His brows drew together but he maintained steady eye contact with her and didn’t dismiss the question. “If you insist. But I think it’d be a lot clearer if you let us sift through what I’ve found out and make some sense of it first. Otherwise, it’s going to be a whole lot of worrying.”
“You all are way more involved than you should be. I hate dragging you into it.” The sadness, guilt, twisted in her stomach. Suddenly she was glad she hadn’t had one of the protein bars the guys had offered her this morning. It would’ve compacted into a rock in her belly by now.
“Hey.” He turned in his seat to face her and reached out for her hand. After a moment, she placed hers in his. His fingers closed around hers, and she was struck by how much bigger his hand was. “This thing is more than one person should have to deal with. I’m very glad you and I met. I’m glad we can help you. Let us. I promise we’re more than able to meet this head on and give you alternatives you wouldn’t have on your own.”
Maybe. But it’d taken everything she had to get out on her own in the first place. It shouldn’t be only to hide under someone else’s direction. “How is this different from letting him take over my life? You’re going to leave me out here and make plans for me, at least for the near future.”
The bitterness was back, but she didn’t try to hide it from her tone. It was a fair question.
“Anything I do, anywhere I go, should be because I had all the information available to me and I made the decision. So far, what you’re proposing to me isn’t much different from what I left behind with Joseph.”
Okay, with Joseph, he’d simply told her what to do. Alex seemed to be offering her multiple choices, but it was only marginally better. Frustration welled up and jockeyed for foremost position in her brain with the sheer anger she had at the idea of someone presuming to talk over her head.
Alex remained calm, listened. “I’m only asking you to wait a little while. Some of it is more about what decisions need to be made between me, Cruz, and Forte. I promise you we’re standing with you as friends, trying to give you options. You still get to choose.”
She considered his words, pressing her lips together. Intentions could make a big difference. And in a short amount of time, the amount of help and advice they’d been willing to give her had been without pressure. It was worth trust. Some. If she dared.
“You’ll share everything with me once you’ve got all the facts you’re looking for?” she asked, finally.
“Yes.”
She sighed and opened the car door. As she stepped out, she called over her shoulder to Souze in the back seat. “C’mon, Souze. We’re going for a walk.”
Walking off the nervous energy was better than sitting at the front desk wondering what they were talking about in any case. She’d wait and hear what he had to say when he was ready, then she’d decide if he was telling her the whole truth.
And then…then she’d have to choose whether to believe in him and his intentions or leave.
Chapter Eighteen
Rojas strode out of the main building in the direction he’d sent Elisa and Souze. Even if he felt he’d done the right thing in checking in with Forte and Cruz first, he still hated sending her away. He should let her know what had transpired so far and what steps they could take next.
So while Cruz was running the queries on the agency that’d hired the private investigator and Forte was putting together a big breakfast, Rojas was going to find Elisa and try to repair whatever damage he’d done by excluding her.
It didn’t take long to find them. The grounds were fairly quiet on a Sunday morning with no classes going on, so he heard Elisa before he had them in his line of sight. She was talking to Souze and it occurred to him that maybe he shouldn’t interrupt the conversation.
He slowed his pace, sticking to the wooded area along the walking trail until he got close enough to hear her more clearly.
“We all make stupid decisions.” Elisa sat next to Souze on a grassy patch next to the trail. “So even when we start to try to make smart ones, we’re not really sure they’re the right decisions while we’re making them.”