“Okay, Romeo,” Layla said sarcastically. “I got coffee and muffins in the den.”
“Muffins? Who made them?” he asked.
“I did. Fresh this morning,” she answered.
His head twisted as bewilderment clouded his eyes. “When did you learn how to cook?”
Layla was taken aback by the question. Izabella seemed to be, too.
“Mommy cooks all the time. She’s the best cook in the world,” Keisha bragged.
“Thank you, baby. My little girl is so smart,” Layla said smugly.
“Si, she’s an excellent cook,” Izabella added.
“Wow. I’ve got to taste these muffins,” he remarked with disbelief.
“Follow me,” Layla said.
Bruce said something in Spanish to Izabella with a smirk on his face.
She bashfully said something in Spanish back.
He finally tore himself away from Izabella to follow her. He let her walk in first. When she turned around, he was slowly closing the sliding doors between the rooms. “I thought you’d be here alone.”
“On a Tuesday, this is as alone as we are going to get. Have a seat.”
They sat down at the same time on the sofa.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“Sure.”
She poured two cups of coffee as Bruce picked up a muffin. He carefully bit into it. His eyes widened. “This is actually good,” he said with shock.
“Of course, they are,” she said. “Why do you think I can’t cook?”
He snorted. “You couldn’t boil an egg in college, literally.”
“That is so odd. Damien told me I liked to cook, and the first time I tried after the accident, I burnt everything. I got better, but I thought it was because I was remembering how to cook. But you are saying that I never knew in the first place.”
“That’s right. You must have learned and got better at it.”
First her name, then her parents, and now her cooking. What else had Damien made up about her? “I see,” she said, pushing Damien’s deception on the back burner for the time being. “Now, how did you know that I talked to Carter Mitchell yesterday?”
“The short answer is that the boys in Washington had finally got a tap on his phone. Granted, it probably won’t last long because Carter likes switching up on them, but—”
“Wait,” she said as horror crept into her stomach. “You mean the FBI heard me having phone sex?”
“Yes and no. Only two people heard it, and I’m one of them. The guy who sent me the audio did me a favor and erased the part where you and Carter . . . had a little fun.”
Layla put her hand on her head. She had never been so relieved and embarrassed at the same time in her life – as far as she knew.
“Why in the hell did you call him in the first place?” he asked as he took a bigger bite of the muffin.
“I thought if I spoke to him again, it would trigger a memory about him. I did not call with the intentions of . . . anything happening.”
He swallowed the rest of the muffin. “Okay, but you have to find another way to ‘trigger’ your memories,” he said with his mouth full. “You can’t call him again. It’s too dangerous.”
After the memory she had yesterday, she no longer doubted that Carter was dangerous. “I understand. I won’t call him again.”
Bruce’s head cocked to the side. “Really? That was easy. I thought I would have to argue with you. There are times you can be a bit headstrong.”
Layla’s face scrunched up at the statement. “How well did you know me in college?”
“We were friends. I mean, you were dating my best friend, so we got to know each other pretty well. That’s why I’m here. Since you are so desperate to remember your past life, I’ve come here to offer my assistance.”
“What changed your mind?”
“You sniffing around Carter. If he gets a whiff that you are remembering things, he’ll take you out. Plain and simple. I don’t think Alec can stand losing you twice. True, you two aren’t together and you’re married, but he still cares. And I do, too. You were a good friend, and I don’t want to see anything happen to you.” He picked up another muffin.
Layla could tell he was sincere. “Did Alec say that he still cared about me?” For someone she had only conversed with once in the present, she had started to care for Alec. She was concerned about him.
“No, but I can tell. I’ve known him since our freshman year. After you two broke up, he was angry and depressed for almost three months. But he got out of the funk. He started dating again, but he only kept the girls for a few months. There were times we took girls out on double dates. He liked them, but he wasn’t the same with them as he was with you.”
“In college, did we sleep together?”
“Hell no, we never slept together. You were Alec’s girl. I’m not that low down.”
“I didn’t mean you, you big ox. I meant, did Alec and I sleep together in college? Did he confide in you about that?”
Bruce smiled. “I think you remember more than you realize. You always called me a big ox when I was annoying you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, but I’ll answer your question. We were roommates in off-campus housing in our junior and senior year. I had offered to go out for a few hours so you two could be alone together. He told me not to put myself out because he was waiting until you were ready.”
“Was . . . he a virgin?” Layla knew these were personal questions, but she wanted to know all she could about her past relationship with Alec.
“No. He had told me a while back that his first time was in high school at his senior prom.”
“I see. So what happened to make me break up with him? I mean, I know I left Alec for Carter, but why? It couldn’t have been just about money.”
“That’s what you told Alec. But I suspected there was more. Alec is a good and simple, all-American guy. My guess is that he didn’t have the ‘excitement’ factor. Carter took you to elegant restaurants, fancy vacations, bought you expensive jewelry and clothes. He . . . taught you how to shoot.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“You told us when you decided to leave Carter. You told us almost everything you knew about him.”
Her eyebrows went up. “So, I turned on him?”
Bruce bit into the muffin and set it down. “You had to. You were so good with a gun he wanted you to become his own private hit man, sort of speak. You couldn’t bring yourself to do it, which pissed him off. Then when you found out that Carter was letting his street guys sell dope to pregnant women and pre-teens, you snapped. It was too much for you. When you confronted him and asked him to stop selling it to kids, he said no. You threatened to leave him if he didn’t. He got so mad that he . . . punched you a couple of times and said that if you ever left him, he would kill you before he let another man have you. It scared you enough to make you finally comprehend that Carter was a monster. And you knew he meant what he said. You contacted Alec and asked for his help.”
“And he helped me.”
“Yes, he flew to New York to meet you.” Bruce picked up the coffee cup and took a sip out of it.
“What happened then?”
“You know, you should ask Alec this stuff.” He sipped out of his coffee cup again.
“You said you came here to fill in the blanks.”
“I did, honey, and I’m trying to. But I wasn’t brought in until you were at the safe house.”
“So I was under protective custody.”
“Until Carter could be arrested and put on trial. You knew so much that you could take the entire Mitchell family down. Send them to prison forever. But he had moles almost everywhere. Still does. The longer he stays in operation, the more powerful he becomes, and the longer his range of influence grows.”
Layla squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, god. Maybe that’s why Damien told me that my name was Layla. He didn’t want Carter to find me.”
“Maybe, bu
t you’ll have to ask him to be sure. I can’t believe you haven’t confronted him already.”
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Why?”
“First, I haven’t been honest either. You see, I haven’t told him that I was trying to recover my memories. In the past, when I had mentioned seeing a psychiatrist, he would get very angry. But I couldn’t keep moving forward anymore – the not knowing was killing me. So I’m a hypocrite. I have lied, too.”
“Not the same.”
“Maybe not, but I also need more information before I confront him.”
“Like what?” Bruce asked.
“Well, for one thing, I haven’t had one memory of him. I have recovered memories of girls in college whose names I don’t know, you, Alec, his parents, my parents, Carter, and some random people along the way whose names are not known, but I haven’t had one memory of Damien and me and how we met. When was the first time we made love? When was Keisha conceived?”
“I have to admit, that’s odd,” Bruce said and sipped his coffee again. Then he picked up the muffin he was nibbling on. “Have you asked your therapist about why you haven’t had memories of Damien?”
“No.”
“I would if I were you. And you know something else? My bullshit detector is going off. Part of the reason why you haven’t confronted Damien is because you are afraid of the answers – I know you’re not afraid of him. The Lana Murphy I knew wasn’t afraid of shit.”
“Really? Well, it’s obvious that Lana is dead and gone because I’m afraid now. I’m terrified that I could have put my family in danger by . . . contacting Carter. I’m afraid that you are right about me not confronting Damien. I am scared about what his answers will be. I’m troubled that . . . that Alec will hate me to his grave for hurting him. I’m afraid that I’ll never see the light-skinned woman known as my mother again. And I’m afraid that I screwed up my life so much that there’s no going back.”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s not too late. I believe you’ll recover your memories if you continue your course. And stop being afraid. If you have any trouble, just call me, and I’ll be here lickety-split. Okay?”
She looked up into Bruce’s brown eyes. They were full of understanding and empathy. “Okay.”
“Good, now, let me eat the rest of this muffin.”
Layla laughed. “You like them, I take it?”
“You’re damn straight. And this coffee is great. Where did you get it?”
“I buy hazelnut coffee beans and grind them in a coffee grinder. I had it at my friend’s house last year. She said coffee was a lot better at home when you grind the beans yourself.”
They chatted casually as they drank coffee, and Bruce ate all the muffins on the tray. He asked for more. Since he liked them so much, Layla decided to give him the last six she had.
They walked to the kitchen. She was wrapping the muffins up for him.
“You know, I think I can arrange a little meet-up between you and Alec. If you’re interested,” he said nonchalantly.
She turned around to face him. Bruce had a smirk on his face. “I am, but I don’t want to ambush him. I don’t want to force myself on him if he doesn’t want to see me.” Alec had every reason to want to stay away from her.
“He wants to see you. He’s just too proud to admit. When you resurfaced, we tailed you for a few days.”
“What?”
“For your own protection, we found out that you were alive at the same time Carter did.”
“At the auction,” she asked.
“Yes. We figured that he saw your picture online promoting the auction.”
“Is the FBI still following me?”
“No. It was light surveillance. Just to make sure Carter didn’t send someone to . . . make you disappear. Anyway, I can tell Alec misses seeing you every day. After all, you had been missing for four years.”
“That’s another thing. What happened? How did my car accident happen? The county deputy who investigated couldn’t find the car, and Damien couldn’t remember where it was exactly.”
“That’s something you can ask Alec when you see him,” Bruce answered.
“Oh you’re impossible,” she said with annoyance and turned back around to finish wrapping up the muffins. “You know, I shouldn’t even give you these.”
Bruce laughed. “You’re definitely sounding like your old self.” He leaned against the counter. “Come on, let’s get you two crazy kids in a room together.”
She looked at him like he was nuts. “Have you’ve forgotten that I’m married?”
“No,” he answered. “I’m not suggesting you two do anything other than talk. If anything, maybe it will make you both feel better. Hell, talking to him might trigger some more memories for you.”
Layla considered what Bruce said. She turned her attention to him. “All right, what’s your plan for getting him to see me?”
“He has gone to Orlando for the day to visit his parents. He’ll probably be back around nine or ten tonight.”
“Probably?”
“Give or take an hour. Since your hubby is conveniently out of town for the night, you can go over to Alec’s apartment.”
“You’ve seemed to have forgotten that I have a three-year-old child. I can’t leave her here alone. Izabella leaves at six at the latest.”
“Can you ask her to stay a few hours?”
“No, the bus stops running in this neighborhood at nine.”
“Ask her to spend the night.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why?”
“It’s short notice. Plus, she has a life of her own.”
“Ask her. I’m sure she’ll be happy to do it. You said that she knew what you were going through with your amnesia.”
“Well, I’ve never asked her to spend the night before. She’s only been working for us for five months.”
“And it’s obvious that you trust her.”
“I do.”
“Look, if she can’t, I’ll watch the little munchkin.”
“Keisha doesn’t know you. She’s apprehensive about strangers.”
“Just ask Izabella.”
“All right, I will. But if I show up at his apartment and he doesn’t want to talk to me, I’m not going to force it. From what I’ve remembered, I hurt him enough.”
“Wear something sexy.”
“Bruce–” she began to protest
“If you do, he won’t be able to say no.”
“I’m not going to tease him.”
“You won’t be teasing him. You’ll just be your pretty lookin’ self. Hey, are those chocolate chip cookies in that thing?” He was focusing on a clear glass container sitting on the granite countertop.
“Yes, I baked them this week.”
“From scratch?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I want some of those to go, too.”
“Oh my God, look, I’ll go along with you plan, just get out of my kitchen while I have food left,” she said exasperatedly.
Bruce laughed loudly.
Chapter 23
The temperature had dropped to sixty degrees, which was freezing cold to Floridians. Alec had gotten back from Orlando an hour ago. He had gone there to spend the day with his parents. They had grilled out. Alec and Lucky had swum in his parents’ pool with the neighbors’ two kids. They had moved in across the street three months ago.
When he had gotten home, Bruce had called him to see what he was doing. Alec invited him over for a drink if he didn’t have a date tonight. Bruce said he was free for the evening and accepted the invite. He told Alec that he’d be there in an hour.
Alec was getting out of the shower. He toweled himself off, then wrapped the thick, red cloth around his waist. Then he used a small, black comb to tame his wet, brown hair. When he opened the bathroom door, someone knocked on the front door. Lucky started barking.
“Hell, Bruce is a little early,” Alec mumbled. It was a good
thing he had stocked up on alcohol. Sometimes Bruce liked to alternate between beer and gin in an evening.
Lucky kept barking.
“I heard the door,” Alec said as he walked past the dog.
Lucky quieted down and stood next to the sofa watching the door.
“Hey, buddy,” Alec began to say as he started unlocking the door. “You’re so early you caught me in the buff.” He opened the door and stilled like a doe who had just been found.
Lana stood in his doorway wearing dark burgundy pants that looked like they had been painted on, black stiletto heels with straps, and a white fuzzy jacket that was zipped up. Her dark, straight hair grazed her shoulders. She was holding a high-end black purse. Lana’s mouth, which had dropped open at the shock of him answering the door in nothing but a towel, was red and pouty. Her makeup was flawless, just like it had been years ago.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. . . I didn’t mean to disturb you,” she stuttered.
He cleared his throat and willed himself to speak. “How . . . did you know where I lived?”
Her lips formed a little smile. “Bruce.”
I’m going to kill him.
“I know this is a surprise. Trust me, when I woke up this morning, the last place I thought I would be tonight was a man’s apartment.”
Alec continued to stare at her. “And the last person I thought I would see tonight was you.”
“Look, I know I caught you off-guard. I had been afraid that . . . dropping in on you like this would be a mistake, but Bruce seemed to think this was the best course of action.”
I’m going to kill him.
“I see. So, I take it he’s not coming over for that drink.”
She shook her beautiful head from side to side.
Alec nodded curtly.
“I’m not going to force you to talk to me. If you want me to go, I will. No argument. But I hope you don’t send me away. I . . . I need answers only you can provide,” she said softly.
He let his eyes travel up her luscious body. Then he met her soft, vulnerable eyes. Alec knew it could be a big mistake to let her in, but he also knew that he would regret it if he didn’t.
Struggling to shake of the woody that was starting to grow, he said, “Come in.” He stood aside to let her cross the threshold.
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