Page 29 of Reckless

Be careful to jump to conclusions.

Seven came and went. There were no new texts or calls waiting for me on my phone. I felt so fucking stupid. Here I was thinking Callahan was different. That we had a magical night and that we were on the cusp of starting something real together. But then he’d ghosted me.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. I mean, I met the guy by giving him a lap dance and now he’d gotten the one thing he was after. And I gave it to him.

The knife in my hand flew, sinking into the wall right on the picture of Carmine Underwood I’d tacked up there this morning. I shouldn’t have let myself become distracted, no matter how cute he was and how good he made me feel, no guy was more important than my sister.

My phone rang and I lunged for it. I swear to fuck if it was Callahan with some stupid explanation as to why he’d disappeared, then I didn’t want to hear it. But it wasn’t Callahan. It was Marco.

“Hey, babayyy. I’m coming back home tonight. Red eye. You said you have something for me to look at?” Marco’s voice sounded like he was in a can. All distorted and far away.

“Yeah. I can bring it by tomorrow morning.”

“Fine. Fine. But you better make it worth my while. Gotta go, love.”

He hung up and I smiled.

Callahan might have fucked me over and pissed me off, but with Marco coming home, I didn’t care. Okay, that was a lie. I cared, but now I had something to be excited about.

Marco examining the flash drive could lead me right to where they’d taken my sister. And then I could finally bring her home like I promised. I just had to wait until morning.

Marco sat with his legs spread wide and forehead planted firmly on the table. His salt and pepper hair was cut short, and he looked even more tan than the last time I saw him. “You better have brought me the good coffee.”

Silently, I slid him the tallest cup known to man that was filled to the brim with a pumpkin spice latte, extra caramel, a dash of cinnamon on top and of course whipped cream on top. Just the way his bougie ass liked it. Personally, it was far too sweet for my taste, but Marco loved it. And I’d do just about anything for Marco, even if that meant being the first in line at Café Cristobal at the butt crack of dawn to obtain his favorite drink.

“Oh, thank fuck,” he exclaimed, sitting up and placing both hands around the hot, steaming cup like it contained the answers to life itself. Who knows, maybe it did. Maybe all of life’s problems lay at the bottom of a pumpkin spice latte, and I’d never be the wiser because I didn’t drink them. “Now tell me about this man you’ve been seeing while I find the will to live.” He took a long sip of his coffee, eyes closed and head tilted back as I scoffed at him.

“Who told you?”

His eyebrows rose. “Who do you think?”

Helena. That little shit. “There’s nothing to tell. Just some guy I met at the club. It’s over now.”

Marco fixed me with the most shut the fuck up stare he could muster. “I call bullshit. I’ve known you a long time, but don’t actually say how many years it’s been because it will make me feel old. But it’s been a long ass time. And in all those years, I’ve never seen you go on a date with a guy. Casually fucking? Yes. But dating? Stella, lie to yourself all you want, but we both know this is huge.”

“Well, he didn’t show up for our date last night, so it’s not worth discussing anymore. “Plopping into the seat next to him, I heaved out a loud sigh. “Now I just need to figure out how to un-catch these feelings.”

Marco’s laugh rumbled throughout his entire chest, making his bony shoulders shake. “That, my dear, is the million-dollar question. I’m still trying to figure out how to not think about Chaz.”

“Is he the one from Florida or the one from college?”

He shrieked. “Florida. We don’t talk about the one from college.” His entire body shivered like the very idea offended him on a cellular level.

“Got it. Now tell me you can work your magic on this flash drive?” I asked, removing it from my pocket with two fingers.

He snatched it from me, turning it over in his hands. “Of fucking course, I can. You’re lucky you caught me in such a good mood.”

“No. I’m lucky I know how to buy my way into a good mood with you,” I said with a wink.

“Too true. Now let me work my magic.”

It took far longer than I thought. He pushed keys and mumbled curse words under his breath, clicking things that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend because he was flicking between pages so freaking fast, my eyes barely had time to scan it before he was onto the next one.

“How do you not get a headache looking at that?” I asked, feeling my eyes crossing.

“Who says I don’t,” he quipped, typing something quickly without taking his eyes off the screen. “What exactly are we looking for with this though? There’s a shit ton of encryption on these files.”

“Anything pertaining to Andi.”