Irritated with the level of fear he’d been maintaining through all of this, he deliberately strode to the bed and laid down on it, shoes on and all.
Isabelle stared at him, her expression blank. After a moment, she murmured, “Sit tight. I’m going to head out to secure a few more things. You’ll be okay here. If anything suspicious happens, head down the hall to the stairs and go down to the ground floor. I’ll meet you there.”
She opened her mouth as if she would say more, hesitated and shut her mouth. Turning on her heel, she left.
Kyle sat up on the bed. The woman was irritatingly hard to read.
*
“What is this?” She peered into the glass bowl full of water and caught sight of a fairly active, chubby fish.
“He is Frederick.” Kyle made himself comfortable on the sofa, the long-limbed length of him draped over the entirety of it in catlike fashion. “He’s a goldfish.”
She continued to study the fish in question swimming busily in the simple bowl with a bit of gravel in the bottom. In the reflection on the side of the glass bowl, she also considered her client. “I can see he’s a goldfish. Why is he here and how do you know he is a he?”
Kyle stretched and placed his hands behind his head, leaning all the way back. “This hotel is particularly known for being pet-friendly and family-friendly—a place no one would consider a possibility when looking for me, by the way, I’ve been well-known to love a bachelor’s life—and a goldfish is provided compliments of the hotel for the length of your stay upon request. Families love having a vacation friend. The hotel staff also thoughtfully provides a fish to keep lone business travelers company.”
“Huh.” It still didn’t explain why they’d ended up with one.
Kyle glanced at her sideways without actually turning his head to face her. “Since you seem...uncomfortable alone with me, I thought Frederick’s company might improve your mood.” Kyle paused. “I honestly don’t know for sure if he is a he but his name seems indicative of gender.”
She snorted. Then she paused to wonder whether Kyle had stayed in some hotel alone before with only a goldfish for company despite his commentary. Actually, the alone on business part seemed likely. Question was, how many times? Or more sobering, how often had he stayed elsewhere alone and wished for the company of even a goldfish?
“Thank you.” It came out quieter than she intended but she didn’t repeat it louder.
Kyle was silent for a moment and she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her but after a minute he did speak. “You’re holding up your end of the contract. I’m not the easiest person to be around but I can at least make an effort to make this less of an ordeal. I...have a lot of things to live for.”
She could’ve made light of his statement but he hadn’t delivered it in his usual bantering tone. He’d sounded serious. And unusually introspective. Curiosity tweaked again, she fished for a little more information. And hell, she’d admit she was doing it too. “Most people do value their lives and what they planned to do with them.”
“True.” Kyle’s tone didn’t perk up. If anything, he became even more serious. “Months ago, I’d have said I have things to do. Period. For me.”
She turned to lean against the table, careful not to jostle Frederick’s bowl. “What changed?”
“My life wasn’t just about me being responsible for me anymore.” He kept his gaze on the ceiling. “I have a sister and she wanted to come here to the United States from Korea with her son to live with me.”
“Ah.” Instant family. She tipped her head to one side as she regarded him. “That’s a big life change.”
“I could’ve said no.” Kyle made it sound matter-of-fact. “I did not. Considering why she made the request—what they’d both been through—I couldn’t say no.”
She waited. No pushing or coaxing. She got the sense that if she did, he’d drop back behind his carefree bachelor facade.
“I decided I needed to live a...cleaner lifestyle if they were going to come stay with me.” He sighed. “I have the skill set to land another good job with comparable salary after this trial is over. What I needed to be sure of was that I wouldn’t end up incarcerated for white-collar crimes when my family needs me.”
Made sense. The court documentation she’d seen had been redacted thoroughly. This wasn’t a simple trial. Didn’t make what he’d done in the past right, but his reasoning had a certain logic to it. She’d done enough in her own past to consider herself the last person to judge someone else’s right to a fresh start.