I want to buy her a Kindle and stuff it with books for her.
I study her profile, the way she hugs the book to her chest like it’s a shield. She’s twenty-two, barely more than a kid, but there’s something in her—sharp, thoughtful, old-soul deep.
“Faith,” I say, half a warning, half a whisper.
She looks at me.
And for a moment, I forget the restaurant, the rules, the years between us—because she’s not what I expected.
“I have books at my place, you’re welcome to borrow anytime.”
Paula is speaking, but I’ve zoned her out until something she says penetrates my haze.
“Kyle said that…if you want to press charges, then?—”
“What do you meanifI want to press charges?” The words taste like rust and regret.
Both Melody and Paula look relieved. Did they think just because Faith and I fucked I would let her get away with stealing?
I was falling in love with her, and…
The floor tilts beneath me. My gut twists.
I don’t want to believe it but the proof has been laid out in front of me and I’m a grown man who doesn’t think with his dick.
I pull out my phone and make the call.
After I tell Kyle that I am indeed pressing charges and want an investigation into the theft of ten thousand dollars, I feel drained. The high I was riding this morning crashes, burning my soul on the way down.
4
BURN IT ALL DOWN
FAITH
I’m still numb when Cain walks into the room.
For a second, my breath catches. He looks tired—drawn in a way I haven’t seen before, like something’s eating him alive from the inside.
He closes the door behind him gently. Too gently. The kind of careful that hides something sharp underneath. He sits down across from me. His eyes are kind. I don’t know what to think.
“Faith,” he says, like my name hurts his mouth.
I sit up straighter, rub my wrists where the metal bit into me hours ago. “I didn’t do it, Cain.”
He sighs, runs a hand through his hair, then leans against the wall across from me. “Look. You give the money back, you leave town, and I won’t press charges.”
The words don’t compute at first. “What?”
“I just need it back. That money—it is everything for the month, Faith. Payroll, inventory, and our liquor license renewal. We’re hanging by a thread.”
He’s talking fast, low, like he’s trying to reason with me. And for a moment, I believe he still sees me—really sees me. The girlhe kissed that morning. The girl who made him coffee with a stupid smile on her face.
“Cain,” I whisper, “I don’t have the money. I didn’t take it. But I?—”
“Please, Faith,” he pleads.
My face crumples as does my heart. “Cain, I don’t have it. If I did, I’d give it all to you.”
