Their gazes lock on me like twin laser beams.
I shake my head, unsure how to even explain it. Back at my place, we’d made love, but it had been so different from the night before. He was restraining himself, but his actions were rougher than usual, as if he were trying to exorcise some demon. And not just what Marchand had said to him. It was as if there was something deeper, darker, and he wouldn’t tell me what it was. As if something inside him was breaking.
Then, before he left, he took me hard, and held me tight, as if he was afraid of losing me.
“Sera?”
Lila brings me back to the present. No longer wanting to talk about it, I shake my head and settle for, “He’s a lot.“
Neither of them speaks for a beat.
“You okay?” Tasha asks.
The pizza arrives, mercifully interrupting the heavy moment. Lila squeals when she sees the truffle oil shimmer.
“You splurged on this?” She lifts her glass. “Here’s to actual food and no more five-dollar wine from now on!”
I grin. “I checked my balance. Payday’s pending. I’m living a little.”
“Damn straight.” She clinks my glass.
Tasha eyes me. “You settling into the new place? Everything okay there?
Of course she’d be curious. She was the one who found my apartment for me. “I love it. It’s mine. I have working AC. I sleep. I don’t wake up sweaty and cursing the universe. It’s—” I sigh. “It’s a place I can relax. And the coffee maker? Oh my God.”
“You like it?”
“I had to have Xavier show me how to work it. But I may never grab a cup from a shop again. I’m now officially spoiled.”
“You deserve all of that,” Lila says. “And you should have had it all along.”
Another dig at Xavier, despite the way he’d pitched in and taken her to dinner. My friend is loyal, no doubt. And even though she’s no longer overtly hostile, I’m not sure she’ll ever totally forgive him.
We eat, we talk, we laugh too loud. By the time the check comes, I’m full and pink-cheeked and more relaxed than I’ve been in days.
We stand to leave, and Lila lingers behind, catching my elbow as Tasha heads for the sidewalk.
“You know I love you,” she starts, her voice low.
“Always a terrifying way to begin.”
She smiles, then sobers. “Just…be careful. He’s still Blackheart. You forget that when he’s soft-spoken and shirtless and dazzling you with limos and fancy dinners.”
That’s not what’s happening here. The wine buzz turns bittersweet. So why can’t I wave off her warning and forget it?
Instead her words echo in my mind, getting louder each time they repeat.
She hugs me. “Call me. Anytime. I’ll be there for you.”
I say thanks because it’s expected, then head to my car. As I’m sliding behind the wheel, my phone lights up.
Xavier.
My heart does a slow, traitorous somersault.
He’s calling outside of work hours, which means everything is fine. It’s stress and lack of sleep that’s making me think that he’s put some distance between us.
His voice is velvet in my ear. “Are you home safe?”
