Chapter 17
Seventeen
CULLEN
The sight of Nardi standing alone in an auditorium sets my blood boiling. There are at least seven booths. Seven. Not to mention the actual decorating of the auditorium itself.
Which heartless creature expected her to accomplish all of this on her own? With her arm injured, no less?
“Cullen?” Nardi’s eyelashes blink up a storm. “What are you doing here? Why is everyone here?”
“Not everyone,” I answer calmly. “Only the ones who could make it on short notice.”
She glances around in shock. “Which is pretty much the entire company.” Her nose scrunches. “Except Jenna. By the way, I heard she quit. What happened? It seemed like she never planned on leaving Cullen Tech.”
Just thinking about Jenna gives me a massive headache.
“Jenna found a better opportunity,” I say simply.
Nardi’s eyes widen. “Seriously?”
Saying nothing more, I reach for the string lights around her waist. The moment my finger brushes her delicate hip bone, she inhales sharply.
My eyes fly to her.
She seems surprised by her own reaction and I wonder if she’s remembering what happened in the tub.
Nardi eases away. “I… I’ve got it.”
“Yes, it appears so.”
“I heard the sarcasm, Cullen.”
“I wasn’t trying to hide it,” I mutter.
I let her wriggle around in the string lights since that’s what she wants to do. Asad approaches me, his excitement high.
“Everyone’s here, Cullen. Are you going to keep your promise?”
“Yes.” Eyes on Nardi, I instruct him, “Unload the robots.”
“Alright!” Asad pumps a fist.
Nardi stops, her fingers slackening on the lights. “Did you just say robots?”
Before I can respond to her, Sara approaches me with a clipboard. “Cullen, I’ll need a few minutes to draft the new layout of the auditorium and decide on a theme with Nardi.”
“Me?” Nardi sticks a finger in her chest.
Sara taps a yellow pencil against her forehead, focused on the clipboard. “I also want to divide the guys into teams, but that will take even more time and I don’t want them to get antsy.”
“They won’t. I brought two RC-1500s.” I check my watch. “You’ll have all the time you need to organize yourself before giving out tasks.”
“Great. Thanks. Oh, hey, Nardi. Nice outfit.” Sara gestures to the string lights.
“This wasn’t intentional,” Nardi says with a rueful grin.
I fold my arms over my chest and watch her tug at the lights. The knot only gets bigger.
“You’re tangling yourself more,” I point out.
Nardi narrows her eyes, her voice tight. “I can’t concentrate with you staring at me.”
“Perhaps if you weren’t so beautiful, it would be easier to take my eyes off you,” I say in just as huffy a manner.
She raises an eyebrow. “Are you complimenting me? Because that’s the angriest compliment I’ve ever gotten.”
“Are you ready to admit you need help?”
“Never.” She hops forward, mumbling, “I know there are some scissors around here somewhere.”
My patience runs out at that moment and I grab a hold of the loose end of the wire, giving it a tug. Nardi jerks back unexpectedly and I run ahead to catch her just as she teeters sideways. She ends up dropping into my arms and almost pulls me down in the process.
I find my footing, but we end up in a dip like dancers in a passionate tango. My hand remains tight on her back and I don’t immediately release her. Nardi doesn’t seem to be in a rush to distance herself from me either.
Her eyes search mine as her braids splay down to the gym floor. The neat rows keep her hair back and bring all the attention to her pretty face.
“Your new hairstyle suits you,” I tell her softly.
Her lips arch up. “Your eyes look rested.”
My gaze fastens on her face. “Why are you smiling?”
“Can’t I smile?”
“Not over me.”
“I’ll smile over you if I want to,” she sasses. “You had me worrying all night.”
Her words both excite me and fill me with dread.
You’ll bring her down too if she falls in love with you, boy.
I shake my head, making a stern face. “I told you not to worry.”
“And I told you that I’m not your employee. I don’t listen to your orders. I hate you because I want to. I worry about you because I’m human. You don’t like it? Tough luck.”
My lips curl up at her fierce tone. Nardi’s strength and conviction is one of the many reasons I was drawn to her. But we’re coming dangerously close to the romantic affections being mutual.
I can’t allow it.
On her end, there can only be lust.
Desire.
Need.
Tension.
But not love.
Never love.
A smattering of applause breaks out from behind us. I set Nardi on her feet and glance over my shoulder. Asad and Dr. Young are programming the robots and one of the RC-1500s raised its arm in response.
“I can’t believe you brought robots.” Nardi mumbles, shaking her head.
“It’s part of my deal with Adam Harrison. He gave me access to his satellites. In return, I’m programming his newest invention.”
“Those look expensive. I’m almost afraid to ask what they cost.”
“They’re worth a small war tank.”
“A small what?” She chokes. “Why’d you bring them here? ”
“They’ll be able to carry things across the room,” I inform her, inspecting the string lights that have her trapped. If I can locate the pinch point, the rest should spring free easily.
Nardi gasps. “You could have done that with a trolley . Not two machines worth millions.”
“The RC-1500s are what drew everyone here.” How else could I have gotten all my programmers to turn out before sunrise on a Saturday? I probe at one of the knots in the center of the string lights.
“So those robots are a trap.” Nardi judges me, her eyebrows tightening.
“It’s an opportunity,” I correct her. “I had to get enough manpower here quickly and there were limited options. Even if I wanted to hire a crew at the last minute, no agency would be open at this hour.”
“So you thought you’d order your own employees around. Aren’t you breaking labor laws?”
“You don’t sound very grateful.” I wiggle the string to loosen its grip and then start working on the other end.
Nardi huffs. “How did you even know I was here? Did my mother tell you?”
I shake my head as the string lights loosen.
“The only people who knew I was coming to the school at this time were mom and Roger—” Nardi reels back. “Don’t tell me Roger’s a spy?”
I don’t respond. I’ve undone the main knot and now the rest of the string lights are untangling practically on their own.
“This all makes sense.” Nardi covers her mouth in shock. “On Roger’s first day, you called me and you already knew I was going to your office. I hadn’t told you that yet, but you were so sure.”
I remain quiet, focused on my work.
“You’re ignoring me, Cullen.”
“I’m listening, Nardi.”
“Am I right?”
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” I mumble. She doesn’t find that funny. I clear my throat and clarify, “He’s not a spy.”
“Roger reports my movements to you. What else would you call that?”
“A precaution.” I walk around her, unraveling the last few layers of the lights. “Roger’s not only a driver. He also has a background in private security. He came highly recommended by Clay Bolton, a friend of Sullivan’s in the security space.”
Nardi glares at me. “You hired a bodyguard?”
“From your tone, I can tell you’re gushing with gratitude.” I say dryly. I lift the now untangled length of string lights.
Nardi snatches it away. “Cullen, you’re crossing a line.”
“What line is that?”
“You should have told me if you were hiring a bodyguard.”
“I didn’t hire a bodyguard. I hired a driver. It’s not Roger’s fault that he has many other talents.”
She throws her hands up. “You’re impossible! It’s like I’m talking to RB-50 over there.” Nardi points to the robots.
“It’s actually RC-1500,” I say. Her unamused expression makes me smile. “You can shout at me later. How much time do we have before the doors open?”
“The fundraiser starts at noon, but the PTA moms are coming in at eight to inspect my work.”
My smile flattens at the mention of the evil women who banished her here.
Before I can comment on their unfairness, Sara appears and takes Nardi away to finalize the concepts. The two women have a quick back-and-forth. Soon after, Sara gathers the computer engineers together and hands out their roles.
Nardi smiles sweetly at my engineers who all look back at her as if she hangs the moon.
“Before we start, I’d just like to thank everyone for coming. This means a lot to me and I won’t forget it.”
I’m standing to the side, away from the group, but at her words, I move toward her. Why is she smiling so sweetly at them when I’m the one who pulled this together? All she did was scold me earlier.
“I promise, when things have settled down and my arm is better, I’ll cook you guys a Belizean feast!”
A roar of appreciation goes up from the men.
“Let’s get to work, everyone!” Sara claps her hand against the clipboard.
Immediately, my employees disperse. Dr. Young and Asad continue to maneuver the robot.
I stop Nardi before she can join the rest of them. “I thought you disapproved of them coming here?”
“They’re the victims in this situation. It’s not their fault they have a crazy boss.” She pokes a finger in my chest.
I narrow my eyes.
She tries to brush past me and I step in her way. She moves in the other direction. I block her there too.
Nardi tilts her head up to meet my eyes. “Can you step aside?”
“Where are you going?”
“To the spa.” She rolls her eyes. “Obviously, I’m going to work along with everyone else.”
“No, you’re not,” I say calmly.
Sparks of fire flash from her eyes. “ Excuse me?”
“You heard what the doctor said. You’re not to do anything with that wrist until it’s healed.”
“I’m supposed to take off the wrist brace today, Cullen. I’ll be fine.” She moves to the right.
I calmly step in her way.
She moves to the left.
I block her there too.
She does a quick step, running around me. In response, I make a pained sound and clutch my chest.
“Cullen?” Nardi flies to my side. “Are you okay? Is your chest hurting? Do you need your pills?”
“I’m fine,” I mumble feebly. “I just… need…”
“What? Tell me,” she says earnestly.
“… you to sit down.”
Nardi’s expression shifts in an instant and she gives me an annoyed look. “You’re messing with me.”
“I feel much better today than I did yesterday and I made sure to take my pills before I drove out here.” I usher her to the bleachers. “Stay there. Tell me what you want done, and I’ll do it for you.”
“You’re… going to do my work?”
I jut my chin at the booth nearby. “You were heading toward this one, right? What did you want to start with?”
Nardi hesitates.
“The clock is ticking, boss.”
She rolls her eyes. “I wanted to wipe the boards and lay out the wallpaper.”
“Alright,” I say. My fingers expertly undo my smart watch and I offer it to Nardi. “Hold this for me?”
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she accepts it. The way she’s looking at me, I can’t help but turn back toward the bleachers. In three quick strides, I climb to a step below where Nardi is sitting.
Her brows curve in surprise.
Without explanation, I bend to kiss her. The moment I capture her lips, I want more. Tilting her head back, I deepen the kiss until I hear the sound of hoots and whistles from the others.
Nardi’s hand flattens against my chest and she pushes me away. I let her, straightening to my full height.
“I knew it!” Asad yells from across the room. “I knew you two were dating!”
Dr. Young looks absolutely shocked.
Sara smiles from ear to ear.
Nardi ducks in embarrassment and I figure that kiss should keep her nice and distracted for a few minutes. By then, everyone will have a task to do and she won’t feel the need to interrupt us.
I get to work on the booth as Nardi instructed and she reluctantly coaches me through the set up. After I’m done, Nardi decides she wants to decorate the entrance, so I drag a chair next to the auditorium door.
“I can stand,” Nardi protests.
“Sit when you’re feeling tired,” I instruct her.
“I should be the one telling you that.” She gives me another side eye but doesn’t argue and I continue with my work. There’s a lot to be done but none of it is heavy labor, and I’m careful to pace myself as I go.
Caterers arrive after we’ve logged in a solid hour of work and excitement sweeps through the auditorium.
“When did you have time to order food?” Nardi asks, staring at the tables being set up.
Waffles, pancakes, French toast, eggs and an assortment of other breakfast foods rest on heated silver trays. Everyone’s already lining up and Asad is at the very front.
“I didn’t.” I nod at Sara from across the room.
My assistant nods back.
Tiny lines inscribe into the space between Nardi’s eyebrows. “I thought you said you couldn’t hire a crew because businesses don’t open before sunrise?”
“Yes, but bakers are in their kitchens at two or three a.m.” I smirk at her puzzled expression and then jut my chin at the table. “Would you like me to get something for you to eat?”
“I’m not an invalid. I can get my own plate,” she grumbles. “You do too much, Cullen.”
I smile as Nardi stalks past me to join the line.
If only I could do more than this for her. There’s not enough time to shower her with all the gifts she deserves.
My heart sinks at the thought.
More time.
The one thing I want.
The one thing I can’t have.
As Nardi approaches the line and finds her place at the back, the engineers wave her forward and gesture for her to go ahead of them.
“It’s alright,” Nardi says, staying at the back.
“You go first.”
“ Cullen will kill us if we let his girlfriend eat last.”
“Take my place, Nardi.”
That last instruction comes from Asad who generously offers for Nardi to step in front of him. I smile at the way they take care of her.
Nardi is reluctantly nudged to the front of the group. I have a feeling that, had she not walked on her own, the guys would have lifted her up and crowd surfed her to the table.
Just then, I smell a cloud of harsh perfume. A moment later, the doors bang open and a group of haughty-looking ladies saunter into the auditorium.
The tallest woman in the group gawks at the caterers. All the other ladies look at her as if to gauge how she’s responding to the situation before they decide on what their responses will be.
Nardi catches sight of the women at the same time I do and she stiffens. My own muscles tense in response. I don’t recognize any of the newcomers, but the dislike on Nardi’s face is enough for me to despise them.
The leader makes an affronted sound. “ What is going on here?”
Nardi’s thin smile encompasses all the women, but her eyes are on the lady who spoke. “Cathleen.”
“Ms. Davis, who are all these men?” Cathleen blinks rapidly in the direction of the machines tracing back and forth. “Are those robots? ”
“They’re RC-1500s,” Nardi says smartly.
The other women murmur in shock.
Cathleen keeps blinking and I half-hope she’ll sprain her eyelashes. “Who let these people in? We don’t allow riff-raff on school property, Nardi. That’s very irresponsible of you.”
At her words, I walk forward and join Nardi’s side. I know Nardi well enough to say that she wouldn’t want me fighting her battles for her, but I want it clear that I have her back. Always.
“Ladies, is there a problem here?” I ask tightly.
“And who are you?” Cathleen scoffs at me.
“I’m Ronan Cullen.”
At the mention of my name, gasps erupt from the ladies.
“I heard that someone named Cullen donated the new lab.”
“I heard he’s insanely rich.”
The ladies behind Cathleen start looking at me with smiles instead of mistrust. Sensing that the tides are turning away from Cathleen’s favor, I lift my phone. “I wasn’t aware we were breaking any rules here. Let me call Principal Green and sort this out.”
Cathleen lifts her nose. “Principal Green doesn’t like to be bothered on Saturdays. She won’t answer your call.”
“I see.” Without a beat of hesitation, I call Principal Green’s number.
The phone rings only once.
“Hello, Mr. Cullen. How can I help you?”
At the sound of the principal’s voice, Cathleen’s eyes turn as wide as an RC-1500’s tires.
I put the phone on mute and glance at the women. “Would any of you ladies like to explain the problem?”
They start shaking their heads ‘no’.
I take the phone off ‘mute’ and say, “I wanted to let you know that I spoke to Adam Harrison about what you’re doing at the school and he’s interested in making a donation as well.”
“How wonderful!” Principal Green shouts with glee.
“He’d like to set up a meeting next week with him and his wife who’s the CEO of the company.”
“Of course! Of course! We’ll hammer out the details as soon as possible. Thank you so much, Mr. Cullen. You and your friends’ generous donations are the bedrock of our institution. Thank you.”
“Of course. You have a good day.” I hang up on the principal.
One of the mothers shoots past Cathleen and grins up at me. “Mr. Cullen, if you’re interested in investments, my husband runs a brokerage firm. And I personally vouch for his company. Would you like an introduction?”
“Adam Harrison?” someone murmurs. “Isn’t he the inventor who runs the competition every year?”
“Do you really know Adam Harrison?” Another mother latches onto me. “My son was rejected from Harrison Tech’s internship program this summer. Do you think you could set up another chance for him? He’s a really bright student.”
“I don’t know.” I turn and arch an eyebrow at Nardi. “I don’t make decisions like that alone.”
There’s a moment where the mothers all freeze with guilt. And then, the brazen women slide over to Nardi with polite smiles and giggles.
“Nardi, what happened to your wrist?” one exclaims.
“Are you tired? Would you like to sit down?” Another tries to tug Nardi to a seat.
“Can we focus on the matter at hand?” Cathleen shrieks, struggling to maintain control of her acolytes.
“I totally agree,” Nardi says awkwardly. “Let’s discuss other matters after today’s event. We still have the finishing touches to do.” She gestures to the auditorium.
“Oh, we’ll do it!” the mothers exclaim.
“Yes, you and Mr. Cullen should go now. We’ll handle it from here,” someone else says.
Cathleen’s jaw drops as her crew members abandon her hate-fueled crusade and get to work around the gym.
I motion to Sara who hurries over to hear my instructions.
“The ladies are taking over now. Breakfast is to go. Please tell the others that they can take the rest of the day off and to expect a bonus for their trouble.”
Sara runs to do what I asked and I know the moment she makes the announcement about the bonus because whoops of joy ring through the auditorium. Asad and Dr. Young move quickly to shut down the robots and get them back into their trailer.
I steer Nardi to the exit. Annoyance in my voice, I whisper, “Who was that cretin?”
Nardi snorts. “Cathleen Moore. Head of the PTA. Her family sponsors the art program at the school, so she thinks she’s a VIP here.” A snicker follows her explanation. “Did you see the looks on their faces when they found out who you were? That was hilarious!”
“Did you enjoy that?” Seeing her laugh, I can’t wipe the satisfied grin from my face.
Nardi preens. “Yes. More than you know.”
I smile even wider, my heart so full it’s about to burst.
“See yah Monday, boss!” Asad waves, walking past me with a case of food. “And Mrs . Boss.” He nods his head respectfully to Nardi.
Nardi laughs sheepishly. “Is that going to be a thing?”
I smirk, glad to see everyone leaving in high spirits. The parking lot is emptying fast. I’m not surprised that everyone disappeared so quickly. It’s Saturday morning. I’m sure they’d rather be at home than here.
Sara walks past us next. She’s balancing two plates in her hands. Nardi rushes to relieve her of the burden, but I move faster and get to Sara first so Nardi doesn’t hurt her wrist from carrying the food.
“I packed these for you and Nardi,” Sara says.
“Thank you.” I smile sincerely at Sara. “You were a great help today.”
Her voice cracks and tears gather in her eyes. “I, uh, I marked yours, Cullen. It’s the one without any eggs since they used milk and you can’t have dairy with your medication…”
I frown at her.
She clamps her lips shut and shakes her head. “Yeah, uh, see you Monday. Bye, Nardi.”
“Bye,” Nardi says with a confused smile.
We walk to the parking lot, and Nardi keeps glancing at me without saying anything.
“I brought my car today,” I explain.
Her eyebrows twitch in surprise. “Really? Why?”
“Because I wanted to drive you to the hospital.” I check my phone screen for the time. “Since you have a few hours before your appointment, would you come somewhere with me?”
Nardi observes me for a beat and, I’m pretty sure she’ll say no. But she surprises me by nodding and walking ahead of me to the car.
We don’t speak much on the way. Nardi takes control of the music and bobs her head to the songs. The music is an eclectic mix of R&B, pop, country and a drum-intensive sound native to Belize.
Sometimes, she croons along with the soulful singers screaming about love and heartbreak. At other times, she mumbles along with famous rappers, missing half of the words and then blasting out the few lines that she knows by heart. But I really like when she sings to the Belizean music. Her hips start moving in her seat and it seems that, at any moment, she’ll break out into a full-on dance.
She’s far more comfortable around me today than she was yesterday, and I smile the entire trip.
But Nardi’s smile disappears when she sees where we’re going.
“Is this a haunted house?” Nardi gives the giant, creepily decorated mansion an incredulous look as I find a parking spot. “You wanted to come to a haunted house?”
“This place opened up last year and I kept saying I’d go when I have the time, but I never had an opportunity.”
“I didn’t know you liked horror,” she says, looking nervous.
“Not particularly.” I shrug and un-do my seatbelt. “My mother loved horror movies when I was growing up and she always said we’d go to one together but…” I let the words trail. “Anyway, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Nardi gives me another studying look and then she inhales a deep breath. “Alright, let’s do it.”
We enter the creepy mansion and we’re met by a woman dressed like a vampire. She has us sign waiver forms confirming that we don’t have heart conditions and relieving the establishment of all responsibility even if we were to die inside.
I almost crack a joke about that to Nardi but, after seeing how much she trembles while signing her name to the form, I hold back. Death might be a close friend of mine, but Nardi wants to stay far away from him, and I understand that.
The first room we enter is darkly lit with a lone, flickering bulb. Nardi stays close on my heels, hunkering behind me. Her eyes dart left and right, searching for a threat. There’s nothing truly creepy in this room except for the music. However, she’s already so terrified that I can’t resist messing with her.
Turning to her without warning, I lower my voice and rasp a menacing, “ Boo! ”
“Ah!” Nardi screams and jumps on top of me, hanging from my neck like I’m a tree she wants to climb.
I laugh against her soft brown skin.
She realizes that there’s no danger and promptly drops flat on her feet. “Not funny, Cullen.”
“We’ll be fine,” I assure her, still laughing. “Just remember that none of it is real.”
She gives me an ‘I’ll kill you for that’ look and I fight a smile. This woman packs so much into her expressions that if I snapped a picture for every look, I could probably make my own Nardi dictionary.
The next room steps it up a bit with animal carcasses hanging from the ceiling, even louder creepy music and blood spatters on the floor.
“Ah!” Nardi screeches and grabs my arm, pasting herself against me. “I just saw that eyeball move.”
I glance in the direction she’s pointing and laugh. “Don’t worry,” I whisper. “It’s a robot eye.”
“Do people seriously find this fun?” Nardi grumbles, sticking to me like a shadow as we move on to the next room. There are human heads—obviously made of material other than human flesh—floating inside a greenish fluid and stored in clear glass jars.
“I heard the company that owns it is opening another franchise,” I answer. It’s hard to focus on my creepy surroundings when she’s holding me tightly like that. I smile down at her. “So the answer is yes.”
In the dimness of the room, I see Nardi roll her eyes and mumble, “I can bet it’s not black people keeping this place open.”
I chuckle and step over an old-looking box in the middle of the ground. “I’m a little unimpressed. This isn’t that scary—ah! Ah! ” I release the most un-manly scream in my entire life as a bony hand grabs hold of my ankle.
Nardi starts screaming her head off too. She pushes me away and makes a break for it. It happens so fast. One minute, she’s behind me. The next, all I see is her back as she disappears into the next room.
Panicked, I look down and find a robotic skeleton hand retreating into the box.
It was just more robotics.
My heart still racing, I go in search of Nardi. She’s hiding behind the couch in a creepy living room. The most terrifying décor is the old family portrait on the wall.
“Nardi?” I whisper. “Nardi?”
“Cullen, are you okay?” She shoots to her feet and hurries over to me. “I thought you were a goner.”
Both embarrassed and a bit offended, I tell her in a shaky voice. “It was nothing.”
“Oh.” She looks down guiltily. “Sorry for pushing you toward the monster. And for running away.”
“Yes, well, being abandoned doesn’t feel great, but I applaud your impeccable sense of self-preservation.” My lips curl up as I realize how ridiculous this situation is.
Nardi smiles shakily. “Can we hurry through the rest of this? I think we got our money’s worth in that last room.”
I offer my hand to her. Nardi slips her fingers between mine without a moment’s hesitation and we make a run for it. I ignore the creepy shadows that crawl by us in the room of cobwebs, the bubbling cauldron in the room of spells, and the hair-raising spider room that rips a scream from Nardi when a couple plastic spiders land on her head.
The clerk greets us as we stumble through the exits, breathing hard and fighting for our sanity. “How did you enjoy your stay?”
Nardi gives the woman a dark look. “If the point was to severely traumatize me, I’d give it a ten out of ten.”
She smiles as if that’s the greatest compliment and proceeds to encourage us to fill out some testimonial forms. I decline as I can tell that Nardi is about to rain hell on the poor clerk’s head.
We hurry into the sunshine and I feel a sense of relief.
Nardi gives me the stink eye as I lead her to the car. “I am never doing that again.”
She won’t hear an argument from me there.
After we get into the car, I take a few minutes to catch my breath before I drive. On the way back, Nardi doesn’t play music. She fiddles with one of her braids instead.
“Are you still scared?” I ask, glancing at her in concern.
“Cullen, do you believe in ghosts?”
I raise an eyebrow, intrigued. “Do you? ”
“I don’t.” She pauses. “But I sometimes think that if I could, like if it was allowed, I’d like to keep watch over my brother. His angels are probably better at it, but I’d still want to do it. You know? Because there’s nothing better than doing the job yourself.”
Somber, I choose my words carefully. “I don’t believe in ghosts or angels. I believe in what I can see. That’s why it’s important to me that I set things up for the people I care about on this side of the dirt.”
“You don’t believe in angels?” She scrunches her nose.
“I don’t know for sure. Whether they exist or not is something we’re all going to find out one day.” I shrug. “But what I do know is that angels can’t pay for college or pay off a mortgage or set up an investment fund for a smart little boy.”
She stares through the windshield, a thoughtful line in the centre of her forehead. “I keep forgetting your obsession with legacy.”
“What’s wrong with it?” I wonder.
“Isn’t there anything that you want? For yourself?” As I open my mouth to answer, Nardi cuts me off. “Not anything to do with the company or with the PLP or even with me or Josiah.” She shakes her head. “Just you. Like what we did with the haunted house today. Something you want just for yourself.”
I give it a moment’s consideration and then shake my head. “No.”
“Why not?”
Because I’m dying. Soon. And there are more important matters to attend to.
Rather than answer, I change the subject. “I’m really curious. For someone who believes in angels, what went through your head when you ran out of the room? Was it a ‘he’s going to die anyway so saving him doesn’t matter’ situation?”
Nardi’s eyelashes bounce furiously and she stammers, “I-I thought I apologized for that.”
“You did, but now that I’m calmer, it’s starting to set in that you not only ran away. You also pushed me to save yourself. I really want to understand what went behind that decision,” I tease.
“I plead the fifth,” Nardi declares, staring out the window.
Chuckling, I lift her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles. I kiss her ring finger next, aching for a chance to put a ring there.
“Nardi,” I say, rubbing my thumb along the back of her hand. The paleness of my thumb is a contrast to her rich chocolate skin. It fascinates and delights me to see it. “Nardi.”
“I’m not here. I’m putting myself in time-out.”
“I was just kidding.”
“I know but,” she laughs sheepishly, “it was a cowardly thing to do. I always considered myself to be a decent person but… I guess your true nature comes out when you’re looking death in the face.”
We drive in silence for a bit.
Finally, I hear Nardi’s quiet voice from the passenger seat. “Cullen.”
“Mm?”
“I think the person you’ve become in the face of death is admirable.”
I’m surprised by the compliment and the gentleness with which she delivered it.
“And I’m going to make up for leaving you behind in the haunted house.”
I flick the indicator, getting closer to her apartment. “How are you going to do that?”
She pauses. “I give you permission to haunt me.”
My heart slams against my ribs and I look over at her in shock.
“Whether it’s as a ghost or an angel, you can haunt me, Cullen.”
I say nothing while I get a handle on the burning in my throat. Gently, I take Nardi’s hand and bring it up to my chest.
“Do you feel that?” I ask, a little choked up.
“Your heart is beating so fast.”
“I don’t have many heartbeats left, Nardi,” I admit, gravity in my tone.
Her pretty brown eyes collide with mine. Concern swirls in their depths.
You shouldn’t have ignored those chest pains. The doctor’s words float through my mind.
“But every beat of my heart…”
Even if you get surgery now, it won’t do you any good.
“Belongs to you.”
At this rate, you have three weeks left before you die.