Call me crazy, but I hadn’t gone a single place in my life that I didn’t get lost on the way. It was kind of how my whole life had turned out. I knew I was a mess, but I also knew that I had a great personality to make up for it. Well, that’s what my mom always said, and mother’s never lied.
I pulled up to the gates of Reed Security and smiled at the guard. “Hi, I’m here to see Anthony.”
“Anthony?”
“Yeah, Anthony Russo.”
Understanding lit his face and he grinned, but his look was more like he was laughing at me than anything.
“Tony. Yeah, he’s not here right now, but I can take your name and let him know that you stopped by.”
“Oh, well, I brought him his phone and personal items that he left with me last night, and I made him lunch. He ran out in a rush this morning and I didn’t want him to be hungry.”
He peered past me into the car, so I lifted the container for him to see. “You brought him lunch?”
“Well, yeah.”
He chuckled and moved back into the gatehouse. I saw him on the phone with someone and then the gates started to open. “There’ll be someone waiting for you.”
“Okay,” I said cheerily. Aside from the feeling that he was laughing at me, the guard was very nice. I kind of expected hardened criminals to be standing guard at the door or something. I pulled into a parking spot and pulled out the bag of clothes, the phone, and the food that I had made, then slammed the door on my old 1993 Chevy Cavalier. Yeah, it was old, but I took it into the dealer every three thousand miles as suggested, and I always followed all their instructions to a T, even when the price was outrageous. I mean, they knew what they were talking about, so I put my faith in them that they would keep my baby running as long as they could.
“You’re here to see Tony?”
“Is that what everyone calls him?” I asked with a smile. “I thought his name was Anthony.”
“He goes by Tony around here,” the man said. “But I’d love to see you call him Anthony.” The man laughed lightly and stepped forward, taking one of the bags from me. “I’m Sebastian, but people call me Cap. I’m the owner of Reed Security.”
“Oh, well, it’s very nice to meet Tony’s boss. I’m Molly. I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of you.”
“You will?” he asked curiously.
“Well, I mean, I’m Tony’s girlfriend, so I would assume that I’ll see you from time to time.”
“His…girlfriend.”
“Yep,” I said brightly.
He grinned and shook his head, motioning for me to follow. “Come on. I’ll show you where you can put that stuff.”
I followed him through the dark and scary parking garage to an elevator that had so much security that I was sure I would never leave if I entered. When I didn’t get on the elevator right away, Sebastian waved me on.
“I promise, we don’t bite. It’s all precautionary.”
“That’s what he said,” I retorted, garnering a laugh from the man.
“This is a lot of security. Do you have some dangerous clients?”
“Sometimes.”
“That’s very vague of you. I’ll have to pry it out of Anthony- I mean, Tony- tonight.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t talk about it.”
“Oh, right. Secret work and confidentiality and all that.”
“Something like that.”
“I’m guessing you have a lot of super secret clients and dangerous jobs that the papers would just love to get the inside scoop on.”
“You have no idea,” he muttered under his breath.
I nodded as the elevator doors opened and stepped out into a very gorgeous lobby. It was obviously decorated by a woman. No man would put that much detail into matching the curtains to the pillows and the walls.
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” I said. “I like how you’ve brought the stone together with the blue accents. It’s very masculine.”
“Thanks.” He looked around, almost as if he was seeing if for the first time. “Anyway, you can bring his stuff in here. What did he leave behind?”
“Oh, some of his clothes and his phone. I figured that he might want it. I would have washed his stuff first, but I didn’t have time before my shift this morning.”
“Where do you work?”
“The Pub.”
He grinned. “I love The Pub. Do you know Brooke?”
“Yeah, she’s pretty cool, but I didn’t get to work the same shift as her very often. And then she dropped off the face of the earth. I haven’t seen her since.”
“She’s with Rocco, one of the other guys that works here.”
“That’s cool. Does she live here now?”
“She’s…yeah, she lives with Rocco.”
“Well, maybe I’ll see her sometime when I come by.”
His eyes danced with laughter, but his face remained neutral. “Not for another six months.”
That was a strange thing to say, but I shrugged and hefted the lunch I brought for Tony on the table. “Since Tony was in a rush, I made him some lunch. I didn’t know what he usually does for lunch, so I made him some chicken and potatoes. I figured he needed the meat, right?”
“Sure,” Sebastian grinned. He seemed to do that a lot, but the same as with the security guard, I kind of felt like he was laughing at me. Of course, a lot of people laughed at me, so maybe I was reading too much into it.
“Well, do you know what time Tony will be back?”
“Um…probably not for a few more hours, but I can tell him that you stopped by.”
“Thanks. That’s very nice of you.” I turned back to leave, but stopped when I felt him following me. I turned and looked at him, but he just smiled. I smiled back and then started walking for the elevators again, but he was still following me. “Um…did you need something else?”
“No, but you can’t get out of the building unless I take you down. Security protocols and all.”
“Ah, duh,” I laughed, slapping myself on the forehead. “Okay, well, let’s go then.”
We stepped onto the elevator and Sebastian released a small chuckle.
“Is something funny?”
“No, it’s just…he’s gonna have his hands full with you.”
I frowned, not sure how to take that, but when he caught the look on my face, he quickly clarified.
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re very nice. He just isn’t exactly in the right place right now.”
I nodded. “I know.” He looked at me curiously, so I leaned in and whispered, “It’s written all over his face. But that’s why I’m here. It was meant to be, or something.”
“Well, I’m sure Tony will see that.”
I stepped off the elevator and headed for my car, but then remembered that Tony didn’t have my number yet. “Oh,” I yelled, turning around to catch Sebastian. “Can you let Tony know that dinner’s at six?”
“Sure thing.”
I smiled as I made my way to my car. His boss was really nice, and I was looking forward to getting to know the rest of them. I had this feeling when I met Tony last night that this was the start of something great. After meeting his boss, I knew that everything was smooth sailing from here on out.
CHAPTER FOUR
Tony
“You fucker,” I griped at Storm as he made me haul all the gear back through the woods to the SUV. It was my punishment for making us late. We not only lost the battle, we were decimated. My feet were killing me, I had a limp from that stupid cat, and I had so much fucking paint on me that I would need at least an hour in the shower to scrub it all off.
“I guess that’s what you get for showing up late.”
“I don’t have my phone, fucker. It’s not like I ignored the text. If anything, I should be asking why you didn’t send out a fucking search party for me. I thought you cared.”
“Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. Stop being a baby. Maybe this will teach you not to go out and get drunk ev
ery night.”
“I swear, I don’t remember even drinking that much. Maybe I was drugged.”
Coop snorted. “For what reason?”
“So someone could get in my pants.”
Storm barked out a laugh and slapped me on the back. “Tacos, no one would need to drug you to get you into bed. You’ve been out fucking anything that moves for weeks.”
I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t been that bad. Sure, I had been sleeping with more women than usual, but I was a single guy. There was nothing wrong with me sleeping with a different woman every night if that’s what I wanted.
“Have you heard from Delaney’s mom recently?” Coop asked. That put a damper on my already sour mood.
“Yeah, she calls a lot.”
“Have you seen her since the funeral?”
“No. What the fuck would I say to her?”
“She just wants to talk about Delaney with her boyfriend,” Storm said, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.
“Well, maybe I don’t want to talk with her. I shouldn’t be obligated to go talk to my dead girlfriend’s mother. It’s not like we even dated for that long.”
“Dude,” Coop scoffed. “She just lost her daughter. Show some fucking compassion.”
I knew they had a point, but I also knew that if I let Delaney’s mother continue like this, it would only hurt her more. It wasn’t fair to either of us.
“So, I’m supposed to let her think that I loved her and that we were going to run off and get married?”
“You cared about her, didn’t you?” Coop asked.
“Well, sure, but that-”
“So, why can’t you just talk to her about the times you spent with Delaney? Make her think that her daughter was about to marry some great guy.”
Because all Delaney and I ever did was fuck. There was no great relationship between us, and we most definitely were not on the way to marriage. But I couldn’t say that. Coop was still too fucked up over Becky, so he wasn’t thinking rationally about anything. And everyone else just looked at me like I was a dick if I said anything close to how I was really feeling.
“It’s like having the mother-in-law, but not the daughter to fuck,” Storm said.
“Seriously, you two are fucked up,” Coop growled. “She just fucking died.”
“She didn’t just die. It’s been two months. I fucked her for less time than that.”
We pulled into Reed Security and I got out of the SUV, pissed that I was still having to deal with this shit. I didn’t bother to help them unload the SUV, but since they were following me inside, I assumed they would just send me out to do it later. And honestly, I didn’t give a fuck. I just felt nothing right now. They could send me on the shittiest jobs and beat the shit out of me in the ring, and I didn’t care. It was nothing like the internal beating I was giving myself every fucking day for not having protected Delaney. Whether she was my girlfriend or not, I still should have walked in that fucking house with her.
There was a gathering in the conference room, the guys all laughing and jeering. It was probably over something stupid that one of them had done with their wives. Maybe Cap had done something. Maggie was due any day now, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it had something to do with that.
“What’s going on?” I asked, tossing my gear down on the floor.
Everyone in the room turned to me, laughter etched on their faces. For a moment, I saw hesitation in their eyes, like they were going to turn to stone if I said the wrong thing. Then Sinner narrowed his gaze in on me and walked over, fingering the ruffle on the shirt I wore that stuck out of the shoulder of my vest.
“Whatcha wearing?”
I gritted my teeth. “A shirt.”
“Yeah, but…this has a ruffle.” Sinner looked up at me and then pulled his lips between his teeth, trying to hold back a laugh. “Show us your shirt.”
“No.”
“Aww, come on,” Storm laughed. “We gotta see it.”
“What is it?” Sinner asked excitedly.
“It’s a-”
I slapped Storm across the chest, but the fucker kept going.
“It’s a kitten shirt.”
Sinner burst out laughing, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Oh, God. I gotta see this.”
He reached forward and started tearing at the vest, ripping it from my body no matter how much I tried to hold on. When he finally yanked it away from me, I was left standing in a white crop shirt with fucking ruffles at the shoulders and a glittery kitten on the front. I could have gotten fucking angry for being made a laughing stock, but I was way too fucking happy that they were all mocking me instead of acting like I was about to break. So, I went with it.
“It’s not really your color,” Chris said, holding back a smile. “But you’ve got brass balls to wear something like that at work.”
“Where’d you get it?” Jackson asked. “Was it from the same lady friend that brought you lunch?”
“What are you talking about?”
They all moved aside to reveal a container sitting on the table with what appeared to be food inside. Cap was sitting at the other end of the table, his fingers rubbing together as he grinned at me. “I met your girlfriend today.”
The whole room fell silent, waiting on what Cap or I would say next.
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“That’s not what she said when she showed up here today. She brought you back some of your things. I’m guessing your shirt was one of them, and your boxers.” His eyes flicked down to my crotch and then back up to me. “Hope you didn’t get hit in the sack today.”
“Not that boxers would have helped that,” I retorted. “What’s your point?”
“She also brought back your phone.”
Crap, I hadn’t even thought that I might have left it at her apartment.
“And she brought you lunch. She said that you might be hungry. Wasn’t that sweet of her?” He shoved the container from where it sat on the table to the edge. “Don’t let it go to waste.”
“I’m not eating that.”
“Why not? She prepared it for you this morning. The least you could do is eat it. Look, she even brought you crescent rolls to go with it.”
I hesitated. If I ate it, that was like admitting that I was her boyfriend or something. And I most definitely was not her boyfriend. I didn’t even know who she was.
“If Tacoman’s not gonna eat it, then I will,” Chris said, snatching the container off the table.
“I call dibs on the rolls,” Jackson said, snatching the bag. I glared at them. Whether she was mine or not, that was still my food. But I just stood there, because that would be giving in to them, and I would not do that.
Chris took his first bite and then spit it back out. He stabbed at the dish and then grimaced. “I don’t think she actually cooked it. Did it come with instructions?”
Cap dug through the bag, but came up empty. “I don’t see any.”
“Ugh,” Jackson grimaced and spit out the roll. “The insides aren’t cooked. Do you think she’s trying to kill you?”
“Why would she try and kill me?”
“You ran out on her,” Cap suggested.
“Well, did she seem pissed when she showed up?”
“No, she seemed very…”
“Very what?” I asked in irritation.
“Very convinced that the two of you were together.”
I groaned and dropped my head back to stare at the ceiling. I could feel that headache coming back strong.
“If she’s convinced that you’re together, then she wasn’t trying to kill you,” Chris said. “But I’m not sure what the fuck you call this. It’s not food. This is fucking terrible. It’s like she put the whole fucking salt shaker in here. And the potatoes aren’t cooked. She literally just cubed potatoes and stuck them in a container.”
“Figures,” I muttered. Why couldn’t I get the woman that was a great cook? Or a woman that was so amazing in bed th
at she was unforgettable?
“Who is this woman?” Jackson asked.
“Fuck, I don’t know,” I groaned. “There was a bar and apparently a lot of alcohol.”
“Didn’t you talk to her this morning?” Chris asked. I shook my head. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You don’t run out on a woman after you fuck her.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, you shouldn’t,” he chastised. “It’s just plain rude. Besides, she cooked you lunch and everything.”
“You said it wasn’t cooked.”
“Doesn’t matter. She still went to the effort of making it and bringing it in to you. Now you have to go thank her.”
I grimaced. “I don’t actually know where she lives.”
“How can that be?” Storm asked. “You said you fled her place this morning. You were just fucking there.”
“Well, yeah, but I was more focused on getting out of there than paying attention to where she actually lived.” The room filled with groans. Fuck that. I was the one in the right here. I was the one that just barely escaped with my life. I might have had to eat that shit if I had stayed. “Hey, you didn’t see that place. I was lucky to get out alive.”
“You got out because you didn’t remember anything and you didn’t want to have to do the awkward morning after,” Coop corrected.
“That may be true, but if you had seen her apartment, you would have run for your life too.”
“You have to at least call her,” Chris said. “You can’t just ignore her.”
“I don’t even know her name, let alone know her number.”
“It’s Molly,” Cap grinned, walking around the table to stand in front. “And I’m sure if you give us the approximate location of her apartment, Rob can find the rest. You should take the rest of the day off, make yourself presentable, and then go thank your woman properly.”
“She’s not my woman,” I ground out. “She’s just a woman I met in a bar.”
“Sure,” Cap nodded, leaning back on his heels with a huge fucking smirk on his face.
“What the fuck are you grinning at?”
“Nothing. It’s just…I’m not so sure this one’s going to be easy to lose. Like I said, she thinks she’s your girlfriend.”
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