Swallowing hard and staring at her hands as Frank moved away, Hannah finally transitioned her attention to his piercing green gaze.

‘Hey, Hannah,’ he greeted quietly.

She shifted in her seat even as she felt her face grow hot.

‘Hi, um … what are you doing here?’ she stuttered.

‘Just grabbing coffee. This is one of my favourite places, but I think you already know that,’ he answered, and now she worried that he might think she was here hoping to bump into him or something. Like some psycho stalker.

But of course that didn’t make sense since she was the one who’d been avoiding his calls.

‘So how are . . . things?’ Trying to compose herself she briefly raised her gaze to his, before glancing again at the door. This was incredibly awkward. Especially if Ed were to appear now and they were all forced to exchange pleasantries or something. Hannah wasn’t sure how she’d introduce either man to the other without raising a lot of questions on both sides.

Ward seemed to follow her line of sight. ‘Are you meeting someone?’ He motioned to the empty seat in front of her.

‘Actually, yes, I . . .’

But he was already sitting down. ‘Is it a date?’ he teased, making Hannah’s heart pound in her chest. ‘I’ll move when he gets here.’

‘It’s . . . not a date. Just a friend . . .’

He studied her face. ‘Saying some goodbyes maybe?’ he asked softly.

Hannah opened and closed her mouth, feeling momentarily confused until it dawned on her. Bernie must have told him about her plans to leave the city, her excuse not to have him back as her client.

‘You could say that,’ she confirmed, feeling a bit sheepish now for being too cowardly to fill him in herself.

‘I’ve been trying to call you, Hannah,’ he said then, his voice growing softer, causing her to look up at his face, still covered in bruises. His eyes sparkled like emeralds.

‘I know.’

‘You haven’t called me back. Never even replied to my messages.’

‘I know,’ she repeated. What else could she say?

‘I’m so sorry for what happened, I know I should have controlled my temper and shouldn’t have made a scene. I embarrassed you in public and made things hard for you, I recognize that. But no way could I stand by and watch you being pushed around like that. Can you accept my apology?’

Hannah took a sip of her coffee and then wiped her palms on her jeans. Her hands were sweating. She did not want to have this conversation with Ward. There was no way she would get out of it with her heart intact.

‘You know, my friend, who I’m meeting, he’s likely to be here any second . . .’