But, really, she thought now as she sipped the glass of white wine she’d been nursing for the last half hour, it shouldn’t have been such a surprise when Peter had pushed her to go out with the others tonight. For weeks – months, now – he’d been encouraging her to make friends, take up a hobby or a class of some sort, most anything to help fill the lonely hours when he was out of the country working. And he had been especially persistent on the subject since returning from his most recent trip, when he’d walked inside the apartment in the middle of a Saturday afternoon to find her curled up on their bed, the covers pulled up over her head. She hadn’t been ill, per se, but rather suffering from a bout of depression. She had returned home from work the previous evening, and hadn’t left the bed since.

Peter hadn’t been able to hide his alarm at finding her in such a state, and had gone out of his way to cheer her up – insisting they go out for a late lunch and then a walk. And even though he’d been jet-lagged and clearly worn out, he’d stayed up to watch a movie and make ice cream sundaes with her. She’d felt instantly better just from being around him, knowing that she wasn’t alone any longer. Or at least until the next time he had to leave on a multi-week trip, and she would once again have to fight off the melancholy that plagued her.

When she had rather off-handedly mentioned the invitation to go out with her co-workers on Saturday, his agreement to join them had been the very last thing she could have expected. Peter detested the whole bar-hopping, club scene, and he was the only one of the group this evening to abstain from alcohol. Kevin had teased him about ordering a soda at the first club they had visited, until Peter had rather bluntly mentioned that both of his parents had been chronic alcoholics and he had no desire to follow in their ill-fated footsteps. That had shut Kevin – and all of the others – up for awhile, but Tessa hadn’t missed the way Gina and Alicia had giggled together and she knew they’d been making fun of Peter.

As the evening had worn on the rest of the group had become progressively drunker and rowdier, and Tessa and Peter more uncomfortable. She had also fretted silently about how much money this was costing them – the cover charges, drinks, the cab they had taken here. There were now at their fourth stop of the evening, and she was more than ready to call it a night and head home after this.

“We should go,” she whispered to Peter. “I’m kind of tired. Not used to drinking so much, you know?”

Peter grinned at her knowingly. “You barely touched any of the drinks you ordered, Tess. But we can leave whenever you want to.”

They made their excuses soon after that, and compromised between taking a taxi or a bus by using Uber. During the drive back to their apartment, Peter was quick to caution her about going out again with any of her co-workers.

“I know I’ve been pushing you to go out more and make new friends,” he acknowledged, “but from what I saw tonight none of those people would be good friends for you. And it’s not just the drinking and crazy partying. I – well, frankly, Tess I don’t trust any of them. All four of them seem like the sort who’d give you a hug while figuring out a good spot to stick a knife in your back.”

She sighed. “I know,” she agreed sadly. “I’ve pretty much known from the start that Gina and Alicia can’t be trusted for even a minute, but after I went out to lunch with Shelby a couple of weeks ago I had hopes of being friends with her. But that was before I overheard Kevin giving her hell for telling the other girls something he’d sworn her to secrecy on. So unfortunately I can’t trust her, either. As for Kevin, well - “

“No.” Peter shook his head firmly. “He would definitely not be a good influence on you, Tess. I know you can take care of yourself, and that you’re not the sort to make stupid decisions, but your buddy Kevin there would do his very best to try and corrupt you. And you can’t trust him, either. When you and Shelby went to the ladies room at that last place, I overheard him talking about you with Gina and Alicia. So my advice to you would be watch what you tell any of them, okay? Keep your private life just that – private. Otherwise those gossipy bitches will make sure everyone in the office knows all your secrets.”

Tessa nodded. “Agreed. And no more of these nights out with them, either. Even if you’re with me. I think we can both agree that this wasn’t a very fun evening for us.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be having fun, Tess. You’re only twenty-two years old, way too young to stay home every night. Most girls your age are still in college, going to parties, dating a bunch of different guys. And you could still have that life. I’d help you apply to schools, get financial aid, settle into student housing. You could get a degree, get a better job so that you don’t have to be someone’s secretary all your life. And,” he added more soberly, “you could finally have a normal relationship, instead of being tied to someone as messed up as I’m always going to be.”

She squeezed his hand tightly, fighting off the sense of panic that she always felt whenever Peter talked about a future without him in it. “I don’t care about that,” she protested. “I’ve told you that over and over again. Please, Peter. Let’s not talk about it again tonight, okay?”

Peter hesitated, and she knew that as far as he was concerned the matter was far from closed. But instead of pressing the matter further, he did as she asked.

Tessa knew, however, that it would only be a matter of time before Peter broached the subject again. And that one of these times he would stop listening to all of the reasons they should stay together and go his separate way. She only hoped that before that day came she would find the strength she’d need to be on her own again.

Chapter Fifteen

February

“Should I pick you up at the usual time tomorrow morning, Mr. Gregson? Or will you be going into the office a bit later?”

Ian gave a tired sigh and shook his head at his chauffeur’s question. “I’m afraid not, Simon. I need to be at my desk bright and early for a conference call so it will be the usual pick up time.”

The tall, silver-haired Welshman, who had worked as Ian’s personal chauffeur – and unofficial bodyguard – since he’d moved to San Francisco, gave a brief nod of acknowledgment. “Very good, Mr. Gregson. I’ll see you here then. At least it’s already Friday tomorrow, sir. Hopefully you can rest up over the weekend.”