Chapter 25 Griffin #2
We both lunge at the door, but Dominic stops short, and I’m the only one that hits the solid surface, shouldering it with all my might. It gives way with a concerningly easy crack of the frame that’s definitely going to need repair.
“Your idea and you did it. I’m totally in the clear,” Dominic brags, pumping his fist. “How’s your shoulder?”
I don’t care about the blame, and I sure as hell don’t care about the dull ache in my shoulder. I need to lay eyes on Penny and make sure she’s okay.
Please let her be taking a shower and have not heard us knocking.
Or have fallen asleep and forgotten about her food delivery.
Hell, I’d take something like she fell and can’t get up at this point, because I would happily carry her wherever she needs to go, even if the hospital is the first destination.
A quick scan of the living room, no Penny. A glance toward the kitchen, empty. I dash toward the bedroom, where her unmade bed taunts me. The bathroom is the last place to check, but that dread is growing rapidly.
She’s not here. Penny is gone.
Back in the living room, I meet Dominic’s eyes, his face a mask of concern the same way I’m sure mine is. “Do you think she would’ve gone out for something?”
“And left her food? That was damn near all she was talking about this morning. She wouldn’t just leave.”
Pursing my lips, I glare at him, because he knows as well as I do that she absolutely would. She’d leave simply because Dominic told her not to.
“What’s all this racket?” a voice grumbles from the hallway.
An older woman in a ratty bathrobe, slippers, and glasses appears in Penny’s doorway, seeing us at the same time we see her.
She gasps, clutching her robe closed at her neck before remembering that she’s the building’s resident Grumpy Bitch.
“I swear these girls are running a whorehouse over here. Guys coming and going all day,” she complains, her lips curled up in distaste.
“Guys? What guys?” I bark.
She scrunches her face, and I fully expect her to tell me to watch my tone, but she just waves a hand toward Dom and me. “Two big guys like you.”
I cut my eyes to Dom to find him looking at me too. We’re on the same page. It had to be Miles Conniver’s guys. And after that bastard told me Penny would be safe.
“They were out here in the hallway earlier, talking with the cheerleader through the door. Loud as you please, like they didn’t give a rat’s patootie if they were disturbing other people’s peaceful afternoons.”
“Then what?” Dominic demands.
“They left,” she answers, and I’m not sure if she means the guys or Penny or both. Could they have snatched her in broad daylight and this woman have not done a damn thing to stop them? “She left a few minutes later.”
Okay, that at least tells me that Conniver’s guys didn’t kidnap her. It’s a small consolation from the worst-case scenario forming in my mind. Still, wanting to be sure, I clarify, “She left on her own? The guys weren’t with her?”
“Yeah,” she says, nodding. But then she pauses dramatically before drawling out, “Weeell, up here. But I watched out the window. I like to keep an eye on things, you know?”
Does she want a cookie for being the neighborhood snoop? “And?”
“Cheerleader got in an Uber. The guys were driving one of those big, fancy SUVs. They followed her after the Uber pulled away.”
“Shit!” Dominic hisses.
“Come on,” I tell him. “I know where she went. At least I hope I do.”
“What about this door?” the neighbor tuts.
“You can’t leave it wide open like this.
They’ll get robbed blind.” Is she expressing actual care for Penny and Talia?
Hell, that’s as much of a shocker as anything else, considering she’s always banging on the wall like they’re the most annoying pests in her life.
The door is a concern that’ll have to be addressed, but it’s not the priority when Penny’s in actual, real danger at this very moment, so we pull it closed behind us .
. . well, as close to closed as it will go with a cracked frame.
“You like to keep an eye on things? Make sure nobody but Penny, Talia, or us goes in there, and I’ll make it worth your while. ”
Her eyes flare, looking something other than grumpy for the first time, and she smiles, revealing pristine dentures that contrast oddly with her unkempt appearance.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” she agrees.
The ride to Aqua Est Vita seems three times as long as it was yesterday. Probably because I’m terrified that something has happened to Penny, or is happening right now, and I’m not there to stop it.
I pull up to the restaurant, not even bothering to park in a space but just leaving my car double-parked in the street. I toss my keys to the valet, unconcerned about if he’ll actually move it or not. It can get towed for all I care.
Inside, I bypass the hostess stand, marching straight for the back with Dominic hot on my heels. “Penny?” I shout, disturbing the restaurant full of people loitering over their brunches.
“Griffin?” I hear her a split second before she comes into view, and even the smallest hint of her voice tamps down my fear a few notches.
But seeing her sitting across from the most dangerous man in the city isn’t the least bit reassuring despite the fact that she looks perfectly whole and more than a bit confused at my sudden and loud appearance.
“Mr. Mahoney, lower your voice,” Conniver orders sharply, coming to his feet. “This restaurant is not the place for that sort of behavior.”
Is he for fucking real?
“You said you’d leave her alone,” I accuse, pointing a finger into his chest and not giving a shit about the security guard rapidly moving my way. Conniver doesn’t flinch and instead holds up a hand, stopping his guard.
“Griffin,” Penny hisses, her tone gone severe as she glances around at all the attention my entry has garnered.
“I believe my words were that she would come to no harm, and I think you’ll find that to be the case. Correct, Miss Lee?”
He looks expectantly at Penny, and when she turns confused eyes from him to me and back again, what she finally says is, “You talked to Griffin? About what?”
His lips twitch as though he’s fighting a smile.
“I may have misled you to some degree. While we do apparently have Johnny K in common, we have another mutual acquaintance. Mr. Mahoney.” He gestures toward me like he’s Vanna White and I’m a letter he needs to spin around.
“He came to see me last night to inform me that two of my men had been misbehaving in an attempt to correct their unfortunate mistake. He was quite persuasive in his request that I leave you alone.” Conniver arches a brow, giving me a tiny smirk.
“To point, I had nothing to do with any of that and was wholly unaware until the issue was brought to my attention.”
I didn’t persuade him in the slightest. I begged, I demanded, I would’ve gladly laid down my life if it meant keeping her safe, and both Conniver and I know that. Penny hears something else entirely.
“You came to see him without me? And without telling me? Damn it, Griffin, you can’t keep hiding stuff from me and keeping secrets. What else is there? What else haven’t you told me?” Penny demands.
Is she fucking serious?
I’ve laid my heart bare for her, all the ugly, traumatic broken shards I have left. And she’s throwing it back in my face that I didn’t tell her sooner. As though there’s some acceptable timetable of when to reveal your darkest shame or deepest feelings, and I’ve totally fucked it up.
“Nothing,” I spit out. “I’ve told you everything, more than anybody else knows.
Even Dominic. And I would’ve told you about this when I saw you today, except when I got to your place, you weren’t there.
So, hi,” I say, waving a hand like we’re buddies who haven’t seen each other in a long time, not people in a really bumpy start of a new relationship, “last night after I left your place, I came to see Conniver, and told him what’s been going on.
He was surprisingly understanding, and said you’d be okay and he would handle getting the ring back.
Now it’s your turn. What are you doing here? With him?”
I’m not jealous. I’m scared of Conniver and don’t want him this close to Penny, especially when he’s watching our back-and-forth like it’s a daytime soap opera playing out in front of him.
To be fair, he’s not the only one. The rest of the restaurant is doing the same thing because we’re making quite a scene.
She blinks, still processing what I’ve said, and is probably about to fillet me wide open for daring to speak to her in such a harsh manner.
I can’t say it’s the smartest thing I’ve ever done when I want her to give me a chance, but there was no right answer here.
If I’d texted her last night, I would’ve been smothering her when she asked for space.
Same thing if I’d shown up on her doorstep this morning.
And now? I’ve blown everything by apparently not telling her? There’s no right, only wrongs.
Maybe that’s all I’m capable of, all I’ll ever do. No matter how well intentioned I am, I just fuck up.
“Redesigning the ring for Mr. Conniver?” Penny says, her voice unsure. Of me? Of him? Of herself? I’m not sure.
“Johnny K come through with the ring?” I ask Conniver, and he nods.
I almost ask if the unluckiest thief in the world is still alive but quickly decide I don’t want to know the answer to that question.
Not that Conniver would tell me anyway. I’m sure he’s well versed in speaking precisely to stay out of legal trouble.
Turning back to Penny, I clarify, “And you’re going to redesign it the way you wanted to do in the beginning of this whole thing?” She gives a tiny shrug. “Great. Everything’s golden, then. Guess my work here is done.”