Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty Two
Kolter
Ikeep my hand on Naomi’s lower back as we step into the restaurant.
The gentle sound of smooth jazz plays all around us; there are low, soft-lit chandeliers decorating every inch of the ceiling; and waiters in crisp black-and-white uniforms glide back and forth, offering the finest bottles of wine and trays of delicacies.
It’s not my vibe at all.
But the way Naomi’s eyes light up when she takes in her surroundings makes it all worth it.
She’s never been the type to value money or status, but we didn’t exactly grow up with it either.
Over the years, through legal means and otherwise, I’ve grown incredibly wealthy, and while I’ve treated myself to bikes, a nice apartment and other basic luxuries, Naomi hasn’t experienced any of that.
And I want to give her everything this life has to offer. Everything I can possibly offer her.
I know that will never be enough, given what she truly deserves, but I’ll fight like hell every day to make myself worthy of her.
“Good evening. Reservation?” the hostess asks.
I nod. “Under Jacobson.”
Naomi gives me an odd look, but the hostess just smiles.
“Right this way.”
“Since when is your last name Jacobson?” Naomi whispers over her shoulder to me as the hostess guides us through the restaurant.
“They don’t need a real name, and it’s better this way,” I respond, pulling out her chair for her then scooting it in while the hostess places the menus on the table.
“Why?” she asks as I take my seat.
“Why what?”
“Why is it better to use a fake name?”
I look at her for a moment, the answer on the tip of my tongue before I think better of it. Instead, I grab the menu off the table and start browsing through it. I can feel her gaze on me like a laser, but I don’t give in.
“Your life is really dangerous, huh?” she says, almost to herself. “Like, there are people out there who want to hurt you—who might want to hurt me?”
I set the menu down and find her watching me with a deep frown.
Her tone isn’t concerned, though, just accepting—as if she already knew all of this to be true but is just now confirming it.
I don’t like to sugar-coat things, and she’s too smart for me to even attempt to lie to.
I’ll withhold certain information, but this is hardly a secret.
“Yes.”
She nods, picking up her own menu and disappearing behind it. “Kinda wish you’d lied.”
A dry laugh escapes me as I pull her menu down so I can look her in the eye. Her expression is sad, heavy, but still accepting.
I take her hand in mine and graze my thumb over the back of it. Fuck. Her skin is like silk. There isn’t an inch of her that isn’t perfection.
“You never have to worry, okay? I will always keep you safe—never doubt that.”
She gives me a sad smile. “I know. It’s you I’m worried about. As important as I am to you, that’s what you are to me. You get that, right?”
I blink slowly. I’ve never considered that before. Mainly because I don’t see how it’s possible for anyone, even Naomi, to love someone as much as I love her. The anguish hiding just beneath the surface gives her away, though, so I nod and deliver her a new promise.
“I will always come home to you—always.”
Hope flickers in her eyes, and it’s exactly what I was craving. I know it’s a promise I shouldn’t have made. It’s definitely one that I can’t keep, but if it gives her even an ounce of relief, then it was all worth it.
We start with a few appetizers and a bottle of red before ordering our entrees. Naomi fills the conversation with so many topics, it’s almost difficult to follow. I don’t mind, though—I’d happily sit here for hours, listening to her bounce from topic to topic with her hand in mine.
She looks past me then as if the waiter is approaching, but her smile fades, and I turn to see it’s not the waiter standing there—it’s my father.
“Isn’t this a lovely sight?” He smiles, all teeth.
Bones is standing behind him, stoic and stiff as always. The two of them are in their leathers, their appearance a stark contrast to the restaurant’s patrons, and they all notice too. Several tables turn their attention to us, soft whispers filling the air.
I do my best to stay calm and unfazed on the surface, but on the inside, I’m flipping the fuck out.
How did he find me? I intentionally took us over an hour away, somewhere I was certain no one would stumble across us.
The only way he could know is if he followed us, which means he’s been watching me far closer than I realized.
“They have the best steak around supposedly,” I answer coolly.
“That so? We may just have to pull up a chair and join you,” he says to Bones before turning his attention to Naomi.
“Well, don’t be rude, boy. Introduce me to your date.”
The way he says date sends something slithering down my spine, but I do my best to keep my tone unaffected as I slowly remove my hold on Naomi’s hand and gesture to her.
“This is Naomi. Naomi, this is my father Matthew.”
A light flickers in my father’s eyes as Naomi holds out her hand to shake his.
“It’s nice to officially meet you,” she says, ever polite, but I hear the reservation in her voice.
She’s never crossed paths with my father—I’ve never allowed it to happen. She’s heard plenty about him, though.
“Amy’s daughter? I’ll be damned—you’re the spitting image of her,” my dad exclaims, smiling down at Naomi and holding her hand far longer than I care for.
Naomi swallows nervously, carefully extracting her hand from his grip as she gives him a tense smile.
“Well, I can only assume this is what you’ve been so busy with. Can’t say I blame you, son. What a looker,” my father says as his eyes rake over Naomi.
My hand twitches, just begging to reach for the knife concealed in my pocket. Fantasies of jamming that knife right through his eye socket so he can never look at her dance in my head. It takes nearly everything in me to sit there silently instead.
My father’s eyes narrow on me—he’s clearly irritated by my lack of reaction. “You should bring her by the club some time. We can have dinner. Properly get to know one another. If you plan on making her your old lady, we have rules now, don’t we?” he goads.
“Sure, sometime,” I agree.
“Tomorrow,” he counters, a wicked gleam in his eye.
“Can’t,” I counter.
“I insist,” he hisses, the look in his eye promising that I don’t want to push this matter further.
Begrudgingly, I respond with a terse nod, and he claps my shoulder roughly.
“Good. See you both there. Enjoy your meal.”
And he turns and walks out of the restaurant.
Bones shakes his head at us and sneers before following him out.
I don’t realize how long I stare after them, making sure they’ve actually left, until Naomi tentatively rests her hand on mine.
“Kolter, are you okay?”
Words escape me as I try to pull myself together. No. I’m not fucking okay. She has no idea how out of control things have become. How those promises I made only an hour ago are already burning to a crisp, disintegrating faster than it took me to utter them.
But I push that all down and force a smile onto my face.
“Everything is fine, Peaches.”