the copies from the coffee table. “I dont know how youd remember something like that. Its a real talent. But why would Kane give you a clue to the key?”
“Now, quick wit—thats a real talent.” Dana sighed. “I got suckered in. All I could think was that I knew the line, and how Id been focused on that play, with the wayIago mirrored Kane in so many ways. So I went baring off, half-cocked, sure the key was going to fall right into my hot little hand.”
She flopped back against the seat. “Even when the light finally dawned, I just had to follow through. Hence, half a day wasted chasing the wild goose.”
“Its not wasted if you figured it out. You knew he was lying about the bookstore,” Malory pointed out. “Know the truth from his lies? Isnt that how it went? You did. And you realized hed written a kind of lie to throw you off. But if you hadnt followed through, you wouldnt be sure.”