Page 74 of Fallen Hero

Amir smiled with a longing in his eyes that sent a shiver up my spine.

She’d pushed, and now the fucker was thinking about taking up the challenge of owning what was . . . mine.

Fuck that.

I stepped behind Calista’s chair, managed to pull it away from the table without yanking the damn thing with her ass still in out across the terrace, and helped her stand.

“Ma’am.” I grunted the syllable and gestured toward the doors.

“Thank you again, Amir. See you soon.”

With my hand on Calli’s lower back, I propelled her forward.

“On the move,” Fallon told Pete.

“Copy.”

We were halfway through the restaurant, passing the packed bar, when Calista’s step faltered. My hand slipped around her waist to stop her from tripping. She made no acknowledgment of her stumble or of her being pressed to my side. Her gaze was fastened to something or someone at the bar.

I scanned, looking for the source of her discomfort. My eyes snagged on a man in an expensive suit, mid-forties, light hair, built but not bulky, too far away to see his eye color but not miss the way he was sizing up Calista.

“Who is that?”

She jolted out of her stupor, turned her body to give the man her back, kept her head high, and lied through her fucking teeth. “No one. Let’s go.”

That wasn’t no one.

No one wouldn’t have made her stop in her tracks.

No one wouldn’t have made her look like she’d seen a ghost.

I waited until Fallon fell into step next to us, flanking Calli, and we were waiting for the elevator before I tried again. “Who was that?”

“I told you, no one.”

“Damn, woman, you served that asshole some serious attitude,” Fallon softly praised. “I’m impressed.”

“Thanks,” she returned on a distracted mumble.

The elevator ride was silent. As was the walk through the lobby. Fallon opened the back door to the blacked-out Wagoneer. When Calista was safely inside and the door was shut, I looked at Fallon and told him, “I want the security footage of the bar.”

“Why?”

“Someone spooked Calli. I want a name.”

“Did you see him?”

“Yeah. You get the footage, I’ll point him out. Though when you see it, you won’t miss it. The guy was staring at her, and not because she’s gorgeous and he was looking to get laid. Like he knew her and was unhappy she was with me.”

“An ex?”

Fuck.

“Maybe.”

Fallon blew out a breath. “Or, she’s into you, and he’s an ex, and she doesn’t want to talk about him to you.”

I could buy that, maybe.