Heartless by Robin Knight

Author:Robin Knight [Knight, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Squid INQ Press
Published: 2023-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

We worked all morning and well into the afternoon on the Shady Elm and Rudenko files. Sometime after three we all realized we hadn’t had lunch yet. Jax offered to do a deli run while Ashton and I continued working.

Once Jax was gone, Ashton paced the room making phone calls, while I built a critical path spreadsheet listing all our tasks between now and the auction of the property, until—

“I don’t remember much… or anything… about last night.”

I wasn’t listening at first, I thought Ashton was still on a call.

Ashton took a seat opposite me. “Bailey?”

“Oh sorry, you’re talking to me?”

“Yes. I’m sorry too, I probably don’t talk to you enough. I just wanted to say, well, thank you for getting me back and forth to the hospital these past couple of days. I’m not used to being looked after.”

I smiled. “That’s okay. I’ll do whatever it takes to look after you.”

“Which brings me to last night. I don’t really remember what happened.”

“Oh… well… I got you home from the hospital, then you got yourself into bed while I organized your medication. That’s about it, really. You were exhausted. The drugs had totally taken hold of you.”

“Good,” he said, relief obvious on his face. “I wasn’t sure if… if I said or did anything inappropriate.”

“No. Not at all,” I happily lied.

“That’s good. Not that I would ever do or say anything inappropriate. I’m your boss. I would never want to overstep the mark or jeopardize our working relationship.”

Suddenly I wished I’d taken a chance while I had the chance.

Suddenly I wished I’d chosen danger over caution at the crossroads last night.

Inside my chest, my brittle heart fractured a little. “No. I completely agree.” Then, out of the blue, I felt the need to tell him— “You did show me your chest scar, though.”

The look of relief on his face turned to mortification. “I did? Oh shit. Did I tell you…”

“Enough,” I nodded. “That you’d had a heart transplant.”

“Nobody but Victor knows that. I’d prefer to keep it that way… you understand.”

“Of course.”

He flopped his head into his hands. “God, I can’t believe I actually told you about that. What else did I say?”

I paused a moment. “Nothing. You were pretty high on all the pills, you really weren’t making much sense.”

“I didn’t embarrass myself, did I? I didn’t get… you know… overly confident, did I?”

“You’re always overly confident.”

“Not in a work way. I mean…” He seemed like he was wrestling with his own thoughts. He looked away from me. That’s when he finally caught sight of the terrarium on the windowsill. “That thing’s back,” he said.

“It’s called a terrarium.”

“Yes, I know. I thought…”

“You told me to get rid of it.” A wave of courage swept through me. “But if I’m honest, it was a birthday gift. From me to you. It’s something that my grandmother made for you.”

“Your grandmother made it? For me?”

“I guess I talk about you a lot at home.”

“You live with your grandmother?”

“You know that. I’ve told you that before.

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