Chapter 96Katie’s POVThey all have swift reactions consisting of smooth, rehearsed moves, and I don’t have time to figure out what they mean when my eyes slide to the stranger’s face.His gaze meets mine with a hint of curiosity and deliberate purpose.His focus is sharp while his eyes glint with questions, and he collects his own answers from how I look and how the man accompanying me behaves.Moving his gaze from Beau Anthony to me with a concerned, steady expression on his face, he probably notices the invisible tendrils of tension flailing around us.I use the brief reprieve to step toward him, and the suits behind him rustle once again with threatening impatience when he repeats his clipped gesture, and they draw still.Their shoulders are broad like his, and their eyes are divorced from any human compassion––not that the man in front of me has any, although he seems more concerned with what is going on while they seem blind at everything except his quick commands.“There you a
Chapter 97Katie’s POV“Do you want to have my people escort you out of the building?” he asks when Beau swings his eyes back to us, and the men behind my new friend become restless again.Beau raises his hand.“I’m gone.”“Keep it that way,” my friend says in a tone that fits him perfectly as if he’s born to bark orders that people obey.Beau does just that, although he’s procrastinating, hoping to hear the rest of my conversation with this man who glances at him one last time before breaking away from me and reaching inside his jacket.“I said out,” he snaps, and Beau vanishes like he’s never been here and the door has never closed so quickly behind him.Smiling, satisfied, the man turns to me.It was a joke for him––I can see that––and I’m glad he thinks it was funny.I wonder how I’ll feel when that motherfucker comes back, swinging at me and seething with fury while seeking revenge.It’s only us in the corridor when the door to the hotel room opens wide, and I see his men.They w
Chapter 98Katie’s POVThe elevator doors slide open before he takes my hand and leads me out.I was right.His grip on me is not casual, limp, hesitant, or optional. And the men who’ve moved impatiently upstairs are not gone. They follow us from a close distance.And they were waiting for us when we exited the elevator.I look around, trying to spot Beau.There is no trace of him.Good.He’s probably waiting for me where I parked my car.Oh, the thought of having to go there and face him, fend for myself, and survive another day makes me shake with fury.Speaking of that,“Hey…” I say as we move toward the concierge desk. “I need to talk to that girl,” I add, glancing at Cephus. “I had an appointment with someone here today and missed it. I need to reschedule it.”He listens to me intently, his head slightly tilted toward me, his eyes scanning the area around us and the space in front of the hotel.“Appointment?” he murmurs.“Yes.”It sounds like he’s questioning the truthfulness of
Chapter 99Katie’s POVThe afternoon light drips through the sheets of glass, highlighting the impressive view.The more we walk away from the concierge, the fewer people we encounter.And it’s mostly staff members. People who ensure everything looks sparkling clean and is neatly organized.He shows me to a large room that looks like an event room.I’ve never been in one of those.My stomach clenches as a different thought swirl in my head, and Tina comes to mind.I fear these flashbacks.I’m not superstitious, but they’re never good.Sweat lines my palm as I feel my way around my purse.“Is everything okay?” he asks, swiftly noticing that I struggle.“Yes.”He pulls the chair out for me, flicking his chin toward my purse.“What’s in your bag?” he asks before signaling the servers to bring the food.The man multitasks with ease.“Open it up,” he says as I fail to answer. “Toss the contents on the table,” he continues, and I look at him a bit baffled before moving my focus to the prist
Chapter 100Cephus’ POVThe last time I saw a girl like Katie, I was seventeen and spent the summer in Sicily.I didn’t want to go to Italy that summer.Like every other kid I’d known, I wanted to spend the summer with my friends in New York. My father insisted, and my mother refused to side with me on that one.They were both enthralled with the idea of visiting our extended family.Me? Not so much.I knew little about Italy. I spoke Italian because my parents had taught me, and I knew my cousins, aunts, and uncles, but I wasn’t born there.I was born in New York. Long Island, to be exact.That summer, I didn’t know that two years into the future, I’d lose my father and shortly after, my mother.My father was a decade older, and his health could’ve been better.My mother died of a broken heart after his passing, which I never thought would be possible, but it was.So that particular summer, my father and I fought a lot.Who wanted to spend all that time over there?Not me, anyway.I
Chapter 101Cephus’ POVShe was a girl, and I was a boy, and all I wanted was to talk to her. I just wanted to hear some words coming out of her beautiful mouth and maybe, if I was lucky, get a smile.I never dreamed of getting more than that. I had imagined her voice was soft and quiet.She glanced at me several times while I was working hard at getting noticed.And finally, while on a break, I realized she looked at me. Our eyes had met for the first time, and I was over the moon.She had a red scarf around her neck that day, her dark hair draped over her shoulders.She pulled it all back into a ponytail.Several silky strands of hair had broken free and slipped away, giving her a hard time, and that’s when I headed to her and asked her if she needed help.Sitting on a woven basket, she looked at me, and I instantly puffed out my chest and pulled my shoulders back, boastfully hinting at my athletic shape.A few months earlier, I started to get that nice V-shaped torso the girls went
Chapter 102Cephus’ POVWe returned to the olive orchard and sat on a blanket under a tree.I could swear it was the same blanket. It looked the same, anyway.And then she started to talk and tell me about her family, how they’d lost her father and struggled to work the land and support themselves.And I heard every word coming out of her mouth, yet I couldn’t make sense of anything she was saying.I was so affected by her presence.I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she finally came out of her shell and showed me that she liked me as much as I liked her.We became friends and were confined to each other.And I immediately felt like she’d have my back if something bad happened, and my mind ran away with that idea.And for the first time ever, I imagined someone like her to have a family of my own one day.Have a wife and children.And it quickly dawned on me how impossible that was.Like her hair being tamed, sitting nicely in her ponytail, it was simply impossible.I had a family and
Chapter 103Cephus’ POVLater, people said she was kidnapped and eventually trafficked anyway.Others said she’d been executed with her husband after he got into a bad deal with some nasty people.Whatever it was, she was gone.My cousin directed me to the cemetery, where fresh flowers sat on her grave, and her picture was encased in the tombstone.My heart stopped when I saw her.She was even more beautiful than I remembered her.Her long, unruly hair framed her face, and her lips were curved into a soft smile. Like she was smiling at me.As if she knew I’d be there one day, looking at her and recollecting those hours I’d spent with her.I had a hard time believing she was dead.I had a hard time convincing myself I was truly looking at her burial place.It was insane. Her story was insane.And I sat there and tried to understand why life would go so bad so fast.How that summer that seemed like any other summer would be the last good thing before tragedy struck.Only a few years bac