CHAPTER SEVEN
BELLA
I walked through the crowds I usually avoided, winding my way between the night market stalls and headed into the traveling carnival that had set up the weekend prior. I had avoided this place at all costs, but tonight I was feeling suicidal enough to actually attempt to people.
Dad wasn’t speaking to me, or anyone from what I could tell. I’d managed calls from three aunts I didn’t want to deal with this week to deliver proof of life. Falcon had messaged nonstop for the first two days of his absence, saying he had work to do for his family, which I understood, and then his chatter reverted to radio silence.
Where the doubts crept in.
So rather than sit at home and stare at the world wondering what went on in it that I missed in a seriously understated case of FOMO once Dad predictably passed out, I walked down the hill. My feet took me all the way past the marina without once looking in the direction of Falcon's boat, and led me into the town.
Through all the people. The music. The smells.
I was a good halfway through the carnival when my people-phobia set in and I decided I'd had enough. Unfortunately, that meant wandering back through all those same people to get back home.
I sucked in a deep, fortifying breath determined to manage my internal chaos, and choked on the terrifying scent of burning hotdog.
“It’s pretty bad.”
I pivoted on my heel, my eyes streaming as I took in Falcon, dressed in a white loose fitting shirt, loose white pants and brown loafers.
He looked nothing like a mafia prince, and everything like a normal beach town holiday maker. Or the early twenty something he was on spring break from college.
“It’s feral,” I choked a little more, swiping the back of my hand across my eyes.
He took pity on me, though the corners of his mouth stayed fixed in that enigmatic smile as he studied my plight. After a second he relented, catching my shoulders and guiding me away from the smoke that billowed around me.
“Are you okay?” He swept my hair out of my face, twisting it into a neat bun at the back of my neck and securing it with my elastics without being asked. He tucked the flyaway ends back, stroking my cheeks with his thumbs. “I missed you,” he said quietly.
I looked up at him, all the words I wanted to say from the last days not tumbling out of my mouth because they got lodged somewhere in my throat behind a swamp of doubt and self-consciousness. And an excess of carnie smoke.
“I smell like burnt hotdog,” I muttered.
“Only a little. Come on.” He caught my hand, leading me away from the center of the carnival to a small coffee cart set up to one side of sideshow alley. The lights still flashed too brightly, but the sounds were more muted here. “What do you want?”
“Ah–” I hadn’t thought to bring my purse with me because I had no intention of doing anything but walk and clear my head, not fill it with undesirable smoke and burning things. “I’m good,” I said quickly.
He bumped my hip with his. “It’s a coffee, Bella. I’m not buying your family business.” His eyes weren’t laughing when he said that, and his gaze darkened when he looked down at me. “I like that dress.”
I squeezed the soft green cotton of my maxi length peasant dress. “It’s one of my favorites. Um, matcha latte? With vanilla please,” I added when his eyebrows did their thing again. “You look pretty too,” I whispered, leaning in.
He snorted out a laugh. “Damn, I missed you.”
His arm slipped around my waist in a possessive gesture as he held out a card. Within a minute I was holding an oversized steaming hot matcha latte that slipped down my throat.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You weren’t gonna eat anything again, were you?” He tightened his hold on me. “Were you married to walking around here?”
“No. I've had enough.”
“Good.” He guided us back through the crowd to the boardwalk that led past the marina to the clifftop. Somehow the crowd was more manageable with him by my side. “Sorry I wasn’t around much the last few days. Dad was available and… I don't get to see him much.” He fell silent for a long minute. “He’s still my father, even if I don’t always like him.”
I swallowed hard. “I know what you mean. At least yours is…functioning.”
“Semi.” He laughed again and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Are you wearing the right–” He checked down. “You are actually wearing shoes. I’m impressed. Want to check out the view from up there?” He nodded to the clifftop.
It was a steep looking walk, but thankfully there were no people on it, especially at night.
I shrugged. “I’m game.”
“You’ve never been?” He looked at me askance as we passed the jetty. “Will you wait here for me?”
I nodded, and he took off at a run, heading back toward his boat. I found a cement pylon and planted my butt, finishing my drink by the time he loped back toward me. A bundle was under tucked one arm, and he’d slung a different gray jacket to the one I’d stolen from his across his shoulders. That, he promptly took off.
“This is for us.” He nodded to the picnic rug under his arm. “This is for you.” He shrugged off the jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“I’m getting a collection.”
“Good.” His gaze darkened as he looked at me, a shadow flittered behind his eyes. Something unspoken passed there, but after a moment he grabbed my hand, finishing his drink and binned both of our cups. “Captain said it’s a bit of a walk, but worth it. Do you need to be back any time soon?” He tacked that last bit on casually.
I shook my head. Dad had passed out later than usual, which meant he would also wake up later. “No, why?”
“Because Cap also said the sunrise is stunning.” Falcon reached out to brush his thumb across my bottom lip. “Are you up for that?”
I didn’t answer him because I couldn’t, so I nodded instead. He seemed to understand, dipping his head to brush his mouth lightly over mine. Just once. That’s all.
My heart pitter-pattered away in my chest as his hand closed firmly around mine. We walked in silence, taking the steep walk slow, enjoying the night’s quiet air.
We reached the top without too much panting or disgracing ourselves. His hand never left mine, and he never towed me up the hill or walked ahead of me, just keeping pace.
Whatever or whoever Falcon Gianio was behind closed doors with his family, he was a different man with me.
Low undergrowth opened out to a small expanse of rock and grass. A few beer bottles littered the far side of the clearing, but it was cleaner where Falcon laid out the picnic rug, planting his ass in the middle with his legs set out in a vee shape. He crooked one finger at me where I huddled in his jacket back against the shrubbery, neither of us breaking our unspoken vow of silence.
The cliff face was sheer, maybe a dozen feet away from where he laid out the rug on the ground. Beyond that the sea looked black, except for a single shimmering triangle where the moon's light reflected on the dark water.
He leaned back and caught my hand as I stared toward a horizon I could no longer see, tugging me down to the space between his legs. Warm arms wrapped around me as he rested his chin on my head.
I sank into him with a sigh. “I thought this was going to be scary.”
Falcon stiffened. “What was going to be scary?” He kept his tone light as he traced patterns on my collarbone, sliding his hands inside the jacket he leant me.
I have to give this one back. I cannot keep it.
I swallowed at the thought of parting ways with him when he left. I knew this couldn't be forever. A silly notion; we were a spring break fling at best, something fun to be enjoyed in the moment and here I was, adding drama to it.
“Nothing.” I brushed the thought away. “Tell me how everything went with your Dad?”
He laughed in my ear. “Tell me what was going to be so scary about being alone with me,” he murmured, brushing his lips across my temple, then my cheek.
I swallowed, knowing he would feel my nerves, read them as I did his. “I shouldn’t have said anything—” I started.
“Be honest with me. Remember, Bella? Have you forgotten already?” he murmured. He tugged me back into him when I pulled away, and I let him, closing my eyes to shut out the world, noise from the day intruding on the peace of the night with him.
I knew what he expected me to say but…that wasn’t what terrified me. Well, not entirely.
“I’m scared of the night passing so fast that when I open my eyes, you’re gone again,” I whispered my confession in a rushed breath.
The wind caught it, whisking my words away so fast I wondered that I’d said anything at all. Falcon stilled at my back for a breath. His hands flexed on my skin before he cupped my chin and tilted my head back, though he didn’t kiss me, not entirely. Not yet.
“Christ, I thought you were worried about me hurting you. That I wouldn't stop if you told me that’s not what you wanted—” His breath hitched and I tipped my head upward, pressing up to find my mouth with his.
“That’s not it. Well, a tiny bit, but what girl isn’t scared of that with someone new? That’s…it’s a thing. But what I’m scared of is it disappearing. This. Us. All of what I feel going by too fast that I miss it even when I’m here, with you.”