“You’re right,” Borden replied. “They wouldn’t.”

“It was very exciting when she told me she’d found another job. I’m very thankful you decided to bring her in and put her brains to use, Mr Borden.”

Whoa. A thank you? Okay, okay, this could work. Now all Borden needed to do was avoid fucking it up. I eyed him warily, but he surprised me with his response.

“You put Emma in any situation and I’m sure she’d excel.”

Granny nodded and returned to her plate.

A few more bites, a few more minutes ticked by. My hope climbed, and I let out a long breath, finally trying to relax. This was civil, and I would take civil over hostile any day of the week. This was good –

“Emma’s been very vague about the way you two met, or how she came to be your employee,” Granny added, looking at him thoughtfully. “I’ve always wondered about it. What did you see in my granddaughter when you decided to hire her, Mr Borden?”

Borden’s answer was immediate. “I saw a very beautiful young woman who intrigued me.”

“And how did she manage that?”

With lips closed, Borden smiled at her. That smile could have been interpreted in a million different ways if he hadn’t answered right away. “Her mouth,” he said in a spine tingling voice. “Her mouth intrigued me, Mrs Warne.”

Granny just stared at him, her face blank, her mouth slightly open.

“Emma is a very intense woman,” Borden said, looking back at me. “She’ll tell you how it is without giving a damn. I liked that honesty. It was refreshing.”

He returned to his food and took another bite, meanwhile Granny was trying to figure him out with narrowed eyes. She pushed aside her food, set her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together, glancing at the two of us with an unsettled expression.

“How serious is this?” she wondered aloud.

I sighed miserably. “Granny –”

“I’m entitled to know, aren’t I?”

“Not the first time I bring a man over for dinner.”

“And it’s because it’s the first time you’ve brought a man over for dinner that I’m asking. I don’t want to live through a disaster twice in this lifetime,” she replied steadfastly. “I think I have every right to be serious when you are going down the same path your mother did.”

“I’m nothing like my mother,” I snapped. Like a faucet being turned, tears sprang to my eyes instantly. Why did she have to bring that up? Putting me in the same sentence as my mother was a low blow.

She looked at me contritely. “I’m trying to be delicate about this, Emma, and if I have failed, I’m sorry, darling.”

I looked down at my uneaten food. I felt Borden’s eyes on me, but I couldn’t meet them. My weakness was my mother. You bring her up and I crumbled. Too many buried feelings of hurt lurked within me, unaddressed and abandoned.

It was silent and uncomfortable. Nobody ate.

“What is it that’s getting to you, Mrs Warne?” Borden then asked, getting straight to the point. “Are you comparing me to the man that abused your daughter?”

I glimpsed at Granny. She was surprised by his question. Maybe she didn’t expect him to know all about what had happened.

“I’m only concerned for my granddaughter,” she answered. “I want to understand this relationship.”

“I don’t hurt her,” he told her sternly. “Not unless she wants it.”

I nearly groaned. My face flushed as Granny’s eyes bulged out of their sockets. There was no going back from that. He’d knowingly addressed the bruises she had routinely scrutinized over. He’d let my grandmother know, and now her imagination would run wild.

He appeared content with the reaction as he asked, “What else would you like to know to alleviate your concern, Mrs Warne? I’m only going to do this once. Ask whatever you want, and I’ll be honest with you.”

Granny looked back at him steadily, removing all previous trace of shock from her face. “Are you still an addict?”

Borden didn’t look affected. “No.”

“It was heroine, wasn’t it?”

He took a couple seconds to answer this time. “Yes, it was.”

“How long have you been clean?”

“Four years.”

I blinked hard at that. I was surprised, only because I expected it to be longer. In fact, that meant even when he returned he’d been using. He caught my surprise and pressed his lips together in a thin line. My surprise bothered him, I could tell.

“My granddaughter,” Granny went along, “she hasn’t seen anything, has she?”

I went rigid, my heart spiking. No way would he tell her about the alleyway incident, would he? I realized then that Borden was suddenly too unpredictable for my liking.

“Granny,” I started.

“Don’t, Emma, please. I’m talking to your boyfriend. Isn’t that what he is? Your boyfriend now?”

Calling Borden my boyfriend sounded so juvenile, but I nodded. “Yes, he is, but we didn’t come here to be interrogated. We came here to have a good meal –”

“You’re my flesh and blood, and I wouldn’t be your guardian if I didn’t ask the right questions to this man. I want to know if you’ve seen anything, and I want to hear the answer from him.”

Looking completely indecipherable, he replied, “Like what, Mrs Warne?”

“You know what,” Granny responded slowly. “Don’t insult me by pretending not to know what I’m talking about. I’ve heard many things about what you do, and I don’t want my granddaughter in the centre of it.”

“And what is it that you think I do?”

“Illegal things.”

“That’s very vague. Anything in particular?”

“Drugs for one since you clearly have a reputation for using it…Murder for another. Anything that you would relate to the underworld you’re in. One iota of exposure to that filth and my granddaughter could be very well in danger. Has that even entered your mind, or are you aware of what you’re doing and letting her in the cusp of it?”

I gripped my fork tightly. Shit.

Borden remained calm, though I saw his jaw tick once. “All my businesses are legit, and what you’ve heard are rumours by uneducated, ignorant people that thrive on drama. I have nothing to hide. I understand your unease, but I can promise you, your granddaughter is safe with me. I wouldn’t have her if it were any other way.”