7. Stella
Chapter Seven
STELLA
Gemini
Don’t spend your time obsessing about the past. Look to the future and embrace the days ahead.
Swiveling on the bar stool chair, I took a stab at my scrambled eggs, loading them up on the fork.
There was a buzzing beneath my skin that had followed me around since last night.
Callahan had awoken something primal in me that I liked a little too much.
I knew better than anyone how a decision like that could turn out, and yet I’d done it anyway like someone had taken over my body.
Not someone. Something. My fucking libido decided to make a rare appearance and took the wheel.
And now that bitch wouldn’t give it back because even after an entire night of guilt, I still wanted more.
“Did those eggs do something to you personally, or are we feeling extra stabby this morning for no reason?” Helena asked, eyeing my fork warily.
She had come into Aunt Dee Dee’s office sometime around 2am, and spent the rest of the shift filling me in about her fuck ass boyfriend giving her a black eye that makeup would hardly cover.
I’d decided that if I came across that fucker, he’d meet the business end of my favorite knife.
But in the meantime, I would figure out how to extricate Helena from his grasp, safely.
“Maybe these eggs tried to rob me and I’m just giving them what for.”
“Fair. The eggs have gotten pretty pricey.”
“Don’t let Sal hear you say that, or we’ll never hear the end of it.”
After a few more bites and a swig of black coffee, Helena quirked her well sculpted eyebrow at me and I knew she wasn’t going to let my palpable mood go. “Come on. I told you what was bothering me. It’s only fair you dish too.”
“Fine. You caught me. I did something last night and it’s eating me alive, but it’s so stupid compared to what you’re going through...”
“Go on. I could use a little stupid distraction.”
I shoved another bite of eggs into my mouth, taking my time to chew.
Images of me and Cal flitted in my mind filling me with a mixture of guilt, excitement, and desire.
“I might have…” Fuck. Why was I feeling so embarrassed?
Helena and I had literally seen each other pee.
She’d had me go with her to her OBGYN appointment that time she got her IUD inserted.
I knew she kept her toys fully charged and what she preferred in bed.
Hell, we were even synced up in our cycle.
I shouldn’t have felt ashamed or embarrassed in front of her. I grabbed my coffee and took a sip.
“You’re acting like you killed someone.”
I nearly spit out my coffee. What did it say about me that I was more torn up about getting myself off on a client than killing a scum bag hitman?
I’d hardly batted an eyelash doing that.
But in all fairness, he had that coming.
If not by my hand than someone else’s. The world was a better, safer place without him around.
And it wasn’t like Kenneth was my first murder.
I’d left my share of bodies on the streets of Starfell as needed over the years, and each time was more than fucking deserved.
Maybe that made me a horrible person, but I never pretended to be a saint.
“Not lately,” I said, and Helena laughed like I was making a joke. “No. I might have maybe… got myself off on a really hot guy while giving him a lap dance.”
“Is that all? Stella, please.” She rolled her eyes. “That happens sometimes. It’s not that big of a deal. Was it consensual?”
“Yeah.”
“Well then what are you so worked up about?”
How did I explain that it unlocked a shitload of feelings I didn’t know how to process.
“You know,” Helena sighed, looking at me with her eyebrows pulled tightly together, giving me her full attention.
“Andi would want you to live your life. I know that sounds fucking cliche as hell, but we were all friends. I knew her just like I know you. And it’s more than okay for you to enjoy yourself once in a while. ”
I ground my teeth together. “She’s not dead, Helena. I have to find her. I can’t stop looking. If I stop—”my eyes began to burn and my chest tightened, cutting off my words mid-sentence.
Her hand gripped mine and squeezed. “I know.”
I ripped my hand away feeling a tear spill over my bottom lash line. “You don’t know. Everyone talks about her in the past tense. Like she’s dead and never coming back. And I can’t accept that. I won’t.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
I breathed out a heavy sigh. “No, I’m sorry. I let my emotions get the best of me and I took it out on you. You didn’t deserve that.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe next time stick to the eggs.”
I laughed, lifting my glasses off my nose and wiping away the rouge tear from my cheek. “Deal.”
Just as my emotions began to settle, the corner of my eye caught an all too familiar face.
“No fucking way.” My heart rate began to pound hard in my chest and all those complicated emotions came rushing right back to the surface.
“What?” Helena swung around to see what I was looking at.
Mouth open and stomach in a knot, I watched Callahan walk right into Sal’s scanning the area for an open seat.
He hadn’t seen me yet. I still had time to sneak out the back door and make a break for it.
I’d have to pay Sal back later for the eggs and bacon.
Except right as my ass was about to slip off the seat so I could run away, Callahan’s mossy green eyes found me.
His dark eyebrows shot up and his mouth parted.
It seemed he was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him.
“Is that him?” She asked loudly with all the tact of a napkin.
My jaw clenched and my mouth fell into a thin line as I smacked her arm. “Yes, that’s him,” I gritted out through my teeth.
He was smiling wide at me now, weaving between the packed tables.
Dammit. A flush began creeping up my neck, settling on the apples of my cheeks.
Helena watched me with unrestrained glee— her smile was so wide she could easily audition for the part of the Joker. She was getting an absolute kick out of seeing me visibly squirm over a guy.
A hot guy.
But still. A fucking guy.
It took him all of a few seconds to find his way to me. Standing here in the daylight, he was better looking than I remembered. All tall and rugged and wrapped in leather. And definitely inconvenient. I didn’t have time to be catching feelings.
“You’ve told your friend about me,” he said, giving me a wide smile that put a quake in my knees and a flutter in my stomach.
I lifted my chin, feeling that burn on my cheeks deepen. “You heard that, huh?” I glared at Helena, who could not have been prouder of herself than she was at this moment.
“‘Fraid so. But I might have told my friend about you too,” he admitted.
My pierced eyebrow rose. “Is that so? And what did you say?”
Now it was his turn to feel embarrassed because I detected a hint of red dusting his tan cheeks as well. Damn, it made him even cuter. How fucking annoying.
He took a step closer, leaning down to speak in my ear so only I could hear. He was so close I could smell his woodsy cologne scent that reminded me of how good he felt beneath me. “I said that we had to leave before anyone noticed what you’d done to me.”
My face was fully burning now. I was an inferno. It was a miracle that I hadn’t melted away on the spot from how hot my body had become. He held my gaze, leaning down over me using the counter behind me to prop himself up while I sat stunned on the bar stool.
“Actually, I’m glad I got the chance to see you again. I was hoping I could get your name and maybe ask you out sometime?”
My heart thudded in my chest. When was the last time someone had even asked me out?
My brain was doing the math trying to remember.
I’d done a really fucking good job of keeping people away from me.
And it helped that I had an excellent resting bitch face, if I do say so myself.
Most people get the hint to fuck off. But not Callahan.
And what’s worse is there was a huge part of me that didn’t want him to fuck off and go.
This was stupid. He was a client. A patron of the club. I knew fucking better than this. And yet, here I was grinning up at him like an idiot. Was I actually entertaining the idea of going out with him?
My top teeth worried into my bottom lip like it could somehow provide me an answer.
“Her name is Stella, since she seems to have forgotten how to form words,” Helena said, head tilted into the palm of her hand that she had rested using the crook of her elbow against the counter for support.
Her eyes bounced between me and Callahan’s with a wicked glint in them.
She was lucky I loved her or I’d be planning how to get back at her for this.
“Right. Yes. Stella. That’s my name.” Oh my god. Who was I right now? I did not get this twisted up and nervous over a dude. There were dudes everywhere. The place was full of them. I successfully navigated my entire life without turning myself into an idiot for one yet, so why now? Why him?
When I turned my focus back on him, I remembered exactly why he’d gotten me all churned up inside. That mother fucking smile and intense way he looked at me. Like he’d give me the world if only I were to ask him for it.
“Nice to officially meet you, Stella,” he said, pushing himself off the counter and standing up to his full height. “So, what do you say? Would you like to go out with me sometime?”
“That depends on where you plan to take me,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Holy shit, ladies, theydies, and gentlemen. I had found my voice.
“Seeing as how I’m new to town, maybe you’d have some suggestions? Or a favorite place?”
“Ehh. Pass. You want to take me out, but you want me to plan it? Try again.” I went to swivel back around, feeling the sweat gathering on my palms. Helena shot me a glare, and I could tell by that one look she was wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I wondered that same question daily.
Only instead of being put off by my attitude, Cal laughed, nodding his head like he was impressed by my response.
“That’s fair. Alright, how about this. I get your number and text you a well thought out date for when you’re free.” He held out his phone waiting for my response.
Fuck it.
I grabbed his phone and plugged in my number before I had time to think. The heat from his gaze was palpable and I almost entered the wrong numbers. “There you go.”
He smiled, taking his phone back, pressing the call button. Immediately, the phone in my pocket began to buzz. I palmed it and saved his number with shaky hands. I mean I could always block his number if I changed my mind, right?
“I’ll text you later then,” he said.
“Okay,” I responded, sliding off the chair and grabbing Helena by the arm.
I felt like I was floating and Helena’s arm was the only thing keeping me steady.
She hurriedly put down money to cover the bill as I tugged at her.
I’d have to pay her back later because my brain was screaming at me to go.
“Later.” I waved as I pulled Helena with me through the restaurant.
“What the hell was that?” Helena asked once we were on the street.
“What?”
“You nearly yanked my arm out of its socket to get out of there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this worked up over a guy ever.”
“Yeah. It’s probably a sign I should ignore his texts and change my number.” We walked arm in arm down the sidewalk.
“Don’t be stupid. Just block him. No need to get dramatic and change your number.”
We laughed together, because she was absolutely right. As soon as I felt like I could breathe again, she went for my jugular. “You’re going to go out with him though, right? I saw how happy he made you. And he was cute as fuck.”
“I don’t know.”
She sighed and shook her head as we entered Janus’s Studio. A place I paid an exorbitant amount of money to have private lessons with the one and only Janus. They were a world-renowned martial artist expert, with a focus on self-defense and attack strategies.
I owed everything I knew to Janus’s teaching. Even my knife throwing. Before we met, I couldn’t have hit a wall let alone an actual target.
“Well, I’ll be damned. Stella fucking Vesper.
It’s been long enough,” Janus said, looking over at me from behind the person they’d pinned on the floor.
Whoever it was hit the mat three times, signaling they needed to be let up.
Janus let go, and jumped up to standing, placing their hands on their hips. “What brings you back here today?”
I shrugged my shoulder. “Needed the practice.”
“What about your friend?” They motioned to Helena.
“She needs some tips from the best. Her soon to be ex-boyfriend was getting a little too rough.”
Janus’s eyebrows shot up as they looked over at my friend in understanding.
Sure, I was exhausted from being up all night working, but if I didn’t keep up on my training, I was worried that my skills would lapse and I’d be taken unawares. With the flash drive in my possession and the Underwood’s still out there hunting for the culprit, I couldn’t be too careful.
“Alright. If you got the cash, I’ll be with you in ten minutes. You know where everything is, so go get ready.”
Part of the reason I was so scant on cash right now was because arming myself with a shit ton of weapons, hiring a private detective, and taking elite training classes wasn’t cheap.
I might have made a pretty penny dancing, but what wasn’t taken by the Underwoods went here.
Every spare cent I owned was spent in pursuit of finding my sister.
Money well spent if you asked me. Especially once I finally had her back safe and sound.
Then we’d get out of this city and go somewhere no one could find us.
Maybe Italy. Or Greece. Or Scotland. I could be happy in the highlands with the hairy coos and men who wore kilts.
Actually, that sounded like the perfect plan.
I showed Helena where to go, while I grabbed an array of knives and took out my frustrations one throw at a time.
I might have been sexually frustrated and mad at myself for this sudden inconvenient attraction to Callahan, but I still knew how to kick some ass.
And that’s exactly the type of release I fucking needed right now.