Most guys would touch your shoulder or place their hand a little too close to your breast or even your ass. However, he chose two fingers, right under my chin. He wanted me to meet his gaze like earlier, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Having him near, snuffed out my bravado and scattered my thoughts, not an easy feat when it comes to me.
God, he smells so fucking good too, like rain mixed with alpha male. Pheromones such as those should be bottled up and sold. I’d dump that shit all over my pillow at night. How can you possibly think when a man smells like that?
He’s remains standing beside me for a moment longer, almost as if he wants to say something else, but refrains. I wish he wouldn’t have held back. I wanted him to speak some more, even if it was merely to tell me to fuck off. I want to hear that voice again so I can commit it to memory, along with those furious golden irises.
The door chimes, and this time when I look up, he and the other men have left.
The restaurant buzzes with excited chatter in the aftermath, as if they can’t stand to remain quiet a moment more. Kaleigh just stares at me like I’m a glitter-covered unicorn giving out free donuts that she’s never seen before or something.
A Styrofoam cup with a lid secured and a new straw is placed down in front of me. “Ma-ma’am,” the server interrupts nervously. “Anything else? A piece of Tiramisu or a cappuccino, maybe?”
She wasn’t so friendly before. Not that we minded anyhow; we’re used to her since we eat here a few times a week. You’d think she’d know us by name by now, but like I said, she’s not that kind to us usually.
“No thanks. Just our bills please, separate if you don’t mind.”
“It’s been taken care of, along with anything else you’d like.”
“So, if I wanted to stay all afternoon, sitting around, drinking your most expensive liquor, I wouldn’t get a bill?”
She shakes her head, black hair secured in a tight ponytail. “No. You wouldn’t get a tab for the rest of the week either.”
“Whoa, what do you mean, exactly?”
“I was instructed that your bill is paid, and that if you returned again this week, then it would be taken care of as well.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No ma’am, not even a little.”
“Wow—” I should get a bottle of wine or something to take with me.
Kaleigh interrupts, “Well, thank you. We should go then.”
“Right, I have to get back too.” I agree with her and the server walks off without another word.
Collecting our things, we head out the door. I don’t know what to say. I have a million questions running through my mind now, and it’s all a bit overwhelming, rendering me speechless.
“Maybe we should get you a cab back to your office,” my friend suggests, making me pause.
“It’s gorgeous out here; I’ll save the fare and walk. You should too.”
“Look Grace, I’ll be frank. Those aren’t the type of people whose radar you want to be on. You need to be careful. My God,” she mutters quietly, closing her eyes for a moment, her hand going to her forehead as if she still can’t believe it. “He spoke to you.”
“And? He’s just another guy. A gorgeous one at that, but he was in the flesh, you said so yourself. You act like you’ve seen a freaking ghost or something. He wasn’t rude and just bought us lunch. Maybe he’s not so evil.”
“No, you don’t get it. He doesn’t do that sort of thing. The Joker doesn’t pay for people’s meals or act like they even exist, but today he calls you beautiful and then pays for your food for an entire week. I’m scared just from being at the same table with you.”
“You’ve never had a man buy you a meal before? And how do you know so much about him?”
“Of course I’ve been taken out to dinner, but never by someone like that. I don’t know too much, honestly. But there are stories and I’ve heard my fair share of them. Please listen to me, Grace, just this once, and be careful—at least for a while.”
“I love you, Kayleigh, but I have to get back. We can talk more about him later, okay?”
“You’re not going to listen to me, are you?”
Shaking my head, I’m honest with her. I always am. “Probably not.” My mouth turns up in a grin, as I squeeze her shoulder affectionately. “I just don’t see what the big deal is. But, I’ll talk to you later and you can try to convince me some more, okay?”
She nods, worry in her gaze as I turn away. She clearly doesn’t care for my response, but she knows me. If she tells me not to do something, I’m going to want to know why and in some cases figure it out for myself. It’s like that Jelly Bean game, Bean Boozled. After playing it with her nieces, she warned me never to try it. So naturally I did, wanting to see what the fuss was about. It was all fun and games until I got the puke flavored one.
The walk back to my job is pleasantly quick and I hate to admit it, but I do check over my shoulder a few times. I feel like an ass by the time I get to my building though. I learned a long time ago that rumors are just that—rumors and nothing more. Well, usually anyhow. In this case I think everyone was being a little melodramatic. People love a good story to get worked up over. The guy was a businessman, maybe not completely straightlaced, but I highly doubt it’s what Kaleigh was saying.
Why would she lie about it, though? She would never do it on purpose, but she does buy into that shit the realtors she works for feed her. That’s probably where it all came from.
“Hey, Grace, have a good lunch?” Keisha, the receptionist asks as I step out of the elevator. She’s worked for the same marketing company as I have for nearly ten years. She’s a curvy, mocha-skinned, vivacious woman with one of the biggest hearts around.
“It was interesting, that’s for sure.”
Her full lips pull up into a curious grin, as she catches me off guard, “Well, maybe it’ll get more interesting then. You had a delivery about five minutes ago.”
“Really? From who?” I rarely get surprises. I wonder if my mom sent me something. It’s not my birthday or anything though.
Her smile grows more until she’s beaming, full of excitement for me. “Wouldn’t leave a name and said his boss wanted you to have something beautiful.”
“No way!” She has to be teasing me. I haven’t been seeing anyone in a while for a man to be sending me something. It must be my mom.
“Go look on your desk.” She wags her eyebrows and I damn near skip to my door with curiosity.
Sure enough, there’s a large bouquet sitting right in the middle of my desk. The flowers are encased in a thick crystal vase, swirls and hearts expertly carved into the base. It’s not something you’d find in a regular florist; it had to have cost a fortune and been made specially to order. There must be fifty lilies, all a deep violet color—the exact same shade as the shirt I have on.
Whoever sent them knows how to pay attention to detail, or else this is a strange coincidence.
The small, light gray piece of cardstock tucked into the arrangement draws my eyes away from the stark color. Carefully, I work it out of the prong holder, bringing it closer. In small Modern number twenty font—I know this because of my experience in design—there’s one word printed, black and bold. It’s enough for a cold chill to crawl up my spine, heeding my friend’s warning from earlier.
Bella
Holy shit. There’s no possible way, they’re from him. None. He knows nothing about me.
“So?” Keisha asks, causing me to jump at her voice. “You okay, girl?” Her eyes light up in amusement.
“Yes, um, they don’t have a name. Are you sure they were for me and not Rose? Wasn’t it her anniversary or something?” As beautiful as they are, I’d feel better right now discovering that they were delivered to me by mistake. Naïve, I know, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
“Yeah, it was last week. Besides, the guy that delivered them gave me your name specifically, so those gorgeous flowers are all yours.”
; “Oh. Great,” I mumble sarcastically. If only Keisha knew why it was so disturbing, but I’ll keep what happened to myself. No need to freak her out. Kaleigh would fall over, too, if she were here right now.
“You don’t seem too thrilled. If it were me, I’d be thinking of a special way to thank the man who spent a grip on them—maybe with my mouth.” She winks.
They are beautiful and a thoughtful gift from whomever they came. Not to mention they smell fantastic. But thanking him with my mouth is most likely the last thing he wants at the moment. I can’t believe I was rude earlier and then he sent flowers. Who the hell is this guy?
“Or did he fuck up? Do I need to hurt someone for you? I will, if he cheated. I’ll dick punch him for you.”
Laughing nervously, I shake my head, “No, nothing like that. But thank you, it’s nice to know that you have my back.”
“Always girl, you just say the word.”
“Thank you, Keisha, it means a lot. If I figure out who they’re from, I’ll be sure to thank him.”
“Oh my God! You don’t know who they’re from? Shit! You have a secret admirer, this is so cool.”
Nodding, I send her a brief, shaky smile. She has no clue that it could be from a certain ‘supposed’ gangster, according to Kaleigh. Hopefully he’s just a rich guy with a good secretary to be able to find me like that. I should send him a quick email at least to thank him for the blooms and the lunch.
The phone starts ringing so Keisha hurries back to her desk, leaving me with my thoughts.
First thing I’m doing is moving these damn flowers from the middle of my desk. Picking up the heavy vase, I start to put them on my small side table against the wall, but can’t push myself to move them that far away. Instead, I place them on the right corner of my desk.
They’re too lovely to not enjoy having them close by. There’s a small leather couch pushed against the wall next to my door, my two matching leather office chairs, my desk, and my own chair. Not really a good spot for them in here, although they sure do make it feel more welcoming. Maybe I should get a plant or something to keep in here regularly to liven things up a bit.
So, he wanted me to have something beautiful and chose the same color as my shirt. How ironic that it’s also one of my favorite colors. I love violet, fuchsia, and really dark blue, just like the deep blue color of his tie earlier. I’m a woman, and I’m allowed to have twenty favorite colors if I want and when these choices are paired together, the colors look even more vibrant.
First, he buys me lunch and now flowers? I can’t be one hundred percent sure that they’re from him since he didn’t sign the card, but I’m not dense. I know inside that he sent them. Most women would be creeped out by it or head over heels already, but not me. I don’t know what to think about it all or what he wants and I hate the uneasy feeling that comes along with it.
If he’s as notorious a Kaleigh seems to believe, then I’m a little apprehensive garnering his attention. But if he’s not … well, then, he’s just another boring rich guy throwing money at me. Why do I have to be so hard to please when it comes to men? I want some excitement, but I also don’t want to get hurt. I suppose that’s most women though; however, they eventually end up settling on someone mediocre and I refuse to.
I had a nice boyfriend a while back. He had a good job and was pleasant. He also had a receding hairline, judged people based on their net worth, and thought that doing ‘the helicopter’ in bed was the way to satisfy me. Ugh. He didn’t last long and I’m happier being single than sharing time with someone like that. My B.O.B has more of a personality.
I’m twenty-nine, unmarried with zero children. I know I’m not ‘the norm,’ but I wanted a career and the right man never came along, so here I am. Only getting older. By my mother’s reaction to my nonexistent love life, you’d think I was on my deathbed or something. She wants grandbabies and with the amazing life she’s always worked hard to give me, she deserves some grandchildren. Hopefully, one day I can make that wish come true for her, but until then, I’m pretty happy with my life. I don’t need a man to make things better, but it would be nice to have someone to share some free time with.
Once I’m home and settled, I try calling Kaleigh before I jump into bed, but she doesn’t answer. I chalk it up to her sleeping already, but part of me wonders if she’s too scared to talk to me on the phone now too? No use in worrying; she’ll come around. We don’t ever go without talking for more than a few days, so I’m sure she’s fine.
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About the Author
Sapphire Knight is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and International Bestselling Author of Secrets, Exposed, Relinquish, Corrupted, Forsaken Control, Unwanted Sacrifices, Friction, Unexpected Forfeit, Russian Roulette, Princess, Freight Train(1st Time Love), Gangster, Undercover Intentions, Daydream, Princess, Chevelle, 3 Times the Heat, Baby, The Vendetti Empire, The Vendetti Queen, Cherry, Little White Lies, Ugly Dark Truth, Harvard Academy Elite, 2 Times the Bliss, Heathen, Bash, and Bastard. The series are called Russkaya Mafiya, Oath Keepers MC, Ground and Pound, Dirty Down South, Harvard Academy, Kings of Carnage MC VP, and Royal Bastards MC Texas.
Her books all reflect on what she loves to read herself.
Sapphire's a Texas girl who's crazy about football. She's always had a passion for writing. She originally studied psychology and feels that it's added to her drive in writing.
Sapphire is the proud mom of two handsome boys. She's been married to the love of her life, an Army veteran, for fifteen years. When she's not busy in her writing cave, she's playing with her three Doberman Pinschers. She loves to donate to help animals and watch a good action movie. www.authorsapphireknight.com and also find her on Bookbub!
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The Vendetti Coward: Salvatore Vendetti (The Vendetti Famiglia Book 4) Page 21