Don't Say a Word - Barbara Freethy [82]
"It appears we have a lot to find out. We can't stay here," Liz added. "The lock is broken. My pullout couch is destroyed, and your bed isn't much better. Besides, the police said whoever did this might be back. So what do we do? Go to Dad's place? Aunt Lucia's?"
Julia suddenly realized that she couldn't go to any of those places, not when she might be bringing danger in her wake. "You go," she said. "I don't want to make anyone else- a target. It's probably better if I stay away from the family right now."
"You might be right," Liz said with a sigh. "You're going to Alex's, aren't you?"
"He's already involved."
"Yeah, sure. I get it. Call me on my cell if you need me, and Julia… be careful. Not just with this search-with your heart. I may not know as much about life or men as you do, but even I recognize a heartbreaker when I see one, and Alex has that written all over him."
Chapter 13
Alex opened the door to Julia a little before six o'clock on Tuesday evening. He hadn't been sure she'd come to him. She might have gone home with Michael. Her fianc? had certainly made it clear that he wanted to take care of Julia and her sister. But here she was, wearing black pants, a light blue button-down blouse, and a short, trim black jacket. Her blond hair was done up in a ponytail, long hoop earrings dangling from her ears. She was pretty as a picture, he thought, then grimaced, reminded that their relationship had begun with a picture.
"Can I come in?" she asked.
He stepped back and waved her inside. "Where's your fianc??"
"Probably at his new house-the house he bought for us without asking me," she said, a decided edge to her voice.
Alex let out a low whistle at that piece of information. There was a lot he didn't understand about women, but he did know that making a big purchase without talking to your soon-to-be wife was a huge mistake.
Julia paced around his living room in anger and frustration, but then she'd had a hell of a day-hell of a week, in fact.
"I couldn't believe it, Alex. Michael had our whole life mapped out without any input from me. He simply assumed we wanted the same things."
"Did you ever tell him differently? Most men aren't mind readers."
"You're taking his side?" she asked in surprise and obviously still in a fighting mood.
He put up a hand in defense. "Hey, I don't even know him. I'm just saying that maybe he assumed certain things because you didn't tell him he was wrong."
She put her hands on her hips and sent him an irritated look. "I have a job that I love, and I've told him about it numerous times. But Michael thought I would quit my job, stay home, and have children immediately."
Alex winced. "Ouch."
"And he asked me to quit searching for my past. In fact, he insisted. I said I couldn't. I explained that it's out of my hands now. My God, someone just trashed my apartment. I can't just disappear, even if I wanted to. So I told him that…" She paused, drawing in a long breath.
Damn. Alex had a feeling he didn't want to hear what she was about to say next. As much as he thought Julia needed to break off her engagement, he also liked the fact that there was a tangible barrier between them, a real reason not to get involved. He had a feeling that was about to disappear.
Julia held up her left hand and he saw the naked third finger. "I broke up with him. I told Michael I couldn't marry him. Not because of anything that I just told you, but because I'm not in love with him. I let our relationship drift along, because it was easy, and it was nice. That was wrong. I should have come clean a long time ago. I don't know why I didn't," she added with a shake of her head. "It wasn't fair to Michael. I feel bad about that. I never meant to hurt him, but I did, and that wasn't right."
He appreciated her honesty, her self-critical words.