Chapter 17
LEONORE
When you tell someone your deepest darkest secrets, part of you expects that person would also share their deepest darkest secrets with you if they trusted you enough. That’s the type of relationship that Nessa and I have … except, I know she is hiding something from me.
Granted, I’m certain we both have secrets from our pasts that neither of us are willing to discuss. But this life we have now… Up until this point we’ve always been open about it. So I know when she’s acting strange and hiding something from me.
Especially with the way she reacted when I reached for her ringing phone when she woke up later that day. She practically snatched it from my hand so fast that I was shocked. What is she hiding from me that she thinks she can’t share with me?
I don’t press her on it, though. I know when she needs my help or wants to divulge, she’ll let me know.
“Can you watch Larissa tonight?” she asks as I walk into the lounge room.
“You have work?” I ask her, confused, certain that it was her night off. She looks at me, and I can tell she has tried to cover the bruising with concealer.
“No, I have to do a few errands, and I can’t take her with me.”
My eyebrows dip in confusion. It’s one of the few nights I have rostered off, although I often go into work.
However, in the past week, the numbers have lessened.
I haven’t looked into Silas’s lack of visits, but I know he’s certainly not busy killing Nero’s crew one by one.
Or maybe he is and just can’t be fucked doing the respectful thing and at least returning the bodies to their families.
Who knows. Not me, and I certainly don’t care.
“Yes, of course.” Anytime with Larissa is totally worth it.
She stands and leans down, kissing her daughter’s head.
“I’ll be back later, okay?” Larissa nods, and I’m surprised by how quickly Nessa walks toward the door, looking down at her phone. Oh, so she meant now? I have a feeling it has something to do with the calls and texts she’s been receiving. A booty call, maybe?
“Do you need my car?” Her car is still at the club.
She pauses. And something feels off. “No, I called an Uber.”
Then she disappears out the front door, and I can’t shake the unease crawling up my spine.
Something is different with her, and I hate that she is hiding it from me.
Though I can understand. I’m not exactly forthcoming about Silas.
Not that anything is happening between Silas and me.
Though I know it’s the juicy type of detail she likes to gossip about.
A few hours go by before Nessa finally returns. Larissa is asleep in my lap as the credits roll on the kid’s movie we were watching. She looks fresh when she walks in, her hair is done, and her makeup looks like she’s ready for a photoshoot.
Definitely a booty call. But who…
“You look good,” I say to her.
“Thanks, and thanks again for watching Larissa.” She walks over and picks up Larissa, who stirs in her arms but goes back to sleep.
While Nessa tucks her daughter into bed, I clean up the popcorn littered all over the floor and take the bowl and glasses to the kitchen. It’s been a nice evening with my goddaughter. But an uneasiness hasn’t left me all night.
“Did you get your stuff sorted?” I ask her.
“Stuff?”
“Yes, where you went…”
“I had a date.”
She smiles, and I can’t help but notice the sparkle in her eyes. Called it.
“Ohhh…”
Her smile broadens, and the unease from earlier stirs in my gut.
Nessa has always been a little guy crazy.
She loses her heart quicker than anyone I know, and when it falls apart, she falls apart.
I have picked up the pieces more times than I care to remember.
And I’ll pick them up a thousand times more if she needs me to.
So I have come to accept the fact that no matter what I say about a man she is seeing, it won’t help.
“You should date again. When was the last time you had sex, Leo? You need to have sex again.”
I think about a certain cock in my hand and wonder exactly what it looks like. I bet his looks nice, like the rest of him, of that I am sure.
I feel the surge of lust between my legs and crush my teeth into my lip.
“Like I’ve said a million times—”
“I don’t need a man to survive.” She finishes my sentence with an eye roll. “Yeah, yeah. Who’s talking about surviving. I’m just suggesting you climb on a cock every now and again and have a little fun.”
I laugh. “Is that what you’ve been doing tonight?”
She smiles mischievously. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Oh my God, yes, you do. I’ve heard a thousand kiss and tells from you.”
She climbs onto the couch. “Yeah, but this one is different.”
The way she says it has a tight knot in my stomach.
“You think all of them are different,” I throw back at her, and I immediately know I’ve said the wrong thing in the way her face drops. But she doesn’t argue with me as she walks off. “Good night, Nessa.” Suddenly I feel like a shit friend.
“She isn’t here,” Soph says when I take the seat at her bar where I usually wait for Nessa. I glance over my shoulder to the area where the incident happened. The carpet has been cut out and replaced with a new square patch.
“As in, she didn’t show up, or wasn’t on?” I ask, glancing away and back to her.
“She called in sick,” Soph says, looking at me, confused.
Which is weird, because I went to her apartment before I came here. Larissa was asleep, and the nanny told me Nessa was at work.
If I had guessed, I would have told you that Nessa is the one person I could trust, the one person I would not expect to lie to me. Now I think I was being delusional. It’s especially unlike her to take shifts off. Then again, who am I to judge someone who actually has a life outside their job?
“Can I get you a drink? I’ve been practicing making this fruity cocktail, well, a few different ones. Could you try it?”
I’m not much of a drinker. Nessa always liked to drink, and I usually drove. But every now and then, I would drink with her. Tonight, however, seems like it’s a party for one. Fuck it.
“Sure,” I say and throw my purse up on the counter. I texted Nessa last night. She never answered. I figured maybe she needed a day to cool down. And now that I am here, I have even more questions.
“Oh my God, thank you.” She clasps her hands together gratefully and immediately starts making a drink.
I watch her put some pink stuff in it and cringe.
I can almost taste the sweetness of it already; I much prefer my liquors brown.
But I say nothing as she happily slides one over to me, super excited as she pokes an umbrella into it triumphantly.
“Give me your honest opinion.” She beams at me. No pressure.
I take the drink and sip it. At first, I want to scrunch my nose up at the immediate sweetness, but then it dials back into a more tropical, muted tone.
Glancing up at her, surprised, I say, “It’s really good, Soph.” She claps her hands excitedly.
“Good, good, I have a blue one as well. I haven’t thought of names yet, but let me make you that one too.” I go to say no, but she is already reaching for a new glass and has started pouring. Well, why not? I don’t have any hot dates, and my evening seems free since Nessa isn’t here.
I’m surprised when I finish the first drink with ease, while she caters to other customers, seemingly annoyed as she’s interrupted while making the second drink.
But when she puts the other in front of me, she’s quick to say, “Oh, I forgot to mention you won’t be able to drive, but I get off in an hour if you need me to take you home.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Oh, these are full of alcohol. Max said make them as strong as possible so the customer spends money.” She laughs. “I made them strong.” I lean forward and try the blue one. It’s just as good.
“I’ll drive her home,” someone says next to me, and a cold shiver runs down my spine.
“Fuck me,” I curse around a cold mouthful, almost spilling it from shock. It’s like he just appears out of thin air, with no presence whatsoever unless he wants to be seen.
“I’ve been trying,” he says, and I groan at his words.
Soph fights a smile as I pin her with a glare.
She bites her bottom lip and walks away, leaving me sitting there with him.
Without asking, he pulls the blue drink from me and puts it to his lips, in the exact spot where my lips were.
I watch as he takes a sip, pulling the glass away as he keeps eye contact before he scrunches up his nose and slides it back.
“Not your type?” I ask him, to which his dark blue eyes find mine, and he assesses me, his gaze sliding over me. His eyes seem to stop on the black and red checkered skirt I’m wearing with a tight black shirt and black boots.
“No, not my type. But that makes me want it even more,” he says honestly. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you wear something other than black.”
“Yeah, I tried to scrub the stains out,” I joke dryly, picking at the red checkers that match my deep red lipstick for this evening. My hair is down for once, naturally falling over my shoulders.
Glancing behind him, I see two of his men standing near the door, unlike last time, when they were near the dance floor and clearly having fun. All business today, it would seem.
“Are you stalking me?” I ask him.
“Actually, no. I came to meet with Elias Nero and finalize some things from the other night. And when I walked in, here you were…” He waves a hand at me. I drink some more of the fruity alcohol.
“And you had to walk over and talk to me…” I take another sip, and before I know it the fruity blue drink is finished. Not waiting for him to answer me, I stand and can instantly feel the alcohol hit me. Hard. I think I’m a little tipsy, and I haven’t been tipsy for years.
“Whoa.” Hands touch my waist. How did he move so fast? “How many of those did you have?”
“I don’t drink much,” I manage to say as I look up into his deep blue eyes. That gentle hum between my legs zaps me back to life. Wow, that alcohol has definitely given me a little buzz, but I don’t notice it as much as I do the electrifying tingle of his hands on my body.
“Let me take you home.” Not a question. Always in demand.
But my breath hitches as I stare at his thick lips, curious about how they might taste.
Curious about what his tongue might be capable of.
His smell of citrus and wood flares my nose, and I know I should be shoving him away when all my body wants is to pull him in.
It’s a mistake, but also … I can’t keep living among the dead all the time. I might be suspicious of who Nessa is seeing, but at least she’s trying to put herself out there and have a little fun.
When was the last time I had fun that didn’t include dead bodies?
“Okay.”
Immediate surprise flickers in his gaze.
“Okay…” he says, letting it hang.
“You’d better take me home before I change my mind,” I tell him as I push him to the side and collect my purse.
His lips curve up as he says. “Yes, ma’am.”