21. Chapter 21
Harley
I gasped. “You did not!”
“Yup, I did.” Coco’s laugh filtered through the phone.
“The lady at the reception told me I could get myself a coffee from the break room because Tatum was running late. Of course I couldn’t turn down that offer.
They even had iced coffee, Harry. After getting a cup, I hurried back to the entrance in case Tatum had arrived meanwhile.
I shot around a corner, and bam ! Right into a wall of muscles.
The lid of my coffee popped open, and there went the brew. It was like a scene from a movie.”
Bella, lying next to me on the silk comforter of her bed, looked at me with her mouth open. “It was Tatum, wasn’t it?”
“Of course it was him!” Coco groaned. “I dumped my coffee onto Tatum Grady’s white, crisp shirt.
He cursed like a sailor. And man, that look he gave me.
I panicked and grabbed a tissue from my handbag, then I was like, what do I even do with it?
I can’t just start cleaning him. So I passed it to him.
He stared at it, then at me as if I was crazy. ”
“I can’t believe he still hired you,” I said.
“Right? The interview was so awkward after that. If I didn’t need this job so bad, I probably would’ve gone straight home so I could die in peace.”
“Sounds like the perfect beginning for a romance.” Bella’s eyes were all but heart-shaped. She was a hopeless romantic.
Coco snorted. “There’s absolutely nothing romantic about the guy.”
“Yet you call him Tatum instead of Mr. Grady,” I pointed out.
“Only around you guys.” She huffed. “I could never ever enter a relationship with a grumpy guy like that. Heck, maybe he has a girlfriend. What do I know?”
“Maybe not,” Bella said, grinning.
“You know what? Keep being delusional. I gotta go. Love ya. Bye.”
Before we could get a word in, Coco hung up.
I laughed. “She’s totally interested in him.”
“One hundred percent. I get enemies to lovers vibes.”
A window popped up on Bella’s computer screen on her desk. We both sat up.
“Someone’s at the gate.” She scrambled off the bed and crossed the room to her computer. Hit a key. The live feed from the surveillance camera outside the illuminated gate filled the screen. The sight of a white F-150 sent a thrill and dread alike through me.
“That’s Kingsley,” I said.
“And who’s the tattooed biker?” Bella’s eyes never left the screen.
I got up and moved closer, seeing the part of feed the back of the chair had covered. “That’s my boss.”
Her gaze snapped to me. “He could be a character out of one of my books. Look at him!”
Oh boy, please not. The last thing I needed was one of my friends getting tangled with the Mafia. “He’s not the kind of guy you want to date.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s on the wrong side of the law.”
Biting her bottom lip, Bella hit a key and leaned toward the mic at the top of the screen. “Come on in. Harry will meet you at the door. I mean Harley.”
As we headed downstairs, I couldn’t help wondering what Rome was doing here. Did he have new intel regarding Craig’s whereabouts? Or the MANPADS and weapons?
The two men waited in the circular water fountain drive, Kingsley wearing his habit and Rome his usual slacks and dress shirt.
My boss sat on his bike, the visor of his helmet open.
He hardly ever showed interest in women, but his gaze stayed locked onto Bella for a looong beat.
Not surprising—with her long blonde waves and supermodel body, she turned men’s heads wherever she went.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, giving him an absolutely-not! scowl.
“Later.” He nodded at Bella. “Aren’t you a tutor for teens or something?”
Good Lord, I had mentioned Bella one time. One. Time. In passing. How did he still remember that she was a tutor? How did he even know what she looked like?
Bella beamed. “Yup, although I’m still working towards my psychology degree.”
“You seem competent enough. My fourteen-year-old niece has been slacking and needs help. Not just with school stuff. She needs a female role model.”
The compassion that softened Bella’s feature made me want to grab her shoulders and shake some sense into her. Maybe I should warn her flat-out that Rome was Mafia.
I slid a glance to Kingsley, who’d been quiet the entire time. His gaze rested on me, an intensity in his green eyes that gave me goosebumps. Good thing we weren’t alone.
“How about you give me your number, and I’ll call?” Bella extended her phone to Rome, who took it, tapped around on the screen, then handed it back. He must’ve left more than his number, because Bella looked at her cell, then gave him a furtive smile.
“Hokay, I think it’s time to go.” I slapped Rome’s visor shut, then gave Bella a hug. “He’s no good,” I whispered in her ear.
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do. He’s the son of a Mafia don, Bella.”
The small gasp told me she finally understood. Good.
Letting her go, I gave her a serious look, then rounded the F-150 and climbed in the passenger side. Warning her was all I could do. What she did with this information was up to her, but I prayed she would be cautious. Rome was a good man, yet his lifestyle was dangerous.
“If you keep shooting me down like that, I’ll die a lonely man,” Rome said over the Bluetooth integrated in his helmet when we hit the road. He rode ahead of us, the red taillight a beacon in the dark.
I glared at my cell as if he could see me through the call. “Someone has to warn her that she might end up dead.”
“Fair enough.” Rome’s voice sounded solid, but the way he dipped his head ever so slightly indicated that I’d hit a sore spot. This wasn’t the first time he responded like that to this topic. Had he lost someone he’d held dear in the past? A girlfriend? Wife?
“So, where are we going?” I asked when he remained silent.
“I possibly found Fuller’s weapon storage. But I need Brother Samuel to lead us there.”
I glanced over at Kingsley sitting behind the wheel, still mute. What was going on with him? He looked rough. “Where?”
“There’s a bunker somewhere in the jungle near Silent Wharf.”
“And you know where it is?” I asked Kingsley.
He gave me a curt nod.
Okay? I wanted to ask what was going on, but not with Rome listening in.
The drive to Silent Wharf took forever, and by the time we were there, darkness had swallowed daylight. I got out of the pickup Kingsley had parked behind an old shack and stared at the jungle looming into the black sky. The crickets were deafening.
A chill crept up my spine and the back of my neck. Why did it feel like Craig was lying in ambush somewhere, waiting for us to set foot into this trap?
“Let’s go.” Rome turned on the flashlight on his phone and set foot into the maze of ancient trees, plants, and vines.
I followed suit, my scalp prickling as if thousands of spiders crawled around on it. Please keep us safe, Jesus.