Page 8 of Masked

“Just a sense I’m getting. Want to talk about it?”

“Today is about you.”

He put a hand over hers. “And I’ve had enough of people feeling sorry for me.”

She closed her eyes and fingered the handle of her mug for several seconds before she spoke. “My parents and older sister died in a horrible accident my junior year of high-school, seven years ago.”

Noah did the math. That made her no more than twenty-three now. Elise died at twenty-six.

At forty-two, most people thought he was too old for her, but they made it work.

“I’m so sorry, Reva. That’s a lot of loss in one night.”

“Tell me about it. My entire world turned upside down. Sitting through the police talking to you the other night, brought back a lot of memories I’d suppressed.”

He squeezed her hand before pulling away. “Thank you for being here. I hope you’ll bring Parker around more often. Of all my children, he’s the one who hates me the most.”

Reva frowned. “I don’t know him very well. We’ve only been going out a couple of weeks. But I don’t think he hates you. I just think he doesn’t understand you.”

Noah brows drew together in confusion. He wasn’t that difficult to understand.

“Still, I appreciate getting to see him more often, and I can’t thank you enough for insisting he come.” He stood and pulled a card out of his pocket.

“This is my personal information. You don’t know me, but I can fix just about any problem you might have. So, if you ever find yourself in trouble with no one else to call, reach out. I want to help.”

And he meant it. Parker would accuse him of hitting on her. But something about Reva just screamed that she needed protecting.

As long as she was dating his son, he would do what he could to do just that.

She tucked the card in her pocket. “I should go find Parker.”

He watched her for the rest of the evening. She spent time at Parker’s side, but he usually spotted her picking up someone’s trash or carrying empty dishes to the kitchen.

She looked at home in his house. He liked that. Hopefully, it meant he would see Parker more often. When she disappeared from the living room and stayed gone for longer than usual, he went in search of her, worried she might be overwhelmed with emotion again.

Instead, he found her in the doorway of his study with a dustpan, cleaning up his mess.

“I have a cleaning staff. You don’t have to do that.”

She jumped, then laughed. “You seem to have a habit of scaring me.”

“And you have a habit of being places you don’t belong.”

Her face turned red. “Sorry. I just need to stay busy.”

He took the dustpan from her and bent to finish sweeping up the glass. “No need to apologize. I’m sorry I made the mess to begin with. Pretty sure I scared my daughter with it.”

Awkward silence hung between them, and he cleared his throat. “I should take this to the kitchen.”

“I should go find Parker.”

Later, when everyone said goodbye, he hugged her for a little longer than he should have, but she returned it and stepped back with no hint of awkwardness.

“Just call if you need anything, Noah,” Parker said, before offering his own hug.

The house was empty, and he had a hard time sleeping. Living here without his Elise seemed impossible. Getting back into the field might be for the best. Poland was a long way away and didn’t hold the memories that this place held.

The next day, Noah stayed in his office and drank the pain of missing Elise away. By Monday, he’d hardened his heart and was ready to get back to work.

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