Page 88 of Mile High Baby

"Seriously, they believed that you accepted money from Pitney to take Banion out. Even as we were rescuing her, she totally believed that." He shook his head. "I mean she's pretty, but..."

"But what?" What a weird statement.

"Jorgensen and I set them straight on your part of the plan that involved saving Victoria. But Banion is still pissed about your little tryst with his daughter."

Oh. So the secret was fully out. "You know about that. Are you here to fire me?"

Dax let out a hearty laugh. "No. I'd be the last person to fire you for fucking a client. I did the same."

Oh, right. His wife had been a client at one point. "What did Archer do?"

"He gave me a promotion. They had me open the office in Las Vegas. Look, it's not a good idea to sleep with the clients, but no one's going to fire you over it unless it becomes a legal issue. And speaking of the clientele, Banion's daughter has been holding vigil outside your room for the last two days."

"Two days?" Was that how long I'd been out?

Dax nodded. "I'll be honest, I'm kind of surprised you've woken up already. Pitney certainly did a job on you."

"I can feel it in every inch of my body. I feel like shit."

"You look worse. Anyway, the daughter is outside and would like to see you. I've prevented her from doing so, but only because I got pissed off at how easily she questioned your character."

"I don't want to see her." That wasn’t true. I absolutely wanted to see her. But what would be the point? Even if she knew now that I wasn’t a murderer, it didn’t change our situation.

"I don't blame you. But I will say the woman is clearly wracked with guilt. You might let her say her peace. It would make her feel better, not that she deserves it, but I thought I'd mention it. I'll be honest, the last two days of watching her and occasionally talking with her, I’ve come to the conclusion that she's in love with you."

It took a moment for his words to filter in. "She doesn't love me. If she did, she would have known that I wouldn't kill her father." And if she did, she wouldn’t have so easily walked away. I suppose it was dumb to hold that against her since I was the one who ended things. But it had been fucking hard. For her, it wasn’t.

"Yeah, I get that. If you don’t feel the same, there's no reason to talk to her. You can just lay here and recover."

"It wouldn't matter if I felt the same."

Dax arched a brow, and only then did I realize I'd said the words out loud.

"Are you saying that you do feel the same? That you love her?"

"Like I said, it wouldn’t matter. She's Henry's daughter."

Dax stared at me for a long moment, and I got the feeling he was trying to decide whether he was going to talk to me about something.

"Listen, I'm not the type of man who gets involved in other people's love lives—”

"You don't have to make an exception for me."

"Even so, I feel like you and I are alike in a lot of ways. The job is our life. Attachments only make us vulnerable. And let's face it, the traditional idea of marriage and kids sounded like a real snooze fest."

It turned out that Dax and I were a lot alike.

"But here's what I discovered. Life with Vivie and the kids has been the most exciting adventure of my life. Yeah, I'm not walking into a jungle in a Third World country trying to take out a despot or rescuing someone caught up in a political game. But I'm okay with that because after a while, the mind and the body grow weary. Tell me the truth. There was no real fun in dealing with Pitney."

"I'm happy for you, man. And I'm sorry if I've delayed your return home or taken you away from your family."

Dax rolled his eyes. "That's not why I'm telling you this. What I'm trying to tell you from someone who's been there, who's lived the life you lived, is there is no greater happiness or adventure than letting the love of a good woman into your life. Now whether or not Henry's daughter is that woman, I don't know. But if you love her, I'd encourage you to explore that. Sure, she's your friend's daughter, but I'm confident that bridge is burned no matter what. Ungrateful bastard.”

“I did sleep with his daughter.”

Dax rolled his eyes. “Maybe it’s a little weird, but she’s a grown woman. A grown woman who has been sitting outside your room for two days.”

I wouldn’t deny the nice feeling in my chest knowing that caused, but it didn’t change anything. "I appreciate what you're saying, Dax. Really. And I know that my friendship with Henry is done now that he knows the truth. But Henry and Victoria are the only family they've got. They’re very close. I don't want to come between that or put her in a situation where she might have to choose one or the other. And that's assuming she felt anything for me, which I'm convinced she doesn't. If you could just tell her that I don't have any ill will toward her and I want her to go on and live a happy life and send her on her way, I'd appreciate it."