Page 48 of The Master

“No.” He crouched in front of me and took my hands. “No, that would not have been better. Not for me, and not for Nate. No matter how awkward or frustrating things get, we are better for having you in our lives.”

“I have some…” Nate stepped back in the room and immediately came to my side. “Are you okay?”

“She seems to think that we would be better off if she hadn’t come into our lives.” Finley sounded half-annoyed and half-amused. I wasn’t sure which one I liked less.

Nate patted my shoulder, almost like he was afraid I would bite him if he did anything more. “I would say not to be stupid, but I have a feeling I’m about to use up what little goodwill I have left to tell you what that call was about.”

That got my attention. “What are you talking about?”

Nate sat down next to me and took my hand from Finley’s. My father went back to his seat, and we both waited for Nate to explain.

“That was a call from Owen. Someone broke into your apartment.”

“Say that again.” I’d heard him, but I still felt the need to ask the question, as if that would change his answer.

“Owen did a sweep of the building and then met with the super. They were in the super’s office for about fifteen minutes, and then the two of them walked through the building so Owen could point out places where he wanted to make improvements. When they got to your floor, they saw that your door had been forced open.”

“Shit.” I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to hear anything else.

Nate’s voice softened even more. “Owen sent the super to call the cops and stayed by the door to make sure no one interfered with the crime scene, and then he called me.”

Crime scene. My apartment, myhome, was a crime scene.

I’d always felt safe there, even without gates and doormen. Isti’s letter had angered me more than frightened me, but the thought of someone in my place, trashing it, stealing things…I didn’t know if I could ever feel safe there again.

“What do you want to do?” Nate asked, a helpless expression on his face. “The police are on their way to your apartment. They’re going to interview the super and Owen, take pictures, dust for prints. They’ll eventually want to talk to you and have you see what’s missing, but I can have a detective meet us at my place if you’d prefer that.”

I shook my head. “I spent last night and this morning worrying about what I wasn’t being told. I’m tired of waiting for bad news. I want to get this done and over with.”

Finley came over and put a hand on my shoulder. “If you ever want it, this is your home too. You’re always welcome here. Whatever you need, you can come to me.”

His words cut through all the questions and concerns rattling through my brain.

“Thank you.” I put my hand on his and smiled. It wasn’t a great smile, but it was a genuine one. I was grateful that I had an option if staying with Nate got too claustrophobic. Especially now that I had yet another reason to not want to stay in my apartment anytime soon.

“Do you want me to take you?” Nate asked. “I didn’t know if, after what I just told–”

I held up a hand. “That’s in the past. I might want to talk about why you didn’t tell me earlier, but not right now. Not with all the rest of this going on. It’s not…” I met his gaze. “Honestly, the nature of your relationship with Isti isn’t exactly the foremost thing on my mind at the moment.”

“Whatever you need,le soleil.”

Finley gave Nate a surprised look, and I wondered if he knew the story of that particular nickname. I supposed I’d ask him at some point, but not right now. Now, I had to go see if I had any of my life worth salvaging.

Thirty-Three

Nate

One good thinghad come out of the break-in. The police officers standing in front of the building kept the vultures back. Reporters still crowded the sidewalks, but with a couple uniformed cops standing there, they behaved themselves better as Ashlee and I walked to the building. I still shielded her as best I could from the cameras, glaring at the few who still dared to venture too close.

“Do you live here?” The younger of the two officers looked up at me but didn’t move from his place in front of the door.

“My apartment was the one that was broken into. Ashlee Webb.”

“ID?”

She dug into her purse and handed it over. By the time the cop was done with hers, I had mine out. After studying mine more closely than he’d looked at Ashlee’s, he gave me back my license and motioned for us to come inside.

I took her hand as we rode the elevator up, trying to pretend that I didn’t feel like shit. Like I hadn’t fucked up her life by getting involved with her. She’d told Finley that she thought we would’ve been better off if she hadn’t found us, and I’d meant what I’d said about how that wasn’t the case. How much bettershewould’ve been if I’d kept my dick in my pants, however, was a different matter entirely.

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