a bound leather journal on the table. “Read it, Gio. It says after he planted the bomb he saw a woman who looked similar to Mira Ellison arrive with cameramen chasing her. He saw her clearly when she entered the building. The doorman called her by another name, Angelique. Fish wrote that Angelo discovered Mira had an assistant named Angelique. She was black American too. Fish killed the doorman to keep the secret. They figured this was the woman who died that day, and they wanted to be sure you believed it was true. Fish was hot on the trail of Mira after the bombing. The day he discovered she had a lover named Kei Hyogo he learned of a private flight out of the country. He was there. He took these photos. We paid Fish’s mother a visit. We convinced her to let us have access to his things. The photos and journal were there, along with cash that will be given to the family of course.” Lorenzo cleared his throat. “I did my own research, and this is all true cousin. The Asian man owns her business now. He travels between the states and Switzerland often. In fact he’s with her now.”
Each photo cut through him. The pain of her rejection, betrayal, burned away the love in his heart. She let him die inside, thinking she was dead. He truly believed in what they shared in the short time they knew each other. He was a fool. A constant fool.
“We leave for Switzerland.” He rose, tossing the photos as if they were trash.
The men didn’t speak. No one questioned him. For that he was grateful. There were plenty of reasons for him to question himself now.
****
Mira sat in front of the fireplace watching the flames burn brighter and wood logs char then crackle. She had covered herself in a red and orange afghan. Kei was near. She could hear him moving about the cottage and the sounds grew closer. Soon he’d want to have ‘the talk’, and she dreaded it. Mira exhaled a deep breath to ensure her voice sounded confident, controlled.
“Is she sleep?” she asked, sipping her tea. The meandering had stopped, which only meant he was staring at the back of her head from somewhere in the room.
“Yes.”
Mira smiled. “She loves when you come to visit. Usually I can’t get her down so easily.”
“She sat on that little toilet you call potty,” he said.
Mira chuckled. “Because you asked her to. Thanks for that. We’re having a bit of trouble with this potty issue.”
“I love her.” Kei sat next to her on the sofa, close. Mira sipped her tea, keeping her focus away from the questioning look in his eyes. “She’s beautiful, Mira. She has your spirit; she’s in my heart.”
“Mine too, Kei. She’s everything to me.”
“And me?”
Her gaze shifted to him. The smoky look of desire in his eyes made her heart beat faster. What held her back? He was a good man, and a good lover in the past. He saved her life. Eve had grown so attached to him that she cried when he left them to return to the States. Her daughter needed a father. Kei’s advances, proposals, touches, and kisses when she relented had not wavered. There was no mistaking the truth. He wanted the role of father, provider, and lover again. He even wrote her love letters when they were apart.
That evening he wore his hair loose, free of the leather band that kept the blue-black silky strands smoothed and bound away from his face. He looked even more strikingly handsome this way. And he had grown bolder. Just the other night he walked in on her changing, and his gaze lingered as she struggled to cover herself. The determined look of desire in his eyes when he watched her silently now only strengthened the sexual tension between them. She had to deal with him now.
“Kei.”
“It’s going to be a tough winter. I’ve made arrangements to work from here, to help you.”
Mira held her tongue.
“It’s been almost two years, and I’ve been really patient. Eve is thriving. We are more of a family together than apart. We can leave here. Go to Hong
Etgar Keret, Nathan Englander, Miriam Shlesinger, Sondra Silverston