True sympathy crossed Heath’s features. He clamped a hand on my shoulder. “I have confidence that you’ll learn. But you need to leave her be for now.”

I hated what he had to say and I wasn’t so sure he was right. That look of betrayal in her eyes as she’d turned away. The way she’d told me “good-bye” had sounded so final. Fuck.

With a stiff jerk I got back in my car and pulled out of the parking lot, speeding my way back to Newport Beach.

Chapter Eighteen

We both opted to stay away for Thanksgiving the following weekend, which avoided that inevitable awkwardness. Both Peter and Kim were very vocal in their disappointment. Peter called me and laid it down that under no circumstances would this occur at Christmas.

“I can’t promise you anything, Peter.”

“We’re your family, Adam. Your only family.”

I sighed. “I only know what I can do. I’m not sure what she’s going to decide is her limit.”

“It’s only fair to tell you that Kim and I are getting serious. I know that’s not the greatest news for you two right now.”

“It’s not. But we’re grown-ups. We’ll deal.”

Peter sighed. “Kim is very worried about Mia.”

She wasn’t the only one. “Tell her she needs to talk to Heath, then. Because I don’t know shit.”

***

December started with summerlike weather in Southern California while the rest of the country was submerged in a deep freeze. I was informed that a settlement was imminent and that as part of the agreement, I was required to meet personally with the family of the young man who had perpetrated the crimes.

I was not at all happy about this new development and Jordan had to coax, plead and cajole me into it.

“Man, I’ll be right there with you. We’ll do it together.”

My hands worked at my sides, fisting and relaxing. “Do I have a fucking choice? At all?”

“We can see if Joseph can work with the insurance guys to get that taken out, but… If the family senses that you are belligerent in any way, they could dig their heels in, maybe even see it as a way to get more money. Then the insurance company will really be riding our asses.”

I took a deep breath and blew it out. “I have no idea what to say to these people. This means I’m going to be sitting in a conference room for a half hour listening to them tell me why I am the spawn of the devil who destroyed their innocent kid.”

“Adam…you know that shit isn’t true. I know that shit isn’t true. Sometimes in life we just have to…take our lumps, you know?”

I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, completely miserable. It really grated, this having to be complicit with the assumption that I was guilty of dealing out an addictive substance, like virtual crack. It was personal to me, goddamn it.

And on top of that, I still couldn’t get the thought of Emilia out of my head. It had been over a week since I’d seen her and now these new developments were going to take me out of state for almost three weeks. I had business in Chicago that had been scheduled for months now. Then this trip to New York City for the insurance settlement paperwork and the meeting with the family. And then it was on to Washington, DC, where I had been subpoenaed to appear at a congressional hearing on the addictive effects of online video games.

Coming down from the high of DracoCon and of being with Emilia for that short, mostly happy twenty-four hours, I felt like I’d crashed and burned.

Since I was due on an early flight out the next morning, I chose to text Emilia regarding the Christmas question. It was very possible that I wouldn’t make it back in time to celebrate with my family, but if I did, there’d be no time to work out a truce with her that would satisfy my uncle and Kim’s desire to celebrate together. Like I’d promised him, we’d work it out like adults.

I texted her and asked her to meet me after work at a nearby café. She took a half hour to respond.

What is this regarding?

Fuck. Really? We were going to be like this?

It’s regarding what we are going to do about Xmas. I’m sure your mom has been in touch about it.

I waited another ten minutes and was in the middle of typing a long, boring e-mail when my phone chimed.

I’ll meet you at Carlos Café at six.

She was there, sitting in a booth in the back corner when I arrived. I walked down the aisle and she looked up from her phone and watched me. There was no smile on her face.

And she looked like shit. I hadn’t seen her in over a week and she looked…different. For starters, she was dressed curiously, in a long-sleeved jumper type of dress, with tights on her legs. She looked like a schoolgirl with that still-ridiculous white hair and her dark eyebrows and wide brown eyes. She was pale and she had dark circles under those eyes.