Inception - Ascension Paradox, Book 1
Copyright© 2023 by L.R. Thornton
Chapter 32
Ray had no idea how much time had gone by when he unlocked the door to Amy’s apartment. He had a vague sense it was very late but he couldn’t drum up enough concern to care how late it was. Seeing that picture of Jessie, sitting at dinner with another man, had devastated him. After the shock had run its course, a curious numbness had come over his senses.
He shut the door behind him and leaned against the sturdy surface. At some point, he must have parked the car and walked. He’d found himself sitting on a bench in a local park, not recalling how he’d gotten there. A brisk breeze had urged him to get back to Amy’s apartment.
Something bumped into his leg. Ray lifted his heavy head and tried to peer down at the darkness. Splashes of moonlight made it through the darkness. A dull gleam of that moonlight landed on a black furry coat.
“Einstein?”
The dog gave a little whine and lifted up on its legs. Ray normally would have ignored the dog but tonight, he slid down the door and accepted the dog’s attention.
Einstein whined again and rubbed against him.
Ray massaged the dog’s head, abstractedly playing its floppy ears. “You’re not so bad, are you, Einstein?”
The darkness was too thick to see but the dog came up closer to and placed its front paws on his chest.
“Now, now, Einstein, you’re not licking me in the face like you do your—”
“Oh, Adrian.” A low husky moan traveled down the hall.
Ray started. What in the world—
He slapped his hand against his face. “You got to be kidding me,” he murmured. He’d forgotten all about Amy’s date with Castle. Hadn’t even given it a second thought once Dylan sent that picture of Jessie.
Ray heard his cousin moan again, followed by a low murmuring, which he presumed was Castle’s voice. Dammit, really?
No wonder Einstein had been outside the room. Most days, the dog slept with Amy.
“I guess you got kicked out and she let another dude in here, huh?”
Should he leave and come back later on? Ray dismissed that with a shake of his head. He didn’t know late they would be going at it. He could go back out the door and then make a ton of noise to let them know of his presence.
Or he could just be obnoxious and ruin the guy’s night.
The picture of Jessie with some unknown man flashed in his mind. Was his ex-wife screwing some guy at this exact moment?
The thought, the very idea, of his wife giving another man her loving rose up all the hounds of hell within him. Jessie and he had been each other’s first and only. To think another man could come in and just—
“Amy!” He got up and switched on the light by the door. “I can hear you!”
Castle was about to get his night ruined.
Muttered cursing sounded down the hall. A second later, Amy came rushing out the door. From the looks of it, they hadn’t gotten far. Her dress was still on although she was adjusting it as she marched toward him, the fury of the ages burning out of her eyes.
“Ray, what the hell are you doing?”
“Look, couldn’t you have gone over to his place or something? I mean, Castle’s a billionaire. Surely he could have done this in private.”
“Don’t worry, I will next time.”
Ray glanced above Amy’s head to see Castle standing in the doorway, buttoning up his shirt. Their eyes met and Ray wondered what was going on in the man’s mind.
Castle went back into the room.
“I can’t believe you did this, Ray!” Amy hissed at him.
“Look, it’s late. I didn’t think anything about it.”
“Oh my—!” She dragged her hands through her hair. “I could seriously kill you right now. Forget the robot, Ray! I’ll be the one the next time if you do this again.”
“You should have gone to his place, Amy.”
Castle came back out a few seconds later looking as if he’d been doing nothing more than going to the bathroom.
“I’m sorry about this, Adrian,” Amy said.
“No need to be,” Castle responded. His arm went around Amy’s waist and he kissed her without hurry. Ray rolled his eyes. When they parted, Castle simply nodded in his direction and left.
The second the door closed behind them, Amy went into a tirade but Ray tuned out most of her fury. He wondered what Jessie was doing this moment. Had she already—?
No, he couldn’t think like that.
“Adrian is not the person you think he is, Ray. He doesn’t care about C. A. D. I., the professor, or anything else.”
“I’m sure you’d like to think that, Amy. But I’d still be careful if I were you.”
“Oh!”
She whirled around and stomped down the hall. Einstein gave a little yap, his tail wagging as he followed his mistress.
Ray turned on the T. V. and muted the sound. Burrowing under the warm blanket that his cousin had given him, he stared up at the ceiling. He tried not to think about anything else. But soon, he drifted off to sleep, to be haunted by nightmares.
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