Chapter 43: REN’S COUSIN

MIA

I checked my phone in the elevator on the way down to the lobby but there was still nothing from the unknown number.

I'd been doing that compulsively since Saturday, unlocking my screen and checking and feeling a confusing mix of relief and disappointment every time there was nothing there. After everything they'd been quiet again and I couldn't tell if they were deliberately keeping me in suspense or if I had pushed too hard and they had given up on me.

I was disappointed at the thought of the latter.

The lobby was empty when I got there except for the wall of mailboxes and the hum of the AC. I was halfway through sorting the junk from actual mail when I heard footsteps behind me.

"You're Mia, right?"

I turned around.

She was maybe a year or two younger than me, confident, elegant and beautiful. She had dark hair, an expensive looking coat and expressive eyes. She was smiling at me.

I was sure I had never met her in my life so how did she know my name? Or could she be from one of the events? But why was she here?

"I'm sorry?" I said.

"Mia the photographer, yes?" She asked. "I've heard a lot about you."

I felt cautious around her now. She seemed easy going but something was off about her.

"I'm sorry, do we know each other?"

"Not yet." She extended her hand. "I'm kinda but you can call me Lin. Ren's cousin."

I almost took a step back but didn't and I was proud of that.

"Oh," I said.

"I know. Not the introduction you were hoping for." She lowered her hand when I didn't take it immediately, unbothered, like she'd expected this. "I'm not here to cause trouble. I saw you in the lobby last week and I've been trying to work up the nerve to say hello. Which is embarrassing to admit but here we are."

"How do you know where I live?"

"Ren mentioned it. A while ago, before everything." She tilted her head slightly. "That bothers you I know and it should. I'm not going to pretend it shouldn't."

My heart raced at the fact that Ren had found out where I lived.

I finished gathering my mail without looking at her. "What do you want, Lin?"

"Just to meet you. I know how things ended with Ren and I wanted to—" She paused, seeming to choose her words carefully. "I wanted to apologize on behalf of his family for however he behaved. He can be difficult. He doesn't handle his pride being hurt and the end of your relationship hurt his pride considerably."

"I don't need an apology from his family."

"No. But I wanted to offer one anyway." She was very good at guarding her intentions because I couldn't figure her out. "He doesn't know I'm here, don't worry. This isn't on his behalf. It's just me, personally, wanting to acknowledge that whatever you went through with him wasn't okay and that not everyone in his family thought it was."

I looked at her then because I had never met his family so why were they so concerned about me? It was odd.

"What do you know about what I went through with him?"

"Enough." She reached into her coat pocket and produced a card. It was plain white with just a name and a number, and held it out. "I know what kind of world he comes from. I grew up in it too. And I know what it does to people who get caught up in it without understanding what they walked into." She held my gaze. "If you ever need someone who understands that world, or if anything happens that you don't know how to escape it, call me. I promise that this has no strings or agenda."

I looked at the card for a second then hesitantly took I.

"Why would anything happen?" I said.

She glanced upward, a small gesture toward the floors above us, and said nothing.

Then she smiled again and said "It was nice to meet you, Mia"

Then she walked out while I stood there confused. I looked up at the spot she had pointed at but saw no one.

Why did she come here?

I checked my phone twice in the elevator on the way back up. Still nothing from the unknown number.

I unlocked the apartment door and Dante was at the kitchen counter with his laptops as he worked on something. When I walked in, he looked at me with a smile.

"Get the mail?" he said.

"Yes. And I met someone in the lobby."

His smile froze as he waited for me to go on.

"A woman named Lin. She said she knows me through mutual connections." I set the mail on the counter and kept my voice neutral. "She's Ren's cousin."

His expression went completely blank.

"What did she want?" His voice dropped from the cheerful tone it had been before.

"She said she wanted to apologize for how things ended with Ren. She said he doesn't handle his pride being hurt." I watched his face as I spoke. "She gave me her number and said if I ever need someone who understands his world, to call her."

Dante closed his laptop slowly and was quiet for a few minutes, almost driving me crazy.

"She grew up in the same world as Ren," he said finally. "Whatever she told you her reason was, that's not her reason. People from that world don't introduce themselves to the exes of their family members out of courtesy."

"What is her reason then?"

"I don't know yet." He stood and came around the counter, face still emotionless. "Don't contact her. Don't respond if she reaches out. And don't think about that conversation again.”

"She seemed—"

"I don't care how she seemed." He said it gently but firm, leaving no room for protests. "Ren's family is not safe. Any connection to them is not safe. She walked up to you in your own building and that wasn't a coincidence. She has something up her sleeve and I would rather you don't walk into a trap.”

I nodded.

"Okay," I said.

He looked at me for a moment longer then nodded back, kissed my forehead and went back to his laptop while I went to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, turning Lin's card over in my hands.

That look she had given…

I lived up and so did… Dante. Did she know I was living with him? Was that the reason for that look?

There was something everyone was hiding and I needed to find out before picking sides so I put the card in my camera bag just in case then checked my phone one last time and the stalker was still silent.

What are you all hiding?