Chapter 27
Savvy
“You’ll come live here with me,” Cassie says matter-of-factly. Then she pushes on a small smile. “We’ll make great co-parents.”
I laugh a little. “Right. Me hiding from the mob and you itching to get on the next bus out of town.”
“I can stay put.” She sounds defensive, then softens her voice. “I’d stay put if you needed me; you know that.”
I nod, blowing out a breath. “I do. But you’d go crazy being stuck in one place for too long. You’re a nomad; I get that. Besides I can do this.”
She leans into her phone, making her eyes fill up the whole screen. “Are you going to tell him?”
I laugh. “Are you crazy?”
“I’m just saying; maybe he’s not as big a monster as you thought.”
“He was sending me away, Cassie. And he didn’t even have the balls to do it himself; he sent his brother to make me pack my bags.”
“There could be more you don’t know about.” She leans back, putting herself in full frame. “I mean, we thought he’d hurt Tony, and he didn’t.”
“Have you talked to Tony since you got his text?” When I’d gotten to St. Louis to stay with Cassie for a few days, she’d received a text from Tony.
Not dead.
“He sent another text last week, but same thing. Just the code.”
When he’d started disappearing on us for weeks and months at a time, we’d made an agreement that he at least send us proof of life from time to time. So whenever he was safe enough to send a message but not in the mood to talk about his situation, he’d send two words: not dead.
I’m in the middle of my break at the smaller diner where I’ve taken a part-time waitressing job when the door to the break room opens, and Marie pops her head in. “Sorry, I know you have another twenty minutes, but they just sat a guy at your table who insists you wait on him.”
“Okay, I’ll be out in a second. Can you just fill his coffee for me?”
“Sure. No problem.” She disappears again.
“You’ve been working there three weeks, and already you have a regular customer?” Cassie waggles her eyebrows.
“It’s probably Mr. Willis. He’s sweet, and about eighty-five years old. His wife died last year; he likes to talk.” I shrug, getting up from the table.
“So, what I’m hearing is he’s available and probably has a healthy retirement.”
“I’m not conning him out of his money, Cassie.” I frown at the screen. “I’m tired of all that. Besides, he’s a good guy.”
“Okay, so don’t pull a con. Marry him.” She grins like she’s the funniest woman on the planet.
“You really are crazy.” I roll my eyes. “I’ll figure it all out. Between the two part-time jobs, I’m making decent enough money. I should be able to find a full-time job in the next few months.”
“Before your belly blows up, you mean?” She sighs. “You really should come here.”
“He’ll be looking there. You said yourself, you think he still has someone watching your place. Maybe in a few months, when I’m sure he’s given up.”
“I’m telling you, Sav, that man isn’t going to give up. He’s not a man looking for revenge.”
“Oh?” I tie my apron back around my waist. “What’s he looking for then?”
“Love. He loves you, Sav. And you love him, even though you won’t admit it to yourself or anyone else. You do.”
I stare at the screen, dumbfounded.
“He threw me away.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“I do. He made me pack my things and threw me away.” I’ve been through the act enough times to know what it means. It means I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’m not wanted.
“You’re afraid he’ll find you, but you’re not afraid he’ll hurt you.”
I pull my hair into a ponytail. “What are you getting at?”
“I’m just stating a fact. You’re not running for your life. You’re trying to protect your heart.”
I pick up my phone. “Okay, that’s enough. I’m going to work.”
“Fine. Ignore my sage advice; see how that goes.”
I shake my head. “Don’t you have work today, too?”
She shrugs. “Yeah, I should go. Talk soon.”
I throw away the last few bites of my sandwich and wash my hands before getting back to my shift.
It was a stroke of luck finding this job. The diner is always busy, is open twenty-four hours a day, and they’re willing to work around the bookshop’s hours.
But I’ll need something with a set schedule if I’m going to be able to work with a baby. I try not to think too much about it because it sends me down a full spiral of what-ifs. What if I can’t make rent? What if the baby gets sick? What if the baby doesn’t love me?
What if they want to know who their father is?
I can’t let those questions wind around me.
I have another four hours of my shift. I can spiral when I get home tonight.
One cup of herbal tea, a book to stare aimlessly at, and all of my doomed thoughts.
It’s the way I’ve spent every night of the last two weeks since that word popped up on the screen.
“I got him coffee, and he’s looking at the menu,” Marie tells me when I’m back on the floor.
“Mr. Willis gets the same thing for lunch every time.”
She deadpans. “It’s not Mr. Willis.”
A weighted cloak of emotion drapes over me as I turn toward the corner table in my section.
Gabriel sits in the booth, staring at me. His eyes touch mine, and electric heat zips through me. My chest tightens.
“He asked for my table?” I manage to squeak out.
“Yeah, why? Is he an ex or something? I can take the table if you need.” Marie glances back at him. “He doesn’t really look like someone who doesn’t get what he wants.”
“He isn’t.” I clear my throat. “It’s fine. I’ll take the table.”
“I’ll let Barney know there might be an issue, just in case.”
Barney is the cook but doubles as security. He’s all smiles and manners now, but when it comes down to it, he’s as vicious as anyone working for Gabriel.
“I’ll be okay,” I assure her again.
Running my hands over my stomach, I straighten my spine, thrust my chin up and make my way to his table. His eyes never leave me. Each step echoes in my ears. Like the loud thuds of destiny barreling down on me.
Maybe it’s not destiny. Maybe it’s retribution for all the crap I’ve done. Every dollar stolen, every hustled game, every con pulled is coming back to me tenfold.
As I approach the table, I pull out my order pad and pen. I have a whole speech planned out; I’ve been working on it over the last several weeks just in case I found myself in this situation.
My ribs are getting bruised from my heart banging against them. A layer of sweat covers my palms. The speech rolls through my mind one more time.
I open my mouth to speak and say, “Hi.”
Women everywhere groan with disappointment.
“Hi,” he responds, his fingers stretching out over the menu lying on the table.
“I…uh…what can I get you?”
His left eyebrow arches slightly. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
I clear my throat. “I…what are you doing here?”
He cocks his head to the side like it’s the dumbest thing he’s ever heard.
“How did you find me?” I jump to the next question. The entire speech has vacated the premises. Someone could put a gun to my head right now, and I wouldn’t be able to remember a word of it.
“You used the credit card, Savvy. Oh, I’m sorry, Sarah.” His gaze flicks to the name tag pinned to my black polo shirt.
My shoulders drop. “I didn’t. I lost my wallet a few weeks ago. Whoever found it must have used the card.” It’s the only one I had in there other than my current ID card.
“You were robbed?” His fingers curl into the laminated menu, curling it.
“No. I said I lost it.” I sigh. “Before you say anything, I’m not going back with you.”
He licks at his lips, then sweeps his gaze around the diner. Several people are watching our exchange, but they quickly avert their attention when he catches them.
“If you don’t want people to stare, you probably shouldn’t be wearing a leather jacket in Atlanta when it’s eighty-five and humid as hell.” I tap my pen against the pad. “I’m serious, Gabriel. I’m not going back with you.”
He takes a sip of his coffee, then slowly lowers it back to the table.
“I figured that.” He pulls out a set of keys from his jacket pocket and drops them on the table.
“What are those?” I eye them.
“The keys to your apartment. The locks were shit; I had them replaced.”
“You’ve been to my apartment? You can’t just do things like that.” I breathe out the question. How long has he been in town?
“I bought the building, so yeah, I can.”
“You bought the building?”
“I figured you’d want to stay there. This way you don’t have to waste money on rent.”
“Gabriel.” I slide into the booth across from him. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? You got what you wanted. I’m gone. I left.”
His expression darkens. “I’m aware of what you did.”
“I didn’t help Tony,” I protest.
“I’m not talking about Tony. I know you had nothing to do with that.”
“What?” I lean back from him. “Then why did you send me away?”
“I didn’t send you away, Savvy. I was sending you somewhere you’d be safe until I sorted out all the details. There was a possibility Ricci was involved, and there was a chance he’d go after you to get to me. I didn’t want to chance it, so I was having Roman take you to one of our safe houses.”
“That’s not what he told me.”
“He told you he was taking you somewhere safe.”
“Yeah. After he told me to pack my stuff and after you had all of my equipment boxed up and hauled off.”
His jaw tenses. “I gave the order to make sure you had everything you needed. The men took it to mean your equipment, too. They also packed up all of your vampire books. The only thing they left for you to pack was your clothes. Because if any one of them so much as put eyes on your panties, I would have plucked them from their fucking head.”
My mouth dries. “You didn’t have any doubts about me being involved with Tony’s scam?”
“No. None. I needed you safe while I got to the bottom of the situation. I’d thought by now you would have given me the benefit of the doubt, but I guess I was wrong.” He leans toward me. “Which is why you jumped out of the car and ran away, right?”
“I didn’t know what was going on, and you looked so angry at the dinner. Then Roman with all the cloak and dagger stuff…”
He covers my hand with his own. “I get it, Savvy.”
My throat constricts.
“You’re not going to drag me back, then?”
“No.” He pulls back, reaching back into his pocket and pulling out a cell phone. The one I left for him at my apartment in Chicago. “Jennifer at the shelter contacted you for a few identification jobs; I handled them for her. She’ll deal with my guy while you’re gone.”
“You helped her?” I narrow my eyes, remembering what he said about me undercharging my clients. “How much did you charge her?”
He lifts a shoulder. “Nothing.”
I’m not sure what to say. This isn’t him. There’s no force here. He’s not dragging me out of the diner or throwing me over his shoulder to take me home. He’s just here. Talking.
“What about Tony?” I ask quietly.
His nostrils flare. “He’s fine.”
“How fine?” I question. He’d told me the guy who failed to keep me from sneaking off the grounds was fine, too. And when I’d seen him a week later his jaw was wired shut, and his left hand was in a cast.
“No one hurt him. Well, Lucian did punch him once, but he had that one coming to him.” He frowns. “He’s inpatient at a place in River Forest. It’s a six-month program.”
“How did you get him to do that?”
“I can be convincing when I want to be,” he says flatly. And it’s the truest thing ever said. “But I’m not going to talk you into coming home.”
“It’s probably better—”
“It’s not. But you’ll have to come to that decision on your own.”
“You’re serious?”
He stretches his fingers out on the table, like he’s doing his best to keep them from reaching for me.
“I am. When you were a kid, you never got a say in where you went, who you lived with, it was always decided for you. And then I did the same damn thing when I had Roman move you from the house to the safehouse without talking to you. So, no. I’m not going to force you to come home with me.
It’s going to be your choice. But I’m not leaving you behind either.
” He finishes his coffee, then pulls out his wallet. “This is where I am.”
He drops a card on the table along with a hundred-dollar bill. “For the coffee.”
“Gabriel—”
He starts to scoot out of the booth but stops and turns back to me. “Savvy, you told me over and over again, people don’t stay.”
“That’s been my experience.” I roll my shoulders back, feeling the weight of my life on them.
“I’m not the one who ran away. And who’s still running. I stayed.” He stands to his full height, straightens his jacket and walks through the diner like he owns the damn place, and then he’s gone.