Chapter 20
20
Morning dawned with a horrible headache and little clarity. A terrible pit had opened in Tovah’s soul, right in that spot between the heart and stomach. Every piece of anatomy in that area felt as if it wanted to grind on itself.
Judging from the way the sunlight filtered into the room, it had to be at least ten or eleven. Damn, she’d slept half the day away and Rose had let her.
Tovah rolled over in bed and put her hand over her head. Yep, still felt horrible.
This was so much worse than she felt after Vincenzo stuck it to her. Maybe because in the back of her mind she’d never trusted him. He hadn’t been her choice in the first place. Hadn’t been a man to catch her attention or imagination. He’d been convenient and hadn’t required her to do any real work to obtain him.
And wow…wasn’t that shit behavior from her.
Didn’t excuse anything he did to her or her parents’ reactions, but it did explain some things.
Why should he have given two shits about the relationship if she had put so little effort into it as well?
No wonder he was hot to get her to help him with his sexual difficulties—she finally had looked interesting to him. By standing up to all those around her, for showing an effort and passion about something, she’d gone from some tepid beige personality to a flaming red.
Buyer’s remorse? Maybe a bit of that. Or in this case, loser’s remorse. Vincenzo couldn’t stand the fact he was losing someone who actually stood up to Warren Reese.
Tovah rose and went to wash her face and wake up a bit. Her head continued to pound. What she probably needed was a massage, caffeine, a chiropractor, or all three.
Rose wasn’t home. Where in the hell had the old woman gotten to?
After putting water on for tea, she found a note on the bar.
Lois took me to therapy. I thought you needed rest. Love, the OG.
Tovah bit her lip to keep from laughing. Did Grandma know what OG meant? Knowing her, she probably did and meant it to bring a smile to Tovah’s face.
Of course, in Rose’s case, it might mean Old Grandma. However, no matter her age, Rose would never be old. She was a goddamned immortal.
Since coming home, Rose hadn’t spent much time with her friends. Maybe they’d make an afternoon of it and stop for lunch somewhere. Tovah picked up her phone and sent a quick text to her grandma saying that very thing. Enjoy time with her friend and don’t hurry home—unless her leg started to bother her.
No immediate response came. If she was in the middle of therapy, then there wouldn’t be one. Rose tended to be extremely focused during her sessions, even if she did complain about having to go.
At a loose end for the morning, Tovah got ready to leave. Maybe she’d spend the day baking. That would be a good use of time and keep her from thinking about what was going on with Zach’s situation. If he wanted her to know, he’d tell her.
The grocery store was crowded. People were out shopping for the weekend. With it getting close to the holidays, Tovah wasn’t the only one who had some baking in mind.
Baking—cooking in general—had always been one of those things that her family had hired people to do, which only made Tovah gravitate toward it. Mysteries were found and uncovered in the kitchen. Seeing it as a chore her family found beneath them somehow made it more attractive to learn. Once she learned, she loved it. Found it soothing.
Tovah got a cart and went straight to the baking aisle. More exotic ingredients and elaborate displays had been added in order to accommodate specialty items.
She stood looking at a rack of high-end chocolate morsels. Maybe a batch of double-chocolate brownies was in order. Pair it with some salted caramel ice cream, and oh my that sounded like something her soul needed to soothe over the rough patches.
She dropped the bag in her buggy and continued down the aisle, picking up more flour, some sugar, maybe some coconut.
“You making all those for Zach?”
Tovah glanced up to find Dirx standing next to her with a small basket.
“Oh. Hello.” It took her a few seconds to process his question. “No.”
Too perceptive for his own good, Dirx cocked his head. “Trouble?”
“No.” She grasped for something more to say that didn’t sound defensive or as if she spilled the tea. “How’s Ian?”
A small smile ticked up the corner of his mouth. “He’s good. He asked about you.”
Tovah laughed. “You’ll have to bring him around. Maybe I’ll get some pumpkin and make him some homemade treats.”
“That’s really nice of you.” Then he frowned. “Are you sure everything’s all right.”
“Absolutely duckie.” A pinch of guilt hit her at how their date had ended a few months back. “Look, Dirx, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry if I opened any old wounds for you that day we went riding. It wasn’t my intention. You’re a great guy and I wouldn’t have hurt you for the world.”
“It’s all right. It made me put things in perspective.” He glanced down into his basket. “You’re a real sweetheart. Zach’s a lucky guy.”
A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed around it. “Zach is Zach. I’m nothing special to him. He made that clear from day one. No hard feelings.”
Dirx looked surprised. “You sure about that?”
“About no hard feelings? Yeah, positive.” Tovah grappled for a way to extricate herself from a conversation that was fast sliding into way uncomfortable territory. “Look, I’m sorry but I need to get home before my grandma does. She’s at therapy at the moment.”
“Oh, yeah. Tell Miss Rose I said hello.”
She didn’t know why that took her aback. Figured Rose knew all of Zach’s friends. They’d probably been over to the house.
“I will.” She waved as she walked away with a fractured smile in place.
God, that was the very definition of awkward. She hated saying even that much about her and Zach, but Dirx had mentioned it and Tovah didn’t want anyone to think she clung to the illusion that Zach and her were a thing.
Because they weren’t.
They were neighbors. Really, in name only.
Maybe she should think about getting her own place close by—well, it never hurt to look into it. Even if she couldn’t move immediately due to Rose still needing her.
She’d leave that until after the holidays.
Miserable didn’t even begin to cover it. Fuck’s sake he had better days when he was being starved and beaten on a regular basis back home. At least this time he was able to fight back and find his own meals.
In total, five different calls from lawyers had come in. All of them were ones that Tovah had suggested. Thinking about her twisted the knife that felt lodged between his ribs a little tighter and deeper.
He finally settled on a Darla Weisbach. They spoke over a video conference while he gave her the pertinent details of the case and how the university hadn’t done their due diligence before asking for his resignation. That part had narrowed her witchy eyes and made a smile form on her resting bitch face.
No doubt that Darla was a shark in heels.
“I will need the entire story as to why they believe you were with a student. As the saying goes, where there’s smoke there’s fire . What was your fire, Zach?”
He let out a breath. No way in hell did he want to drag Tovah into it, but she was already in it. If he thought he might be able to protect her from the investigation portion, he’d keep his mouth shut. But no, at least this much he had to tell.
The long pause made Darla moan. “There was a relationship? An impropriety?”
“Not with anyone underage. A nontraditional student. Mid-thirties. My neighbor, who just happened to have one of my night classes. Someone saw us together after the end of the semester.”
She tapped deep-ruby lips. “Hmm. I can work with this.” She looked down as she wrote something on a paper in front of her. “You have to promise me this is the only one.”
Pride made him nearly choke on the truth of the other problems stirred up because of his position. Better to go with full disclosure than have Darla find out later from someone else.
“One’s I’ve been seen with yes. There is a question of harassment from an unknown source. Notes, pictures, texts from unfamiliar numbers, sexually explicit pics sent to my phone. I had to change numbers and phones. It’s with a security expert I know who is trying to uncover the person responsible.”
Darla let out a breath. “This might muddy the waters, but also gives us a bit of latitude to show there might be someone sending false accusations out of jealousy.”
“Might be?” Zach questioned with more than a bit of heat behind the words. “Try—are.”
“I’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise.” She signed off saying she’d be in touch.
Not helpful. He wanted them put down like rapid dogs. The fact he was even doing this the proper way instead of going scorched earth with his brothers was a miracle.
No sooner had he ended the call with Darla than his phone buzzed.
What in the hell is going on?
The text came from Dirx.
Since Zach was confident that Bach hadn’t said anything about the case, how had Dirx found out anything had been going on?
Zach asked as much.
Ran into Tovah at the store.
And just like that he was falling into the sofa and burying his head in his hands again. He’d woken up feeling like a damn fool. As if he’d let the most important thing to ever happen to him get away.
He might regret his, but he typed: what did she say?
Not what she said, but how she looked.
At that moment, a car pulled up outside. Judging from the low engine noise it was Tovah’s. He went to the window and watched her get out then start pulling grocery bags from the back.
Her hair was pulled up off her face with soft little tendrils framing it. Dark sunglasses hid her eyes, but her mouth was turned down at the corners as if she was living with nothing but regrets.
The pull to go outside and help her as he had before rose. Hell, just seeing her made him want to walk outside and speak with her. Tell her that he wanted to make it up to her. But he couldn’t. There would be no making this up if she was in danger. Not that there had been any threats, but he really had no idea of knowing at this point. Generally speaking, stalking, staking out someone’s home was a quick trip to escalation. He’d already had someone going through his house once.
Zach returned to his phone and typed out a text.
How did she look?
Sad.
It became harder to swallow. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the sofa. The last thing he’d wanted was to break her heart. Going in, he knew she wasn’t like his other women. Tovah had a gentle soul and pure heart. She played a good part of being the tough, no-nonsense woman she pretended. But her eyes and the tilt of her head told a different story.
She’d been hurt by her family, her ex-fiancé and still she acted as if it was just a part of life. But he knew the act for what it was—had played it too many times himself.
A familiar bike rolled down the street and into his driveway. Bach.
He opened the door and met him on the porch. “What have you found?”
“That the person used an app and computer to change the phone number when they texted you.” Bach lifted a shoulder. “It’s not that difficult to use or trace for a professional.”
“So, who was it?”
“I didn’t get there yet. I’m still untangling it.” He looked next door. “I’m more worried about what I found once I hacked into the computer.”
“Tovah?” His heart sank. His mind splintered. Wait? Was Bach trying to tell him that Tovah was the one creeping on him?
“Let’s go over and talk to her.”
The temptation to send Bach over by himself was great. Being a coward wasn’t his way, but if she had anything to do with this then he was not going to be responsible for his actions.
Zach didn’t bother to grab a jacket. His anger was enough to keep him warm. What in the actual hell? They climbed the stairs and Zach rang the doorbell.
It opened a few seconds later. Trixie started mewing for him. He didn’t pick her up this time and simply stared at Tovah, waiting for her to start with flimsy explanations.
But she didn’t.
“Oh, God. What’s happened?” She opened the door wider for them to both come in. Her gaze moved to Bach. “I’d say it’s good to see you, but I don’t think I’m going to like what you have to say.”
“Is there someplace I can put this computer where we can all see?” Bach stood in the middle of the living room looking around.
Tovah pointed to the bar. “Yes, over here. Do you need anything else? Can I get you anything?”
Bach shook his head. “I want to show you something.”
“Ok.” Tovah played with a necklace at her throat while she watched Bach fire up the computer. Her attention never roved to Zach. Not once.
Hell, talk about avoidance. And yeah, Dirx had been right. She looked sad as hell. On top of that, now she looked scared, heading toward confrontational.
Bach clicked a few commands and page after page of information on Tovah filled the screen.
The frown she sent Bach illustrated she had no idea what was going on.
“My social media pages and stuff about my family’s business. I don’t see what’s suspicious or earth shattering about any of it.” Her gaze finally strayed to Zach for answers.
Zach ground his back teeth together. This was worse than he had ever anticipated. “Tell her.”
“Whoever harassed Zach had all this on their computer when I hacked it.”
Her gaze moved from one man to another. Comprehension dawned, but in the completely wrong direction. “And you think this proves that I’m behind it?” The question was said with a slightly clipped pattern, suggesting she was about to blow a gasket.
Bach shook his head. “On the contrary. I know you’re not.” He clicked a few more buttons and pictures came up of Tovah. Random shots of her walking across campus, sitting in the library studying, crossing the yard to and from Zach’s.
The color drained from her face, and she sat on a barstool.
“Oh, my God.”