Dance or Die (White Oak - Mafia Series Book 3) by Liza O'Connor Page B

was good,” Tess said.
    “But my timing was poor. So stop blaming yourself. There’s enough blame to go around. We just need to pick up our lives and go from here.”
    “You’re right.” Blaming herself wasn’t going to help anyone.
    Mr. and Mrs. Castile entered the room and frowned at Tess. Mr. Castile stepped forward. “Tess, I just spoke to Agent Grimes of the FBI. He fervently believes you should be kept far away from my son.”
    Had he bludgeoned her with a club, he couldn’t have hurt her more.
    “Grimes is an idiot,” Dan said.
    Mr. Castile’s right eyebrow rose in challenge. “He’s in charge of this case, so I will follow his advice.” His brow furrowed as he turned to Tess. “I’m sorry. To all appearances, you seem to care for Alistair, but this relationship would have never worked out, so it’s best it ends now.” Then they turned their backs to her and attended to their son.
    Tess couldn’t respond or move. She felt as if her whole world had just fallen apart.
    Dan gripped her hand. “Tess, you can come visit me whenever you want.”
    She squeezed his hand in appreciation but noticed Mrs. Castile frowning at Dan. “I should go,” she whispered and ran from the room.
    She made it back to the private lounge and collapsed on the couch. Alone, she cried more tears than she’d ever shed before.
    She was still crying when Sheriff Cobbs found her. By his pained expression, he had either heard of her dismissal or he was here to tell her the FBI intended to arrest her on some trumped up charges.
    Honestly, more bad news couldn’t cut deeper.
    “I need to get back to La Motte. Would you like a drive up to your cabin?”
    She didn’t want to leave Steel, even if she couldn’t visit him. “No. I’ll stay here a little longer.”
    He sighed and sat beside her. “Your visiting privileges have been revoked.”
    “But Dan said I could visit him.”
    “He was overruled. The security at the door will no longer let you in.”
    “I wish they’d never come.”
    He rubbed her back. “Well, one good thing came of it.”
    “What?”
    “Steel finally woke up.”
    A joyous burst of energy shot through her and she ran past the guards and into his room.
    His parents frowned at her presence, but she didn’t care. “You’re awake!”
    Instead of smiling, he glared at her.
    “I thought we made our wishes clear to you,” Mr. Castile snapped.
    “Steel, tell them you want me here,” she pleaded.
    He stared at her as if she were some crazy loon and shook his head. “I want nothing to do with you.”
    “Steel…”
    “Go away, Tess. We may have to work at the same park, but we are no longer friends.”
    “Why?”
    “You know why. I wasn’t as unconscious as everyone thought. I could hear and understand what was being said around me. I heard you tell the agents how you planned to file a sexual assault suit against me, knowing it would destroy my career forever.”
    “Only as last resort…I had to get you to leave and go back to England.”
    “Get out!” he screamed.
    His father stepped forward and glared at Cobbs. “Get this woman away at once and if she steps foot in here again, I will file a complaint with your superiors.”
    Cobbs didn’t inform him he didn’t have superiors; he just helped Tess from the room. He led her straight down to his pickup and helped her inside.
    ***
    As Cobbs pulled up his pickup outside her cabin, he finally spoke. “Tess, I know you are in pain from a very deep loss. Grief like that can swallow a person up unless they have something to keep them going. In my case, I had a young son to raise. In yours, you have your beautiful forest to turn into a state park. My advice is to focus on that. It won’t remove the pain you feel, but it will distract you so you can go on with your life. Night times will be the hardest.”
    Tess shook her head. Her grief was nothing compared to his, but honestly, she couldn’t imagine hurting more than she currently did.
    Cobbs