“Great job, son. Mrs. King appreciates it.”
The man mumbles something and rushes back into the building.
When we’re back inside the car, George turns to me from his seat.
“Are you okay?”
“Ask me about that in an hour,” I say with a cackle. My hands are shaking, my heart racing. But I feel victorious holding this little piece of paper that will solve all our problems.
“You were amazing in there.”
“I don’t know about that,” I laugh.
“You were.” He turns back to look up front. “You’re a good match.”
“And you are a sly fox, George.”
I see his smile through the mirror. He doesn’t say a word after that, just quietly drives me to Ezra’s building.
51
Maeve
I’m on the warpath. After calling and texting Ezra multiple times on the way to his office with no response, I’m ready to throttle him.
My excitement about delivering the good news has turned into a desire to claw his eyes out. He didn’t come back home yesterday, and now he’s ignoring me completely the whole morning. What in the ever-loving hell is happening? By the time I get to his floor, I’m fuming.
I find Martin at his desk. He’s finishing a phone call and shows me with his raised finger to give him a second. Once he puts it down, he interlocks his fingers in front of his face to rest his chin on them.
“Dear, you look like an Amazon ready to chop off some big balls.” His eyes run down my height, and he winces. “Well, a very short Amazon, but a little warrior regardless. What happened?”
With my lips pinched together, I walk up to his desk. “What’s he doing?” I nod at the closed door.
Martin leans a little closer to me and whispers, “I have no idea. He’s been cooped up in there all morning. And when I tried to peek inside, he nearly bit my head off. I mean, he’s always grumpy, especially in the morning. But it’s a whole new level even for him.”
“He’s been ignoring my calls and messages the whole morning. On top of not sleeping at home.” I glance toward his office, chewing on my lip. “And he’s been acting weird for days.”
Martin’s gaze follows mine for a moment before it returns to me. “What about, you know, the yesterday thing?” His voice trails off at the end.
I wave my hand in the air dismissively. “I overheard their talk in the hallway on the way to the bathroom.”
“Their?”
“Yes. Him and his supposed mistress,” I explain.
Martin’s eyes turn round. “I can’t believe that,” he nearly whispers. “I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I just?—”
“Martin,” I call him out before he goes down this rabbit hole and Ezra is forever tainted in Martin’s eyes. “He told her that all he wants is me.”
“Oh!” His eyes widen as his tone turns lighter. “That makes more sense.Because I was sure I was right.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing!” He smiles with all his seventy teeth—that’s how many it feels like. His smile is that of a shark.
“Martin,” I start with a warning.
He sighs with obvious defeat as if I’ve just tortured the answer out of him, even though he didn’t fight very hard. “I used to bring him coffee in the morning. Right from your shop,” he adds with a raised brow.
