33. Margo
Chapter 33
Margo
“ A fair lace mask for the pretty girl?”
I glance up at the shop owner. He’s been hovering, pointing at various costumes and accessories. None have been quite right. Although, I’m not quite sure what I’m looking for. I don’t have a dress, and Caleb, who seemed to have a plan, has disappeared.
The shop owner holds out a delicate, pale-pink mask. It’s meant to cover half the face, not both eyes.
“No.” Caleb comes up behind him. “I found it.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Where is it?”
“You have to wait outside.” He grins. “I’m going to buy it either way, but I think it’ll be better if it’s a surprise.”
“Seriously?”
The shop owner appraises us.
Caleb narrows his eyes at me. “Out.”
I raise my hands in surrender. “Fine. I’m going to get coffee.”
I leave the shop, contemplating circling back and trying to get a glimpse of whatever Caleb is buying. Instead, I resist the urge and cross the street. There’s a cute little coffee shop directly across from the costume shop.
Playing nice, I order myself a latte and Caleb a black coffee.
We were both obsessed with tasting coffee when we were young. It never failed to wrinkle our noses. But at the time, coffee was synonymous with caffeine. And what better way to help two ten-year-olds stay up past their bedtimes than caffeine? It never affected me much, but it didn’t fail to make Caleb bounce off the walls.
I shake the memory out of my head. Caleb enters the shop, and a paper bag dangles from his fingertips.
“I got you a coffee,” I tell him.
“Is this bribery?”
“No.” I roll my eyes. “Not everything has a string attached.”
He shrugs. “You’d be surprised.”
The barista calls my name. I grab both cups, and we find a table. We sit and drink it, and I try my hardest not to even look in the direction of the bag. It’s tempting, though. My curiosity burns bright.
He glances at his watch and straightens. “We have to go. My appointment is soon.”
“You said you had to sign papers? For what?”
“Just boring business stuff.”
“For your dad?—?”
He rubs his eye. “Can we go ten minutes without questions?”
He doesn’t say please, but I imagine the plea chasing his request.
“Fine,” I murmur.
I’ll just have to observe and see if I can figure out what Caleb Asher is hiding.
We take a taxi. It drops us off in front of a tall building, and Caleb winds his hand through mine. He leads me into the lobby and points to a group of armchairs in the corner.
“Sit.”
Since I promised no questions, I shut my mouth and take a seat.
Caleb approaches the front desk and leans toward the receptionist. They chat for a minute, and she types something on her computer. Finally, she gestures to a bank of elevators to her right. He pushes through a turnstile, goes down a hallway to the elevators, and waits. When he glances back at me, I pretend I wasn’t watching.
He steps onto the elevator a second later, and I shoot to my feet.
“Hi,” I say to the receptionist. “Can you tell me where he was going?”
She raises her eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“I just?—”
“We can’t give out that information.” She lifts her chin. “Are we going to have a problem?”
I narrow my eyes. “No problems on my end.”
As I slink back toward my seat, I scan the placard of companies and the levels. Where would Caleb go to sign paperwork?
There aren’t too many names listed. Half of them take up several floors. There’s a public relations firm and a real estate office that might be promising. Besides that, there’s a law firm, a plastic surgeon, and an investment firm. Oh, and insurance.
I shake my head and sit.
Caleb reappears twenty minutes later. He comes over to me and offers his hand.
“That took longer than expected,” he says.
I allow him to pull me to my feet. “It’s okay.”
“Do you want to do anything else? Or should we call it a day?”
We’d already walked around Times Square, took a selfie together under the glowing screens, and found masks. The day catches up to me, and I yawn. “Food, then home?”
He nods. We round the corner, almost smashing into a man walking toward us. He freezes, staring at Caleb. His face goes pale.
“Mr. A-Asher,” the man says.
“Tobias.” Caleb’s voice is cold. Except for his hand in mine, his body is stiffer than a board. He’s practically transformed into someone else.
“I wasn’t aware you were in the city,” Tobias continues. His voice wobbles.
“I wasn’t aware I had to notify you when I wanted to get away from Rose Hill for an afternoon.” Caleb’s brow rises. It’s more like a tick, up and then smoothed out an instant later.
Tobias shakes his head. Once he’s started, he doesn’t stop. His body trembles, like a strong wind is rushing through him.
My curiosity is officially piqued.
Caleb glances down at me, and Tobias follows his eyes. He flinches when he registers me.
I tilt my head. “Do I?—”
“No.” He switches the hand holding mine, and his free hand lands on the small of my back. He propels me around the frozen man.
“We’ll talk soon,” Tobias calls.
Once we’re half a block away, I force us to slow down. “Who was that?”
Caleb shakes his head. “I thought we were still not asking questions.”
“You can’t just?—”
His eyes flash. His hand slides around my neck, threading through my hair. He yanks my head back, exposing my throat.
“I can,” he murmurs.
There are still bite marks under my shirt, speckled along my breasts. There were a few that ventured too high up my neck that required concealer.
He tugs the collar down, eyes heating. “You covered them up.”
He wets his thumb in his mouth and rubs at my skin. His touch is delicious and dangerous, and I find myself enraptured by his expression.
“There.” He releases me. “Now the world will know you’re mine. Don’t hide it.”
We’d managed the day without him going all dark on me. And here we are…
I press my thighs together, but the impact of his words on my body is a strong one. Especially because we’re in the middle of the freaking sidewalk in Times Square.
People move past us like we’re rocks in the middle of a river.
He’s hungry, and I can’t help but feel the same. Like we’ve unwittingly been starving ourselves.
He touches my neck again, and then he straightens. He smirks at me.
He knows what he does to me.
My phone buzzes.
Unknown
How’s it feel to be so small in such a large city?
I choke on my gasp, shoving my phone back in my pocket.
Caleb raises an eyebrow. “What on earth was that?”
“Riley trying to be funny.” I clear my throat. Please don’t call me out on that lie .
He narrows his eyes but doesn’t question it.
We eat pizza at a diner on the second floor of a building. It overlooks the busy street in the theater district, which hosts some colorful characters. When the sky opens up, every single person on the sidewalk seems to have a black umbrella at the ready.
Caleb frowns. “I’ll call the car.”
We had left his at the edge of the city, then took a black car into Manhattan. The driver didn’t say a word to either of us, although I caught Caleb slipping him cash.
We wait at our table until a car pulls up to the curb and Caleb’s phone chirps.
“Ready?” he asks.
The pizza was delicious. The diner was cute. The city is impossibly big and daunting and everything I could’ve imagined as an almost-adult. It’s a lot different to how I experienced our neighborhood as a small child in Brooklyn.
I can see how people would come here to chase their dreams. And I can see how the city would chew up anyone not one hundred percent committed.
I take his offered hand. “Let’s go home.”
Caleb opens the car door for me, letting me slide into the backseat first. He follows, closing us in, and scoots close to me. God, he’s a giant in this small space. I didn’t realize it before—no, I was ignoring it before—but his presence sucks up all the air in the car.
The driver glances back at us in the rearview mirror. “Have fun?”
Caleb smiles. “It was refreshing.”
The driver navigates back toward the outskirts of the city, and Caleb traces patterns on my leg. I try not to look at him, but soon, my body aches. One touch has me burning up.
We park next to Caleb’s Audi, and the driver climbs out, opening my door for me. He even offers his hand. I take it, letting him help me to my feet. Caleb scowls at him over the top of the car, and the driver releases me.
“Mr. Asher,” the driver says, inclining his head.
“I’ll call you,” Caleb answers. “Can you do that errand we discussed?”
The driver smiles. “Of course, sir.”
I look back and forth between them, but Caleb turns away before I can dissect the conversation further.
We get into Caleb’s car. Without warning, he reaches over and grabs the back of my neck, yanking me toward him. We slam together, lips parting. His tongue slides into my mouth, invading my senses. I groan and press against him, forcing his tongue out of my mouth and into his. We’ve spontaneously combusted, igniting more heat than I could’ve imagined.
He tugs me over the center console and onto his lap.
I run my hands up and down his chest, then venture lower. I palm his dick through his pants, and he growls.
He’s hard.
I unzip his fly and reach in, fully grabbing him and pulling it out. It jerks in my hand.
I lean back a fraction. Our mouths are a hair’s breadth apart when I whisper, “Who’s Tobias?”
He glares at me. “You want to do this now?”
I stroke him, meeting his glare.
“You’re not going to like the answer,” he warns, exhaling sharply. “Fuck, Margo.”
He likes my hand on him.
“Tell me.” I lick my lips. We’re still close enough that my tongue touches his lips, too.
He tries to scowl but shudders at my nails raking up and down him.
“Tobias was…” He shakes his head. “I can’t believe I’m fucking telling you this. Tobias was your father’s attorney.”
I freeze.
“What?”
He grabs my face, holding me in place. If he didn’t, I probably would’ve bolted. Away from him, out of the car.
I’ve been filled with ice.
I pull my hand away from his erection, but he just watches me.
Tobias was my dad’s attorney.
The one who couldn’t stop him from going to jail.
The one who is on a first-name basis with Caleb Asher.
My dad’s attorney, who is going to call Caleb Asher later.
Why?
This is what self-destruction looks like. I fell for a monster.
I try to retreat, but his fingers just dig into my skin. He has me trapped against his body and the steering wheel, his hands on my face. His thumb caresses my cheek, just below my eye. Once, then twice.
He’s blurry.
Am I crying?
“Why?” I manage. “Caleb?—”
“Do not ask me,” he warns. He leans forward and steals a kiss.
Steals my breath.
I can’t breathe.
“I need to know why ?—”
“You don’t.” His voice is deadly. He’s deadly. He kisses me again, biting my lip.
I hate that he’s using this to distract me. To revive me.
I’m so fucking cold.
“Come back, Margo,” he says against my lips. He presses kisses along the edge of my mouth, my jaw, my throat.
“Did you put my father in jail?” I close my eyes, letting my head fall back. I already know the answer is yes . Deep down, I’ve always known. I just didn’t want to believe it.
His teeth nip my throat. His lips chase away the pain, back up, up, up. My jaw. The spot just below my ear. My earlobe. My temple.
How can he destroy me and make me feel better at the same time?
We’re fucked up.
I’m fucked up for enjoying this. For letting him melt me down to liquid again and again.
His lips touch my eyelid. His tongue flicks out and tastes my tears.
This is more than just… him trying to ease the pain. Him trying to erase what happened in our past.
My heart is splintering.
His lips find mine again, but everything is soft. His touch. His tongue, sweeping along the seam of my lips.
I exhale a long, shuddering breath.
When I open my eyes, he’s watching me. Maybe he’s trying to figure me out. If I’m stable, or if, once he releases me, I’ll run.
I would if my legs didn’t feel like jelly.
“How could you?” I whisper. “Was it your idea?”
He shakes his head. “We’re not doing this right now.”
I move back into my own seat, clicking my seat belt into place. My desire for answers chews at me, but he’s right. We can’t do this now. Not after that.
He starts the car. I close my eyes. Whether I actually fall asleep or just doze, I couldn’t say. But what feels like minutes later, he’s lifting me out of the car.
I keep my head tucked under his chin. Everything hurts, but what stings the most is my pride. I let myself be swept away by him, enamored by him, and I forgot the most important part.
He carries his own share of fault in our families’ destruction.
“Is she okay?” Robert asks.
“She just fell asleep in the car,” Caleb’s voice is soft. “I didn’t want to wake her. I’ll just put her in bed…”
I snake my arms around his neck as he’s laying me down. He chuckles in my ear, his hands sliding along my forearms.
“I hate you,” I mumble, “but I still want you to stay.”
He exhales. “Your foster parents wouldn’t be happy with me.”
I adjust my grip, plastering him to me. It isn’t really fair for him—I have the leverage.
He lies next to me, petting my hair. “Okay, Margo. For just a minute.”
I sigh and inch closer. I still feel broken.
It’s unexpected. It’s sharp. If I move the wrong way, my heart may start bleeding. Best to stay completely still and hope that I heal overnight, and then I can wish away all the bad pieces of Caleb—and me.
I fall asleep with his hand in my hair and my nose against his throat.