CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE #2
“Fuck!” I yelled and wished I had something to throw. I wanted to break something.
Breathing hard, I walked out into the main living area and looked around. I was hoping to see a note, but all I saw was an empty condo.
I went over and sat in the breakfast nook booth. I held my head in my hands to try to figure out my next move.
“She left earlier this afternoon.”
I looked up, trying to hide the tears that were in my eyes. The front desk attendant was standing in the entryway.
“Did… did she say anything as she left?”
He shook his head. “I mean, she told me goodbye, but that was it.” The sympathetic look on his face let me know that he was well aware she’d left me. “Movers came in and got everything. They were in and out in under thirty minutes.”
I nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Is there anything I can do for you, Mister Mayor?”
“No.” I stared out at the water down below. “I’ll get my things and be out shortly.”
“Do you need a box or something to put everything in?”
Fuck. He was right. I wasn’t prepared to move my belongings out. I’d brought more and more things over while she was living here. I’d started thinking of it as our place.
“You know what?” I asked, standing up. “I’ll send some people back over here later today. Then I’ll be out of the condo.”
“Take your time. The next tenant won’t move in for another week.”
I knew Carmen Salazar owned the condo. A new tenant moving in meant a new auction.
My head shot up. Carmen. She’d know where Nadine went at least.
I dialed Nico’s number since I didn’t have Carmen’s.
“What’s up?” he answered.
“Do you know where Nadine is?”
He chuckled, and I wanted to slam my phone into the wall.
But I bit back a curse and waited for him to answer.
“She doesn’t want to see you, man. Carmen would kill me for telling you, but she moved into her new house.
I’m only telling you because if you couldn’t put that much together yourself, you wouldn’t deserve to know where she was. ”
“Right. I mean, I knew that was probably where she was. Just… do you know how she feels about me? Like, do I stand a chance?”
He was silent for so long I thought he’d disconnected.
Finally, he sighed. “I don’t think so. I was over at her new house helping Carmen oversee the movers. Nadine seemed… kind of broken. Humiliated. I fucking hated seeing her that way, Reynolds.”
I heard the anger in his voice. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Well, you’re the one who has to live with yourself, not me. Take care.”
And he hung up.
Well, that was abrupt.
Jesus. In addition to losing Nadine, I just might have screwed up my relationship with the whole Salazar family.
***
A few days later, I pulled up in front of the house I’d bought her mom. I’d had no luck at all with Nadine at her house. She wouldn’t answer her door or talk to me. She just pretended she wasn’t home.
I’d gone to Salazar Real Estate in the Salazar Enterprises building downtown. The front desk clerk had informed me I wasn’t on any list for anyone who worked there and would therefore need to leave the building.
I’d balked. “I know I’m on Carlos Salazar’s list,” I protested. “And Enzo and Javier’s lists as well.”
She’d smirked at me as if she’d heard that spiel more times than she could count. “Please leave.”
“Seriously? I’m the mayor!”
She didn’t even blink. “I know who you are.” She gave me a disdainful look.
“I’ve gotten to know Nadine well over the past couple of months.
She’s a real sweetheart. She’s deserves better than what she got.
” She’d picked up a phone. I’d thought she was dialing one of the Salazars.
“I need security at the front downstairs lobby,” she had said.
My mouth had dropped open, but I’d informed her that wouldn’t be necessary and hightailed it from the building. It wouldn’t be a good look for me to be photographed getting thrown out of the Salazar building.
That had been a lesson in humiliation.
Now, I hurried up the path to the nice beach condo Nadine and I had visited just a couple of weeks ago for Christmas. I knocked on the door.
It flew open before I’d had a chance to gather myself.
Nadine’s mother stood on the other side.
She had her hair done, makeup on, nice clothes—she looked…
pretty. Probably about how Nadine would look in twenty years.
Nadine wouldn’t be rough around the edges, though, and her mom looked like she could handle herself.
I wouldn’t want to go a few rounds with her in a boxing ring, that was for sure. Especially with her being mad at me.
I took a step back. The look on her face left no doubt about what she thought of me.
“The fuck are you doing here?”
I blinked. “Ma’am?”
“Don’t you ‘ma’am’ me. You can take your sorry ass right back where you came from. My girl don’t need you, don’t want you, and she sure as hell don’t love you. I don’t know why you won’t leave her alone.”
“I… I’m so sorry, Mrs. Walker. I just need to see her. If I could explain everything to her…”
“You were mean to her,” she hissed. “After that Carmen lady promised you wouldn’t be. Believe me, I gave her a piece of my mind, too.” She crossed her arms and stared at me, hate in her eyes.
“I’m not sensitive,” she went on. “I’m not tender or vulnerable or any of those soft things women are known for.
But my Nadine is all of that. Times ten.
No matter how many times I tried to teach her not to trust the wrong people or expect too much out of life—she always did.
You hurt her heart,” she accused, choking on the last word.
I was shocked to see tears in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry…”
“Just get off this porch and don’t come back. Don’t try to talk to her anymore, either. Nadine will be just fine without your sorry ass.”
And she slammed the door.
I stood there for a minute, hands on my hips, unsure of what to do.
I looked up and met Byron’s eyes through the windshield of the Rolls Royce. I couldn’t tell if he felt sorry for me, or if he was yet another of my friends who was on Nadine’s side. I trudged down the path and got in the car.
“Where would you like to go now?” he asked.
“Back to the office, I guess.” Based on Nico’s reaction, I doubted any good would come of me trying to talk to Carmen at Sugar.
We rode in silence for a while.
“Do you want to talk about it, Reynolds?”
I looked up and met his kind brown eyes in the rearview mirror. “No. Not really. Do you remember when I said I’d met an angel at Sugar that time?”
He nodded. “Yep. I figured that angel was Nadine, right?”
“Yes.” I felt miserable. And I deserved it. “I lost her, Byron.”
He sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. Maybe there’s still a way you can get her back.” His tone didn’t sound hopeful, though.
“I don’t think so. But I’m going to try.”
And I did. For the three weeks leading up to the Mayor’s Ball, I sent flowers to her house, her office, and her mother’s house every other day.
I tried to contact Carmen, but she wouldn’t take my calls.
I showed up at Saffron in the guise of working out to try to get more information, but none of the Salazars wanted to have much to do with me.
They didn’t toss me out, but I was definitely not welcome.
I dropped by Cinnamon House. Her friends there wouldn’t talk to me, either.
Especially Madeline, who wouldn’t even come to the door. She just pulled some curtains aside and flipped me off from one of the front windows.
I knew I deserved it.
And I was out of luck.