Chapter 42
“I’m coming with you tonight, since you’ve decided to become so stupidly unhinged,” Mave says as soon as I put my phone back into my purse.
“Correction: you’re going to drop me off at the nightclub, and then you’re going to go home.”
He reduces the space between us and glowers down at me. “I will do no such thing.”
I cross my arms across my chest. “Oh, but you will.”
He scowls. “If you simply needed a chaperone to go meet your psycho boyfriend whenever he calls on you, then why the hell did you even involve me into all of this? If you didn’t actually need me, why didn’t you keep me out of this bullshit?”
“I think I’ve already told you why, Mave.” I uncross my arms, then grab one of his hands and give it a squeeze. “Lying to you sucked, and I wanted to put a stop to it. Also, keeping things from you just felt…wrong.”
He studies me for a bit. “I get that, Nettie, and I respect that. But it’s my job to protect you. Hell, it’s more than that for me. I don’t like it when you’re alone with Dorran and his friends; I’ll feel at ease if I’m close by and can keep an eye on you.”
I swallow when I see the raw emotions in his eyes. He genuinely cares about me, but I’ve yet to convince him that so does Dorran.
I squeeze his hand again, then let it go before smiling at him. “I’ll be fine with Dorran,” I say, and avoid flinching when his expression hardens. “And, if something goes wrong, I’ll call you.”
“You wouldn’t have to if I’m already at the club with you,” he counters.
“Please?”
He doesn’t say anything.
“What girl meets her boyfriend with her bodyguard by her side?”
Dorran and I haven’t exactly established titles for each other, let alone our relationship. But I do like the sound of being his girlfriend, and even though it’s a new experience for me, I have to say: I’m not mad about it.
“The girl whose boyfriend is a contract killer, and has all but invited her to join him while he conducts a goddamn murder,” Mave states the obvious.
I exhale. “Can I fire you for one night?” I ask.
He chuckles. “As if. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
I pout, which is quite unlike me, and then I frown, because I can’t think of anything else to say to him.
“Let’s just get through this meeting,” I say, and make to turn around, but Mave grabs my wrist and stops me.
“Fine, you win,” he relents. “But only if you promise to call me if something goes wrong.”
I grin at him, then rise on my tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on his cheek. “I promise.”
He smiles and shakes his head, then nods in the conference room’s direction. “Let’s get to that meeting, then. You’ve got a murder to witness later on, after all.”
I scoff and roll my eyes. “And you call me a menace,” I say, then swivel on my feet, fix my beige pencil skirt, and start walking down the hall. With Mave right behind me, of course.