Chapter 446 - 446: Closure With Eleanor?

Kyle woke before the sun.

Jane was still asleep beside him, curled into his side with one arm thrown across his chest, breathing slow and deep. The suite was quiet. Somewhere down the hall, Junior made a small sleepy sound and went silent again.

Kyle reached for his phone on the nightstand.

One new message. Sent at 6:52 AM.

[[Eleanor: Your large friend needs a better hiding spot.]]

Kyle went completely still.

A second message arrived while he was still staring at the first.

[[Eleanor: Coffee? I'm awake. You're awake. I can tell.]]

He read both messages twice. Then he looked toward the window, half expecting to see her standing on the balcony. There was nobody there, of course. Just the grey light of a London morning creeping around the edges of the curtains.

"Large friend."

There was only one large friend she could mean.

"Viktor, what did you do?"

Kyle typed carefully.

[[Kyle: Where?]]

The reply came instantly, like she had been holding the phone and waiting.

[[Eleanor: Little café on Elizabeth Street. Blue door. I'll order for you.]]

Kyle slid out from under Jane's arm as gently as he could. She stirred anyway, squinting at him without her glasses in the dim light.

"Where are you going?" she mumbled.

Kyle sat on the edge of the bed and pushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"I'm saying goodbye to someone," he said quietly. "I'll be back before we leave for Tony's."

Jane looked at him for a long moment. Something moved behind her sleepy eyes. Then she nodded and pulled the duvet up to her chin.

"Okay," she whispered. "Don't be late. Jasmine will kill you."

"I know."

He kissed her forehead and got dressed in the dark.

-

Cassandra was already in the kitchen when he came out, Junior on her hip, the kettle just starting to hum.

She looked at his coat. Then at his face.

"Twice in two days," she said mildly.

"Last one. I promise."

Cassandra didn't say anything else. She just handed him a piece of toast on her way past, the way she might hand Junior a biscuit to keep him quiet, and went back to the kettle.

Kyle ate it in the lift going down.

-

Belgravia was barely awake.

The white houses stood in neat rows, black railings wet with dew, every door painted and polished like it was waiting for a photograph. It was only a short walk from the Lanesborough, but it felt like another world. Quieter. Older. A place where money didn't shout because it had never needed to.

Kyle scanned every street he crossed.

No Viktor.

That didn't mean anything.

The café was exactly where she said it would be. Small, with a blue door and fogged windows. A bell jingled above his head as he stepped inside.

Eleanor was sitting at a table in the corner.

She wore the same cream-colored coat she had worn the day she followed him out of Gucci, belted at the waist. Her nails were painted deep red. Two cups sat on the table in front of her, one untouched, steam curling from the top.

She smiled when she saw him. It changed her whole face. Made her look younger.

"You came," she said.

"You sounded like you knew I would."

"I did." She nudged the second cup toward him as he sat down. "Flat white. You strike me as a flat white man."

Kyle took a sip. He didn't tell her that but this was good.

"So," he said, setting the cup down. "My large friend."

Eleanor's eyes sparkled.

"Very large. Black coat. Metal teeth. Has an unfortunate habit of reading maps upside down." She stirred her own coffee slowly.

"He's been outside my house twice now. Friday night, and again yesterday afternoon."

Kyle's jaw tightened.

"Did he do anything?"

"He ate a great many sausage rolls." Eleanor tilted her head. "And he looked very surprised when I waved at him."

Kyle stared at her.

"You waved at him?"

"It seemed rude not to." Her smile widened. "He's been standing in the cold for me. The least I could do was say hello."

Kyle didn't know whether to laugh or worry. He settled on a little of both.

"Weren't you scared?"

"Of him?" Eleanor considered the question seriously, which surprised him.

"No. My mother taught me the difference between a man who watches you because he wants something, and a man who watches you because someone asked him to." She looked up at Kyle over the rim of her cup.

"He's the second kind."

The words landed heavier than she probably meant them to.

"Someone asked him to," Kyle repeated.

"Didn't you?"

He didn't answer. Eleanor didn't push. She just smiled again, the way she had on the street after the Viktor breakfast, like she already knew the answer and was only being polite.

"He won't bother you again," Kyle said finally. "I'll make sure of it."

"I'd appreciate that. My workers are starting to talk." She set her cup down.

"And for what it's worth, Kyle, I kept my promise. I haven't said a word about your girl in the grey coat. Not to anyone. Not even to Mother."

Kyle searched her face.

There was no game in it. Not this time. Just a small woman with a big presence, sitting very straight in her chair, telling him the truth again.

"Thank you," he said.

"Don't thank me. Just remember it." She picked her cup back up.

"Now. Why did you really come?"

Kyle leaned back.

"I'm going home tomorrow."

For the first time since he had sat down, Eleanor's smile slipped. Only slightly. Only for a second. Then it was back in place, as polished as the doors outside.

"I see," she said. "I suppose I knew you would eventually. Men like you never stay anywhere very long."

"Men like me?"

"Men who are always looking over their shoulder."

Kyle couldn't argue with that.

"I didn't want to just disappear," he said. "You deserved better than finding out from someone else."

Eleanor studied him for a long moment. Something in her expression softened.

"That's unexpectedly decent of you."

"I have my moments."

"Rare ones, I'd imagine."

"Very rare."

She laughed then. A warm, musical sound.

"So this is goodbye, then."

"No," Kyle said. "Call it another rain check. You'll have to come to Los Angeles to collect it."

"Another one? You're accumulating debts, Kyle." Eleanor raised an eyebrow.

"Los Angeles. How terribly American."

"I'll show you around. Somewhere nobody reads maps upside down."

She looked at him for a long time, her red nails tapping lightly against the cup.

"I'll hold you to that," she said finally.

-

When they stood to leave, Kyle went to the counter and paid.

[Ding!]

[Spent $14. 50X Critical Hit! Earned $700! The money has been transferred to account XXX-XXX-XXX.]

[Spent $14 on a beautiful lady!]

Seven hundred dollars for two coffees. Kyle almost laughed out loud.

Outside, the street was waking up. A woman walked a pair of spaniels past the café.

Eleanor buttoned her coat and looked up at him. Even standing on the step, she barely reached his shoulder.

"Safe flight, Kyle."

Then she rose on her toes, took hold of his collar, and pulled him down just far enough to press a kiss to his cheek. Close to the corner of his mouth. Close enough that it lingered.

She let go before he could react.

"Don't keep me waiting too long," she said.

She turned and walked away down Elizabeth Street without looking back, her heels clicking on the wet pavement.

Kyle stood there for a moment longer than he meant to.

Then he pulled out his phone.

[[Kyle: Leave the short girl alone. She's under my protection now.]]

The reply took less than a minute.

[[Unknown: Short girl vaves at Viktor. Viktor likes her. But Da.]]

[[Kyle: Breakfast tomorrow. Same place as last time. I'm leaving London.]]

The three dots appeared. Stopped. Appeared again.

[[Unknown: Viktor vill be there, puppy.]]

-

The suite was chaos when he walked back in.

Jasmine was standing by the door in a yellow dress, clutching the Hamleys bag with both hands like it contained the crown jewels. Cassandra was buckling Junior into his carrier. Jane was putting on her coat. Ella was in the bathroom yelling about a missing earring.

"You're late!" Jasmine announced.

"I'm right on time."

"You're almost late."

"That's still on time."

Jasmine considered this and allowed it.

Jane came over and fixed his collar without a word. Her fingers paused for half a second where Eleanor's had been. Then she smoothed it flat and stepped back with a small smile.

Ella emerged from the bathroom, one earring in, and sniffed the air as she passed him.

"Why do you smell like a flower shop?"

"The café had flowers."

"Sure it did."

Cassandra hid her smile behind Junior's head.

Kyle's phone buzzed.

[[Gerald: The car is downstairs, Mr. Kyle.]]

"Alright," Kyle said, clapping his hands together. "Everyone ready?"

"Ready!" Jasmine shouted, already out the door.

Kyle looked back at the suite once. Then he followed his family out, toward Kensington and the last Sunday lunch of their trip.