Page 110 of Maid For Each Other
The fucking bracelet.
She’d left them all behind.
I’d walked over and picked up the bracelet, remembering how hard she’d cried when I’d given it to her.
Why the hell would she leave it behind?
And the money? It didn’t make any sense, since that was the whole point of this arrangement.
But as I sat there with the golden trinket in my hand, I realized what it meant.
She wanted no connection to me.
It was a massive severance of ties.
Abi would rather walk away from all those “valuables” than keep me—the real-life Connor—in her life.
“She fulfilled her part of the agreement, and then she left the money behind because she wanted to wash her hands of thisthatbadly.”
“Wait a minute—she seriously left the money behind?” he asked, shocked. “Like, she didn’t cash the check?”
“Didn’t even take it with her,” I said, my gut churning as I pictured it sitting there with the jewelry. “She left it on the side of the bed, and if that’s not a message, I don’t know what is.”
“Are you fucking serious?” he said, his voice almost a yell as he looked at me with wild eyes.
“No, I’m making up the whole story. Of course I’m serious.”
“Oh, my God, you’re so stupid, Dex,” he said, digging his hands into his hair as he continued staring at me like I was insane.
“Thanks. This definitely helps my mood.”
“No, you fucking moron,” he said. “Why would she leave the money—think about it. You two had an agreement and she fulfilled it. If she had zero feelings for you, she would’ve taken the money because it was just like a job. The only reason somebody would change their mind and not take the money, especially that much money, is if theydidhave feelings for you.”
I frowned. “Wait. What?”
“Think about the girl you met. You needed a favor and she demanded money. You guys shook on it and boom—thatgirl would take the money. Now think of the girl you spent time with in New York. That is the girl whodidn’ttake the money. And the only reason she wouldn’t take money, in my opinion, is if it felt gross taking money from someone she had feelings for.”
My head started pounding and I rubbed my forehead, feeling off-kilter.
Because I didn’t think he was right, yet I also felt like there was something there. Something to the question of why she wouldn’t take the money.
It seemed like, now that Roman had said it out loud, if Abi just wanted to wash her hands of me, she actuallywould’vetaken the money and dipped, right?
But the story.
“I couldn’t have gotten it this wrong,” I said, looking at him. “Could I?”
“I think you could. And remember the day I ran into her at Benny’s and she had zero interest in being my fake girlfriend for Kennedy’s wedding?”
“No,” I said, trying to recall. “What are you talking about?”
“I told you I went to Benny’s, didn’t I?” he said. He obviously thought he’d already told me about whatever the hell this was.
“What were you doing at Benny’s?”
“I always go there for supplements. Their prices are way better than everywhere else. I think they get them whole—”
“Are you serious right now?” I interrupted, desperate for him to get to the actual story.
