13. Connor
Connor
My date is with Pete at L’Octane.
From across the street, I watch the patrons exit the restaurant and file into their fancy cars that the valets hand over.
After the restaurant closes, the front-door staff check with the valet men at the entrance.
It’s getting late, and Pete’s toy car is still parked out here. I assume he’ll stay after closing.
It’s possible the responsible doctor took a cab home and left his car there after drinking one too many beers. More likely, however, is that he remained to chat with his friends after Ekatia left.
Trouble is, I told him to drop her off. The reason he didn’t is that I have no authority over him. He is his own man, doing his own thing, and nobody will tell him what to do or where to drop off his date. It’s also because, clearly, he doesn’t respect her and is very careless with her.
Moreover, when I told him to drop her off at the house, I was trying to make a point. A nonviolent one.
One of my Musketeers, who I think might be effective in helping me out, said I should learn to swim in the pit of darkness that is my psyche without killing off the people who are trying to swim with me.
It means I can never swim in their clear and cute ordinary oceans, but if they want to dive into mine, I should let them.
The healing starts with mercy. Feeling merciful about the fool who gets out of the car and comes at me in a fit of road rage.
Feeling merciful about the fool who enters the wrong number on the shipping label, along with the driver, who, despite seeing Connor Crossbow’s name on the package, never delivers it.
Instead, he returns it to the postal service, which ships it back to the sender.
In Domisa.
On the other side of the world. Now I need to wait two more weeks for my custom belt to arrive.
And last but not least, healing starts by feeling merciful about Pete, the fucking idiot who, despite my best efforts to be merciful, keeps disregarding the message I’m trying to send about Ekatia. I wanted him to know that she is protected by my family and is someone he should take care with.
At the hospital, when I met him, he gave me bad vibes. I know bad vibes. My dad raped my mother. Repeatedly. He had other men rape her too. I’m very quick to trust how others make me feel, and I test new people all the time.
Pete scored an F on the test.
Pete’s on the boat, trying to cross my dark waters, and he’s sinking, about to become shark food.
The act of mercy will be not blowing up the entire restaurant. I also promised Declan I would curb my appetite for destruction.
Our father was the ruthless king of this city, and when Dec took him out, we took over the throne, even though we never wanted to live here. Our mother comes from Selnoa, and some of our worst memories happened here.
But Dina lives here too, and Declan lives wherever Dina lives. I live wherever my brother is, so here I am. Visiting with Pete.
Since he’s not coming out, I pull up. The valet, a young man in a button-down shirt and black slacks who is closing his station, doesn’t look up when he says, “We’re closed, sir.”
I leave the car out front and walk up to his station.
“Hey, you can’t…” The man looks up and recognizes me immediately. “You’re Connor Crossbow. Shit. Wha… Something I can do for you?”
A man comes over to stand with the younger one. This one’s older, and they look alike.
I slide a wad of cash toward them. “See that little car over there? Take it for a ride to the Tavala district.”
“No way! That’s where we’re from,” the younger one says.
“You don’t say.”
“My dad says we’re distant relatives.”
He means from my mother’s side. Declan and I only count our two uncles from our father’s side as family. We don’t have relations with our mother’s side unless they’re business related. Which they are in the Tavala district. “It’s my lucky night, then. You know Boss’s Pit car shop?”
“Hell yeah, we know it.”
“Drop it off there.”
I’d love nothing more than to set Pete’s car on fire, but I’m committed to Pete’s survival.
With some luck, everyone else will survive the night too.
I promised Declan I wouldn’t shoot anyone who didn’t threaten my life.
Even though it’s a buzzkill not to kill idiots for sport, a promise is a promise.
Pete better behave. I’m hanging on by a thread. Almost came down here in my swim shorts and boots. At the last moment, I returned home and changed, and calmed down a little.
A young woman with long dark hair and dark eyes speaks from behind the glass of the entrance doors. “Sir, we’re closed.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I ask.
She frowns before answering. “Maybe. If you know, then why are you here?”
I open my wallet and pull out a few large bills.
She shakes her head. “I can’t let you in. I need this job, sir. My wife got laid off.”
“Fine.” I drop to one knee and take out a pin. Now, I’ve broken into places before, but I once watched Dina break into her hair salon faster than anyone I’d ever seen. Since I’m competitive, I’ve been practicing with a timer ever since, and the goal is to do it under a minute.
I poke the lock and wait for the click.
Thirty seconds go by.
“What are you doing?” the girl hisses from behind the door. “Get away from there. There are cameras, and my boss is coming.” The girl steps away as an older blonde appears.
Forty-five seconds.
The older woman’s eyes widen, and she fumbles with the keys, drops them.
Fifty-five seconds. I’d better get this before she unlocks it.
My timer pings a minute. “Fuck. I lost.” I throw the pin away, get up, and dust off my pants.
The woman lets me in and locks the door behind me. “Mr. Crossbow, hello. How are you?”
“Never better.” I show her my teeth.
Reluctantly, she smiles back.
“I’m here to speak with Dr. Pete Olton.”
“Pete?”
“Mmhm. Is he here?” I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “I saw his car out front.”
“I didn’t know you knew Pete. He’s a friend of mine. Came in earlier. Sorry about Natalia. She mustn’t have recognized you.”
“I didn’t,” Natalia says, looking flushed. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. She let me practice my lockpicking skills, which are shitty, by the way.”
The women stare.
“Lead the way,” I say.
The waitstaff on the floor are finishing up their side work, refilling the condiments, cleaning the floors, and behind the bar, the bartender runs the cash register. The lights are brighter than usual, I suppose, but not so bright as to leave it feeling like a cheap cafeteria.
Crystal chandeliers reflect the lights. An interior designer once told me the lighting dictates the mood of the entire space.
As we pass through the dining room, the staff whisper and then bolt into the kitchen. They recognized me. This is good. There’s a back door in every kitchen.
I slide into the booth, where Pete’s looking down, presumably at his phone.
“Hi, Pete,” I say.
Startled, he looks up, and I wonder how this man survives. A snake slid into the booth with him, and he’s on his phone. Either he’s stupid or finds me nonthreatening. A medical doctor isn’t stupid, so he must believe that I’m nonthreatening. There’s another option. Arrogance.
“Mr. Crossbow. What are you doing here?”
I blink. “Are you dumb?”
He leans back in his seat. “If this is about Ekatia, I can assure you that I’m not interested in her anymore. You can have her.” He shows me his palms as if he’s taking his hands off her. Red flares before my eyes. Uh-oh.
The bruises on Ekatia’s right thigh probably came from this left hand. Not that that matters. I’ll take both his hands.
“I can have her?” I repeat.
A server arrives at the table. It’s a woman. Five foot two maximum, barely eighteen, and terrified. She stammers, “Can…can I get you started with a drink?”
I hold back my insanity for a while longer. “No, thank you. Is most of the staff gone?”
“Yes, sir. It’s just me and the chef, in case you’re hungry.”
“And your boss?”
“She’s closing up, yes.”
“I don’t want anything. Stay off the floor.” I shoo her away with my hand, then look at Pete, who’s texting. Motherfucker is texting. Okay, I’ll wait until he’s finished.
Pete slides out of the booth and pockets his phone. I give him a once-over. He looks like he’s going golfing. Are those sneakers he’s wearing? To a date in a place like this? Oh, come on. I should kill him just for that.
“I have surgery in half an hour.”
“I doubt that very much.”
“What do you want, Connor? You want to bully me into not going out with a girl I’ve been wanting to go out with? Fine. It’s done. She’s all yours. Now.”
I stand up. He’s a few inches shorter than me, but he works out. Not bad. Maybe he’ll put up a fight.
“What did I tell you to do with her once you were done with the date?”
“Don’t be childish,” he says.
“You’re the one who takes me for a joke.”
“Fine. You said to drop her off at the Crossbow mansion.”
“My father lived in the Crossbow mansion that burned down last year.”
“The new Crossbow mansion.”
“So you do know where I live.”
“Ekatia left on her own.” Pete points at the booth. “Her purse is still here. She went to the bathroom and never came back. I didn’t get a chance to drop her off at your house, or I would have.”
“She had no ride.”
“The city has transportation.”
I punch him in the nose. Blood spurts onto my chin and shirt.
I lick my lips. The taste of crimson stokes my rage.
I want more of his blood. “You.” Punch. “Tried to stop her from leaving.” Punch.
“Left bruises on her thigh.” Punch, punch.
“She took the city transport, but it doesn’t go all the way to my house, so she took off her heels and walked barefoot. ” Punch punch punch.
Pete sways and finally hits the ground. I shoulder Ekatia’s purse, grab his hair, and drag him outside.
“Guys,” I shout as I drag the unconscious Pete. “Lock up in the back. I’ve got the front. Take a few days off. Whoever comes back to work on Wednesday is working for me in my restaurant.”