Chapter 9
. . .
Silas
“What time was her shift due to start?” Mason asks as we walk into the private area in Riley’s Bar.
It’s clear Vesper isn’t here; when it’s busy, like it is tonight, she’s nearly always leading the service from behind the main bar.
I push back the sleeve on my dark blue dress shirt and check my watch.
Fuck. It’s past ten. If she was scheduled to work tonight, then she would already be on-site.
“Maybe you need to refine your stalking skills.” Mason winks at me before he places an order with another female bartender.
“Maybe you need to keep your nose out of my business and drink your damn beer,” I retort, part in jest, part being serious.
He hands me a pint of IPA, and I take my first pull, trying not to let my mind spiral to unhelpful places, like where my girl is and why she isn’t working on a night she always does. The Seattle Scorpions played at home tonight, too, and Vesper always manages game nights.
I decide to take the focus off me. “How are you feeling about Eloise?”
Mason’s face turns unreadable. “Honestly? I’m just trying not to give up hope. She’s shut me out completely at this point, and it feels wrong to keep on calling her if she doesn’t want to hear from me.”
All I can think about is Kane and how his behavior has impacted Vesper.
I can see it in her eyes every time her phone buzzes with an incoming text, even though she has his number blocked.
I guess there’s nothing stopping my brother from getting a new number and messaging her from that.
Although that would involve spending money, which he prefers to waste on drugs, booze, and gambling.
“If you’ve made your position clear, then all you can do is wait for her to respond.”
Mason puffs a breath into his cheeks. “And that’s the problem right there—Eloise thinks that I don’t care. I made a big mistake when I was pictured with that girl last season, and she saw the images on social media.”
I wince on his behalf. “The ones in Brooklyn?”
He nods once. “Yep. Will had that girl, Ashley, in his lap, and I had a firecracker in mine. I lost my head that night and didn’t think shit through. Pretty sure Eloise now hates my guts.”
“Is she still in France?”
He shrugs and downs half his pint in one go. “Last I heard. Or should I say, her dial tone was international when I last tried reaching out, which was this morning.”
I wish I had a suggestion that could help him, but all my brain can focus on is Vesper and the reason why she isn’t here tonight.
“Should I call her?” The question leaves my mouth before I can stop it.
“Eloise?!” Mason replies, voice raised several octaves.
I roll my eyes at him. “Why would I call Eloise? No, that would be weird since I’ve only met her, like, three times.”
He holds out a hand, motioning like that’s his point exactly. “And isn’t that strange in itself? We’ve been married for years, and you only met my wife less than a handful of times.”
“I guess,” I drawl, not knowing what the norm for married couples is.
“You should call Vesper.” Mason gives me whiplash as he downs his beer and sets the empty back on the bar. “And I need another drink.”
I pull his glass toward me. “You know I’m not a heavy-handed captain, but I’m advising you to cool it with the alcohol, buddy. It isn’t going to do your mind or game any good.”
Mason’s eyes fall to the empty glass in my hand. “My mind and game are already fucked without my girl. And I only have myself to blame for losing her. I drink so I don’t think about which dude’s bed she’s probably warming each night.”
We both fall quiet, a mutual understanding for each other’s predicament passing between us until there’s a vibration in my pocket, and I practically rip my pants, yanking out my phone.
“Is that Vesper?” I hear Mason ask, but his words float over me because I’m no longer in the room.
I’m standing outside Vesper’s front door—or at least, that’s where I should be right now.
Knockout
Hey, so I know you just played a game, and you’re probably out celebrating, but I didn’t know who else to message.
I could ask Drew to come over, but I don’t want to put her in a difficult situation.
Kane has been trying to gain access to my apartment floor, and security just kicked him out of the building.
I know he can’t get up here, but I’m scared, Si.
They said that he’d been drinking again.
I was supposed to start my shift two hours ago, and now I’ll probably get sacked because the owner is on-site tonight.
“Is everything okay?”
Mason must notice the blood drain from my face as I hurriedly type out a message to Vesper, telling her to make sure her dead bolt is on the door and not to move a single fucking muscle until I get there.
“Where’s the bar owner?” I ask Mason like he’ll have a fucking clue. None of us have ever met them.
To my surprise, he points to a man in a black suit as he pushes through a staff door.
I’m on his tail, pocketing my phone and instructing my teammate to have a good night and to stay off the booze.
When I stop outside Vesper’s front door, I’m pulling huge gulps of air into my lungs since I figured jogging from Riley’s to her apartment would be faster than an Uber.
I knock a couple of times and wait for an answer.
Nothing.
Knocking again, I’m ready to call her when the door swings inward, and I’m met with puffy red eyes that have me scooping Vesper into my arms immediately.
“What the fuck happened?” I whisper into her hair as she buries her face in my shirt.
This girl has always been well put together, but tonight, she’s clearly too exhausted, maybe even too scared, to hide away any longer.
“I’m so sorry for ruining your night,” she breathes into my chest.
I tip her chin up to look at me. “I’m going to ban you from apologizing to me. I never want to hear the words I’m sorry leave these lips again.” I probably shouldn’t do it, but I run my thumb across her bottom lip anyway.
Soft skin quivers beneath my touch, and my heart cracks a little more.
“Tell me what happened,” I urge, kicking her door shut with my foot.
“Security threw him out.”
“I know that part,” I reply, dropping my face closer to hers. “What did he do before he got escorted off the premises?”
Vesper’s body shudders as she pulls in a deep breath. If her red eyes didn’t give away that she’d been crying, her hitching sobs sure do. She isn’t wearing any makeup, and I wonder if she removed it to try and hide the evidence of her being upset.
“I was about to leave for work when security called on the intercom, explaining that the same guy they’d removed from the parking garage was now downstairs in the lobby, claiming that I had stolen one of his credit cards and he needed to gain access to the apartment so he could retrieve it.
He alleged that’s why he was here that day in his car, waiting for me to return home so we could talk. ”
Vesper drops her face back into my shirt, almost like she’s embarrassed. I hate that she could feel anything other than comfortable with talking to me.
“Whether it was the aggressive way he demanded access to my apartment tonight or the bourbon bottle in his car that raised security’s suspicions, they wouldn’t give him the visitor code, and that only made him worse.”
She can probably feel the fast beat of my heart as it thumps in my rib cage.
“Thank God they did their job properly and didn’t just grant him access to make their lives easier.”
Vesper nods, but still won’t look at me, so I take her by the hand and guide her toward the couch.
Her duvet is thrown over the back cushions, and I pull it over her lap, careful not to let my eyes linger on her bare legs.
Vesper in black sleepwear is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, but tonight isn’t the right time to let her know that.
I don’t miss the crooked smile as it forms on her lips though or the way she pulls the black tie from her hair, a familiar oud scent circulating around me as she edges closer when I take a seat next to her.
“I keep thinking about what could’ve happened if I’d left the apartment a couple of minutes earlier.
I was running late because I couldn’t find my keys and planned to head out the front exit so I could catch a bus to work.
” She shakes her head, eyes closing at a thought.
“The owner is going to kill me for not showing tonight. He probably thinks I was trying to get out of a busy shift when I told him I had a family emergency.”
“He doesn’t,” I respond, taking her small hand into mine. “I was in Riley’s when you texted me, and I set your boss straight before I left.”
Her eyes shoot to me, jaw popped open. “You did what?”
Fuck. I never considered that speaking to Vesper’s boss could piss her off.
I scratch at the back of my neck. “I interfered again, didn’t I? I just hate the thought of anyone thinking badly of you, so I told him you were in an unsafe situation and I was heading over to your place to stay the night and make sure you were okay.”
Her eyes soften a fraction. “And what did he say?”
I gaze down at her hand in mine. “He passed on a message, making it clear you didn’t need to come back to work until everything calmed down and that your safety was his only concern. He will cover your shifts until you are ready to return.”
Relief relaxes her shoulders.
“He really said that? I always thought he hated me or at least doubted that I could cope in a managerial position and regretted hiring me in the first place.”
I interlace our fingers, a sharp tug in my chest as I say, “Not everyone is as they seem, Ves. And not everyone has bad intentions either. Sometimes, we just want the best for you.”
A heavy silence settles between us, but she doesn’t take her eyes off mine.
“Thank you, Silas. I know I haven’t always been kind to you when you’ve only ever tried to look out for me.
I can see that now that Kane is out of the picture.
” She blows out a cynical breath. “I guess it tracks that he would say bad shit about you because he knew you were only trying to protect me. Love really is blind, isn’t it? ”
I want to tell her that love can’t be blind. If it were, then I wouldn’t be staring at her right now or falling harder each time I hold her hand.
Instead, I pull open the coffee table drawer and fetch out Vesper’s coloring book and pencil case.
“Why don’t you wow me again with your shading skill set, Knockout?” I flick to a woodland scene this time.
Reaching into my lap, Vesper takes the coloring book and pencil case, unzipping it before selecting the colors she wants.
“Okay, Si, here’s another deal: I’ll create you another masterpiece while you order the pizza.”