Olivia didn’t understand. Why was she so distraught? Maybe little things turned into big things when one’s husband suddenly died.
“I told him I didn’t have your contact info. All that information was at the store, if it hadn’t been destroyed in the explosion.”
“Wait,” Asher said, speaking for the first time. “This man…he came to your house asking about Olivia? Not to the wine shop?”
Sandy shook her head furiously and held up her hands like a barricade. “I haven’t been there. I don’t think I can bear to set foot near where…” She began to cry and her father put his arm around her.
“I think it’s time to go,” he said.
“Okay, Daddy, hold on.” Sandy wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. “Yes, he came to the house.”
Her father shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. “He actually wanted my daughter to go through Marco’s things looking for it.”
“I only found your number when I was planning…this.”
Olivia felt as if someone had just punched her in the gut. All the air disappeared from her lungs and she could hardly breathe. Why would a man claiming to be her uncle come to Marco and Sandy’s house looking for her? How would he even know where they lived?#p#分页标题#e#
“He didn’t leave his name?” Olivia asked, her voice thin and reedy.
Confused, Sandy blinked. “His name? No. He just said he was your uncle.”
“She’s got several uncles.” Asher’s sidelong glance told Olivia to just go with it.
“Then it’s got to be my Uncle Ray,” she blurted out. “He used to be in the army and hasn’t been the same after the accident. So sorry he came to you at such a difficult time.” She was surprised at how easily the lies always came.
“That makes sense, then,” Sandy said, shaking her head slowly. “All those terrible scars.”
***
“Maybe you should back off,” Rand said after Asher told him about what had happened at the funeral. “Remove yourself from her life.”
The fact that a man with facial scars was looking for Olivia could mean only one thing. It had to be the same man they called the Fixer, the one the army used to track Iron Guild warriors on this side of the portal. The one who had killed Fallon.
Inside the Grape and Bean, the guy from AIU had almost implied that Asher could’ve been the one who set the bomb. They probably checked him out, discovered he wasn’t who he claimed to be, and now they had their suspect. The army just needed the Fixer to find him.
And one of the ways they would try to find him was through Olivia because they’d been seen together.
“There’s nothing to break off,” Asher said. “We agreed beforehand that this was a one-week proposition. Nothing more.”
Rand grabbed a wrench and reached back under the hood of the car. “You’re falling for her and you know it.”
“That’s bullshit.” He was lying through his teeth, but there was no way in hell he’d admit that to anyone.
“So you don’t have feelings for her?”
“I enjoy her company, sure, but there’s nothing special between us.” He leaned against the workbench and ran a hand through his hair. He wished that were true, and maybe if he said it enough, he’d believe it. “We’re fucking. That’s it. End of story.”
“Yeah, like newlyweds,” Rand mumbled. He straightened and pointed the wrench at him. “When have you ever brought anyone back here with you? Hold on. Let me answer that. Hmmm. Let’s see. That would be…never.”
“That’s because—”
“That’s because where you’re from, you only invite a woman to move in with you when it’s serious. I know all about your betrothal customs, so don’t try to bullshit me. It’s ingrained in your subconscious. You wouldn’t have brought her here if there wasn’t something pretty fucking special going on.”
Asher was taken aback. He hadn’t thought about that before, but Rand was right. In Cascadia, when a man invited a woman into his home to share his bed, it was often seen as a betrothal. Hell, he hadn’t even done that with Jenny. They’d always gone to her place. “I hardly knew her when I brought her here. How can there be something special going on when you barely know the person?”
The guy shrugged. “How the hell should I know? But facts are facts. Listen. I don’t mean to be an asshole here. It’s your life, but I want to make sure you do the right thing and not—”
“I don’t need you to remind me what happened to Jenny,” Asher said, gripping the edge of the workbench with white knuckles.