Chapter Seventeen #2
“I know, that’s why I like him,” I said, following her line of vision again. “What’s up with you? You wanna hang out with them?”
She snapped her head to me, eyes wide. “What? No … I mean, yeah? But they are, like, way out of my league in the social aspect of things.”
I scrunched my nose. “They’re normal girls who would probably kill to have your looks. And like you once told me, don’t sell yourself short.”
She sighed, turning her head to watch them again.
“I’m not; it’s just—beauty isn’t everything, you know, and I love Street and you, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a group of girlfriends, you know?
Where you can talk about all the things and laugh freely like they’re doing now.
I’m not saying we can’t or don’t do that, but if I were normal and had a job, I could walk up to them and say hi, and if they asked me what I did for a living, I wouldn’t say I cheat or steal from people.
I would say I own a jewelry store or a shop at the mall, or a salon. ” She released a wistful laugh.
I pressed my lips together. “I get what you mean, but you gotta remember you didn’t ask for this life, and we still have the future, and you’re still young. You could still make lots of girlfriends who would kill to just say hi to you. I mean, you’re one of the coolest people I know.”
She looked back at me, her pale skin bathing in the setting sun. “Really?”
“Yup.” I offered her a smile.
“Thank you, Zahra.”
I nodded, looking back at the girls, my eyes zeroing in on one in particular. She was familiar.
Blond hair, pretty smile, and apparently, a beautiful laugh, and that aura—the aura of perfection.
I tilted my head to the side. “I know that one.”
“Which one?”
“The blondie, the one in the short red net dress that screams attention?”
Milk’s brows shot up. “Oh my God, she’s the prettiest; I mean, they’re all pretty, but she just outshines them all; she drew my attention to the circle. Where do you know her from?”
I squinted my eyes. “Hmph, the first night I spent at Elio’s, she knocked on his door and apologized when she saw me; apparently, she had taken the wrong route, said something about having directional issues or some shit along those lines.”
“Oh, that’s odd.”
My eyes shifted toward Elio; his gaze was on his whiskey glass, and he was nodding at whatever Angelo had said.
And then I looked back at the circle of girls to see the blondie’s gaze shifting in his direction.
I frowned, watching her watch Elio and Angelo. Her concentration was not exactly on the animated conversation around her; she had a little frown on her brows.
“Why is she…” Milk trailed off, looking toward Elio’s direction and then at the blondie. “… looking at them?”
I sat up straighter. “No idea.”
Milk chuckled. “They’re quite something to look at; why are we surprised?”
“That’s not the ‘Wow, they’re hot’ look, that’s a ‘What the hell are they talking about’ look,” I told Milk.
She shook her head, studying the situation as she said, “I don’t even wanna know how you broke thaaaat…”
Elio’s gaze shifted purposefully to the blondie, and it held for seconds too long before he looked away, shaking his head while removing the cigar from his lips and taking a drink before responding to Angelo.
“… down,” Milk completed. “I didn’t just imagine that, did I?”
“Nope,” I said, drinking the rest of the contents of my glass before dropping it beside me and getting to my feet. “Gotta go,” I said, without taking my eyes off Elio. “I’ll see you at the event.”
“Hey, take it easy; it might just be a normal eye-lock thing; it happens with strangers all the time.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know.” It happens with strangers, but I hated the tightness in my stomach. She was pretty, perfect, every guy’s ideal girlfriend. I knew I was pretty, too, and the whole package, but I also knew when there was someone better than me in all aspects.
Beauty, style, charm, a perfect rich-girl childhood, awesome parents, and a remarkable upbringing.
I didn’t want someone like that looking at what was mine, and I didn’t like what was mine looking at someone like that and realizing they could do so much better.
I hated this feeling. It was pathetic. Rarely did I feel insecure, but after that conversation with Casmiro and my growing feelings for this man, there was no controlling the pathetic nervousness that made my palms sweaty.
With a last farewell to Milk, who had also gotten up to seek Upper and the guys, I made my way toward Elio, who spotted me before I reached him.
Angelo stopped talking as he, in turn, spotted me.
“Hey, Angie,” I greeted, hooking my arm into Elio’s, clinging to him.
“Zahra.” He cleared his throat. “Wonderful evening.”
“It is, indeed.” I grinned, knowing I had interrupted some intense conversation between them. “Will you be attending the event?”
He shook his head. “Not immediately.”
“Work?” I asked, and he nodded, prompting me to look up at Elio, who made no attempt to shrug off my hold. “Cut him some slack, all work and no play … how’s he gonna get some?”
“He does not work for me,” Elio responded, looking down at me, tone firm.
“I work for him. He loves to deny it,” Angelo said, snatching the cigar from Elio’s hand. “That’s a third one too many.” Then he turned to me. “Please try to monitor his cigars; it’s getting worse.”
“One more word—”
“I will do that, Angie, fiercely.”
“I have no doubt,” Angelo said, with a curt nod my way and then one last glance at a glaring Elio before he walked away.
I went to stand in front of the frowning man. “He’s right; you should go easy on the cigars.”
“You should go easy on your inability to abstain from situations that do not concern you,” he stated, sounding irritated.
“That was rude.”
He made no move to apologize; his stare was almost blank, save for the irritation lingering in those eyes.
I sighed. “It’s just advice from people who care about your well-being.” I closed the space between us, rising a little to kiss the side of his neck. “And your health.”
“Hm.”
I rolled my eyes, fully standing on the heels of my feet. “Give me a kiss; let’s call a mini truce.”
“It is unnecessary to call a truce when there was no war prior to—”
“Ugh,” I groaned, cupping the side of his face and pressing my lips to his, hoping to God that the blondie saw it and knew he was fucking taken.
Breaking away from the kiss, my thumb grazed his bottom lip. “I have taken the liberty of getting you an outfit for the event.”
He raised a brow, his throat working. “Why?”
“Because you don’t recognize colors, and today, we will fix that by making you wear something different. We’ll call it liberty day, where you do what you don’t usually do. How does that sound?”
He gave me a warning stare. “I do not appreciate you implying I have trouble identifying colors, nor do I trust the mischief in your eyes.”
“Trust me, you’ll love what I selected.” I held onto his wrist. “Come on.”