11. Stefan #2
“I was going to surprise my wife and take her out for lunch,” I went on, then gestured toward the classroom behind us. “She’s usually in that class with you, right?”
“Yeah, usually,” the woman said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and giving me a more attentive once-over. “But not today. I haven’t seen her since Monday afternoon. Actually, she was…never mind.”
“She was what?” I prodded.
Shrugging, she glanced away, suddenly very focused on her nails. Evading me, obviously. Trying to cover for Tori. Or covering up something, at any rate.
Thinking back, Monday was when I’d taken Max to the zoo. I’d gone home and talked to Tori, told her about my day, invited her to the family dinner at my father’s on Tuesday. She’d agreed. Everything had seemed fine between us. Strained, but there’d been no red flags.
“Did she seem…upset?” I asked, trying again.
The woman went quiet all of a sudden. “I should go. I’m gonna be late for my next class.”
“Wait. Please. I won’t tell her you said anything,” I assured her. “The thing is—I think she’s pissed at me, and you know how she gets all distant when she’s upset about something.”
“Yeah. That’s exactly Tori,” she agreed. “Look, do you want to walk with me? It’s the Social Sciences building, so I have a few minutes. I’m Audrey, by the way.”
I nodded, and we started walking. “I just want to figure this out. Make it right.”
“I get it.” Audrey adjusted her scarf as we stepped outside, took a few moments to think, and then finally said, “Okay, so. She seemed kind of weird about that picture of you and the brunette that went up online, in The Dirt? She told us that you guys were old friends, but—”
“We are,” I interrupted. “There’s nothing else going on. Tori and I discussed it already.”
“Cool then,” Audrey said. “The thing is, the last time I saw her—on Monday—she was with Gavin.”
“Gavin Chase?” I said, keeping my voice steady despite the fact that my gut was twisting.
“Yeah,” Audrey said, looking apologetic. “They were sitting on that bench over there.” She pointed across the quad. “She seemed distraught, honestly. He was sort of…holding her.”
I saw red. But I was also crushed. How could I have been so stupid? Of course Gavin had been there for Tori in her time of need. I hadn’t even seen how upset she was, but Gavin had.
My anguish must have been obvious, because Audrey reached out and patted my arm.
“Sorry, man,” she said. “This is me, though. I gotta go.” She gestured at the building.
“Thanks for your help,” I choked out.
“No problem. Hope you guys work it out,” she said, and then walked away.
For a second I just stood there, frozen. Gavin. Fucking. Chase.
I pulled out my phone and called the asshole.
He didn’t answer and my rage grew. I never should have trusted him.
In my gut, I’d known that allying with him might be something I regretted.
That getting him involved in my life and my attempt to take down KZM from the inside had been a calculated risk—one that now made me feel like I’d made a deal with the devil.
Beyond enraged, I walked back to the quad outside of Stuart and confronted Bruce. “Did you see Tori in the arms of Gavin Chase on Monday?” I demanded.
He paused and I clenched my jaw, already knowing what his answer would be.
“You told me to keep her safe,” Bruce finally responded. “And you told me Gavin Chase was someone we could trust—someone who would keep her safe, too. You didn’t tell me to report on what she did with the man.”
It was true. I’d said all of those things to Bruce, thinking I could trust Gavin. No, that wasn’t true. I’d never fully trusted him. But I had trusted Tori. I’d believed her when she’d said there was nothing going on. That Gavin was interested, but the feelings weren’t mutual.
“If you want me to report on her activities in the future, say the word. But the job as I understood it was to ensure Tori’s safety,” Bruce reminded me.
“And you’ve done a great job of that, haven’t you?” I lashed out.
Bruce cleared his throat. “As much as you may not want to hear this,” he said, “in my professional opinion, Tori’s probably exactly where she wants to be. Nothing about this says abduction to me. Professionally speaking. I apologize if I’m overstepping here.”
He spread his hands and took a step back. Though Bruce hadn’t touched me, I felt like I’d gotten the wind knocked out of me. His words were a confirmation of exactly what I had feared.
I’d thought I could trust her. I’d thought I could believe her.
The first time I’d confronted her about Gavin, she’d made excuses. Had reasons for why they were caught kissing in a public space. Gavin had been the one to make the move, she’d said. She’d rebuffed him immediately after.
But now?
Now I didn’t know who or what to believe. Not when she had been caught in Gavin’s arms again, just before disappearing. They obviously had a relationship.
And it was because of me. I was the one who’d enabled them to get together. By arranging for Tori to pass information along to Gavin. I never should have used him as an intermediator. Never should have depended on the relationship between Gavin and Tori to get back at my father.
I was furious at Bruce for keeping this crucial and damning information from me.
Furious at my father for doing everything he could to meddle in my personal life and chase my wife away.
And Anja—she’d returned at the worst possible time, after years of keeping my son away from me.
I was glad to have Max in my life, but Anja had wrecked my marriage.
I was also livid over the way Gavin and Tori had deceived me.
Infuriated by their lies, by Tori’s cheating.
But mostly, I was furious at myself.
I had all but pushed Tori straight into Gavin’s arms. It was my fault I hadn’t been able to hold onto the best thing in my life.
I should have realized it was too good to be true from the beginning.
I never should have allowed myself to fall in love with Tori.
Never should have allowed myself to be open and vulnerable with someone; should have learned my lesson the first time, with Anja.
When you loved someone, they always left you.
Giving someone your heart meant that they had the power to break it. And I was fucking broken.
From now on, though, I was done with that.
For good this time.
Fuck love, I thought to myself. And fuck Tori.