Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Ithink we deserve a drink. Come on. I’ll take you to my husband’s bar. It’s the best. And Tommy loves when I pop in.” Mabilia smiles at me and loops her arm through mine. We’ve been shopping for two hours. I’m exhausted.
“I really should get back to the office. I’m supposed to be working.” I like Neo’s sister. She seems as though she would be a lot of fun to be friends with. She’s also scary as hell. I don’t know what it is about her, but something tells me I would not want to be on her bad side.
“First, my brother is not going to say anything about you stopping for a drink. And second, if he does, I’ll just tell him I kidnapped you and forced a drink into your hand,” she says with a single shoulder lift.
I pull the phone Neo gave me out of my pocket. “Let me just check with him.”
“Why? He doesn’t own you, Caitlyn. You are your own woman. He’s not the boss of what you do,” Mabilia tells me, and I laugh.
“Actually, he literally is my boss. I’m supposed to be working for him.” I quickly type out a message to Neo.
Me: Mabilia wants to take me to Tommy’s bar. Your sister is a really hard person to say no to.
Neo: Go with her. I’ll meet you there.
I frown. Does he really not care what I do?
“Looks like we’re going to Tommy’s bar,” I announce.
“I told you he wouldn’t care. You could literally tell him you want to go to Paris and my brother will find a way to make that happen for you.” She smirks.
“I doubt that.”
“You’ll see,” she sings out as she leads me over to the waiting car.
I scan the interior of the bar, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Someone is watching me, but when I look around, I don’t see anyone.
More importantly, I don’t see him. Henry.
If he found me, I don’t think he’d be happy to just sit back and watch.
He’d more likely drag me out the door by my hair—to hell with who saw him do it.
“Tommy, this is Caitlyn, Neo’s girl!” Mabilia yells out over the bar. “Caitlyn, Tommy, my very sexy husband.” She eyes the man up and down as if she wants to eat him whole.
“Hi.” I wave at him. It’s on the tip of my tongue to correct her and say I’m not Neo’s girl… or Neo’s anything really. But it seems pointless with his family. They’ve assumed what they want, and nothing I seem to say makes a difference.
“So you’re the one I’ve been hearing about,” Tommy says, and my cheeks blush. “I can’t believe he finally got caught.”
“Can we have two cosmos?” Mabilia asks.
“Does Neo know she’s here, Mabilia? Because I really do not need your crazy-ass brother destroying my bar when he finds out I’m giving his girl alcohol,” Tommy says.
“He knows. And as if I’d let him destroy the place.” Mabilia shakes her head, leaning over the counter to then press her lips to Tommy’s. When she sits back down, she turns her attention to me. “So, you and my brother, tell me all about it but leave out any X-rated details.”
I blush, again, as thoughts of this morning run through my head. “I don’t know what to say. It’s all been very fast.”
“How do you feel when you’re with him?”
“Good,” I admit. “Safe,” I add, because there is something about being wrapped in Neo’s arms that I love.
Mabilia smiles. “You are safe with him. As much of a grouch as he is, he would never hurt a woman.”
I nod my head, but I’m pretty sure Henry’s family thought the same about him.
“What else? What about now, when he’s not around?”
“I… I’m going to sound insane,” I say.
“Try me.”
“All I can think about is how long it’s going to take him to get here, because I want to see him again. Not that I haven’t enjoyed spending time with you. It’s just… I don’t know what it is, but I want to be with him.” It feels good to say it out loud.
“That’s not insane. That’s love,” Mabilia tells me.
“I haven’t known him long enough to be in love with him,” I insist, because that would be crazy.
“Love doesn’t have a timeline. When you love someone, you just love them. It’s a soul-deep thing, not a knowledge-based thing,” she says.
Is she right? Can love at first sight really exist?
“When did you know?” I ask, turning the conversation from me to her.
“The first time I saw him, right here at this bar. He refused to serve me because I was underage.” She laughs.
My eyes widen. “What did you do?”
“Went home with him. But he didn’t know who I was, which made it easier. When people learn our last name, they get scared. As they should, but still, it’s not great for dating.”
“I could imagine,” I say, and again the hairs on the back of my neck lift. I look around and find the very reason for them. My hands shake as my eyes connect with his. Mabilia follows my gaze and then looks at me. I can’t let her get mixed up in this mess.
I take my phone out of my pocket and send Neo one last message.
Me: I just want to say thank you. For being so kind to me and, well, for everything. At the risk of sounding insane, I think I’ve fallen in love with you. I know it’s crazy, but I wanted you to know.
My hands shake as I press send. Then I place the phone on the bar and stand. “I’ll, ah, be right back.”
“Where are you going?” Mabilia asks.
“I just need some air. I’ll be back,” I repeat.
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, stay here and order us another drink. Please,” I plead with her.
I cannot let Neo’s sister get hurt because of me. I won’t let anyone else get a dose of Henry’s anger. It’s bad enough that I have to face it. But I ran. I knew it was coming.