Page 84 of The Killer Card

Her, “No,” still cracks through my chest like a gunshot, bowing my head between my shoulders.

“I have to go, Graham.” Her fingers rake through my hair until she can gather enough to yank my head back, forcing me to look up at her. “I have to.”

“You don’t.” I shake my head. “You could stay. You could go to law school here. You could choose to stay—”

“No, I can’t.”

“Then take me with you—”

“No, Graham.” Her tone is final, her eyes blue as ice. “We had our fun, but it was never meant to last forever. You have to understand that.”

“I love you, Naomi—”

“And I didn’t ask for that.”

She steps far enough away that I’m forced to release her, my hands hitting my knees as my eyes once again find the floor. Her words register, ringing hollow somewhere in my chest that was emptied long ago.

“You need to leave, Graham…”

My jaw locks, but I rigidly rise to my feet. When I look at her again, she’s standing with the office door open, her eyes fixed somewhere over my shoulder. As if she could ever hide the tremble of her lip from me. As if I don’t see the way she’s blinking back tears. Because Naomi Mychal will never admit it, but she does care about me. It may not be love, she may not have fallen as hard for me as I did for her, but there is something.

“Naomi—”

“My daughter asked you to leave, Mr. Rosales.” Suddenly the senator is there on the other side of the door, having clearly listened as I spilled my heart out to his daughter and she unceremoniously squashed it like a bug. “Nathan, please show our guest out.”

Nathan Mychal gives me a pitying look as he comes to stand beside his father, gesturing for me to exit the office. I throw Naomi one last look before I do as they say, not wanting to cause any more trouble here than I’m worth.

I pause only briefly enough to whisper to her, “Please call me if you ever need anything. Anything, mi reina, and I’ll be on a plane in minutes.”

She knows exactly what I’m eluding to- the bottles, the way her hands are currently shaking at her sides- but she lifts her chin defiantly anyway. “I can take care of myself.” She nods to the hall. “Goodbye, Graham.”

I don’t say goodbye. I refuse to say goodbye. But I do leave, following Nathan to the front door where he retrieves his umbrella. I allow myself one last look at her standing with her father’s arm around her shoulders before following her brother from their home.

“I did try to warn you,” Nathan mutters, our shoes crunching over the wet gravel. “Heart of stone, that one.”

I don’t disagree with him. I knew who Naomi was when we met. I’ve known exactly who she is for months. It didn’t make falling for her any less inevitable.

“Good to meet you, man,” he pats my shoulder. “Maybe I’ll see you at the club some time.”

“Yeah…” I mutter, unlocking the car with a tap of my knuckle to the handle. The gravel crunches again as he turns to leave. “Nathan,” I say before I can think better of it, rain sluicing down my cheeks.

Her brother turns back.

“Keep an eye on the liquor cabinet,” I warn him. “Maybe check a few. I think you’ll find more often than not that the vodka really is just voda.”

He blinks, glancing back at the house over his shoulder as he slowly processes what I’m hinting at, but I don’t linger. I climb into my truck, leaving the only thing I ever wanted for my future to either self-destruct or forget me entirely. Either way, I’ll remain just a chapter in her life, while she will forever be my entire plotline.

2 Years Ago

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Naomi

"Penelope Violet Hastings. Quieres casarte conmigo?”

"Sí, Eli. A thousand times, sí!”

And just like that my best friend is engaged. The rock on her finger might be the biggest I’ve ever seen for one that still manages to look so vintage. A huge ruby carved into the shape of a poppy flower set into a rose gold band. It screams Nelly in taste, screams Elias just a little louder in money. For a man who acts so humble, he’s not afraid to throw a few thousand around, especially when it’s for her.