“Of course,” Mark huffed. “We’re not living in the Stone Age. People get married and sometimes it doesn’t work out. Should they stay together when that’s the case?” He didn’t bother adding that he’d pegged his parents for a future divorced couple from a young age and was constantly amazed that it hadn’t happened yet.
“We understand that, Mark,” his mother again injected. “We have friends who are no longer together. We’re not saying that it doesn’t happen.” Great, another organized tag team session, he thought as she paused for a moment before continuing. “What we’re distressed about is the fact that while she’s seeing you, she’s also attempting to reconcile with her ex-husband. I assume that you know that, so could you explain that behavior to your father and me as well?”
Mark froze, staring up at his mother. She looked genuinely perplexed, which made two of them. Surely, they’d gotten something wrong somewhere. He knew that Crystal’s mother had ambushed her into dinner with her ex-husband several weeks back, but she hadn’t made mention of him once since then. That was probably what this whole thing was about. The investigator had found out about it. His chest lightened as he looked over at his now-pacing father. “Her ex is close with her parents, so naturally she’s run into him there. That’s all it is, though. She spends most of her free time here.”
Mark felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as his father gave him a look that was a cross between pity and compassion. That unsettled him more than any words that he could have said. He knew something—goddammit, what was going on? Instead of his usual booming voice, this one was quiet as he said, “Son, she’s been going to marriage counseling while you’ve been involved. The counselor’s name is Celia Mulkey, and she has an office downtown.” Then the evening took an even stranger turn when without saying anything other than good-bye, his parents left as quickly as they’d arrived. Either they felt that their work at dismantling his life was complete or they felt sorry for him and decided not to kick him again while he was down. To Mark, it just drove home the fact that he’d been caught completely unawares and hadn’t been able to hide it.
What was Crystal doing going to marriage counseling? There was no way that information was a mistake. Owing to the nature of the business, his employees went through a rigorous background screening as part of the hiring process. He had an entire department dedicated to designing and maintaining an advanced encryption system for the routers they manufactured, and security breaches were always a threat. He hired only the best to ensure that didn’t happen. So he knew that they wouldn’t pull something like that out of the blue. So why wasn’t he picking up his phone and calling her to demand an explanation? Perhaps he didn’t want to hear her explanation. This was the first real relationship he’d ever been in, and he liked how his life was with her in it.
Laying his head back wearily, he admitted the truth—he was afraid of what she’d say. He knew they couldn’t go on as they had been without him knowing what in the hell was going on. He’d never had anyone that he was scared to lose, and he didn’t like how it felt at all. She’d gotten closer to him in the short time they’d known each other than any woman ever had—including his own mother. And he had no idea how to deal with it.
Mark stayed in the same position for another hour before getting to his feet and going to pack a bag. A quick call to his pilot ensured the plane would be ready in an hour. Jacob was still in Boston dealing with problems there, and he was going to join him. Right now, he needed distance from Angel until he could come to terms with what she’d done.
• • •
Crystal checked her phone yet again, hoping to see a message from Mark. She’d been worried about him since last night, and he hadn’t attempted to contact her. She’d called him as soon as she woke that morning, but his phone had gone straight to voice mail. She’d left a message and then texted him a few hours later when she reached the office. Since they’d been together, he was seldom out of contact. If he didn’t take her call, then he returned it, usually within the hour. So this silence from him was unusual and worrisome. Now it was time for her break, and she was going to drop by his office and see if he was in.
When she reached the door with DESANTO GROUP on it, she gently pushed it open and was met by a smiling, middle-aged receptionist. Crystal had met her several times before when she’d waited for Mark after work. “Hi, Ginny, is Mark in yet?”
The other woman looked momentarily confused as she said, “No, honey, he’s in Boston. He left last night, I believe. Jacob is already there, so obviously there was some issue to make Mark leave so suddenly.”
Crystal was stunned and from the look of sympathy on Ginny’s face, it showed. “I . . . um . . . oh, that’s right,” she stuttered, “I’d forgotten about that.”
As she turned to leave, Ginny called out, “Did you want to leave a message for him?”
“Oh no, that’s okay. I’ll talk to him later,” she managed to choke out before hurrying out the door. What is going on? she wondered frantically as she walked back to her own office. It wasn’t like him not to let her know he was leaving town. Had the visit with his parents been upsetting to the point that he’d fled without a word? Well, that wasn’t quite true. Ginny knew he was gone.
She was distracted for the rest of the day. Lydia asked her a few times if everything was all right, and she’d attempted to smile and assure her that she was just tired. Not technically a lie since she’d tossed and turned most of the night, worried about Mark.