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“No, I’m okay and when my husband does come back, you can tell him to go straight to hell. If he thinks for one minute I’m going to sit around waiting for him, well, he can just think again. Thanks, Helena. I’m sorry we barged in like this.” I walk through the kitchen and into the café area.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Helena rushes after me.
“Home. Right after I stop at a Bottle-O.” I push through the door, ignoring all the curious glares in my direction.
“Wait! I’ll come with you. What’s a Bottle-O?”
“A liquor store. I’m day drinking, and if you’re coming with me, then so are you.”
“Okay, I’m down. Fuck those boys and always thinking we’ll just wait around for them like helpless little damsels.”
I smile at her. I’m aware that I probably look like I just escaped the looney bin right now. I’m walking through the streets of New York in a bathrobe after all. Conveniently, there is a bottle shop just a block away from my apartment, and that’s where I’m heading.
“So, what’s the plan? What’s your choice of poison?” Helena asks.
“Oh, it’s got to be tequila today.” I smile at her, although I feel like doing anything but smiling right now.
My mind is whirling, and I can’t shut it down. Where is T? Is he in trouble? Is he doing something reckless? Well, that one I can answer with a definitive yes. I’m pissed off at him, but at the same time, I just want to see his face. Mostly so I can slap it, but also because I need him to be okay. Maybe this whole mafia thing isn’t really for me. I don’t know how I can go through life, knowing he’s out there somewhere and people are looking to kill him.
We walk the rest of the way in silence. Entering the liquor store, I pick up two bottles of tequila and head to the checkout. It’s not until I get there that I realize I don’t have a wallet. I don’t have any money either. I didn’t even bring my phone. I look to Helena. “Ah, I kind of don’t have any cash on me,” I say, embarrassed. The laugh that she lets out is loud and unashamed.
“Holly, you don’t need cash. Tell him your name.” She nods to the young guy at the register, who glances between us with panic on his face.
“Uh, hi. I’m Holly.” I smile at him and look back to Helena.
“No, your full name, Holly.”
“Ah, Holly Valentino,” I say, my gaze landing on the guy again. His pupils instantly dilate and his face pales. I know I shouldn’t, but I roll my eyes at the effect that name has on people. I wouldn’t usually use it to my advantage, but today, I’m running low on options. “Look, I know this is… unconventional. But if you just let me take these two bottles, I give you my word I’ll return tomorrow and pay for them.”
“Oh, no. You can take them, Mrs. Valentino. No worries. You don’t have to pay for them.”
My eyebrows draw down. “I promise I’ll return and pay for them. Thank you.”
“Are you okay, Mrs. Valentino? Are you in some kind of trouble? Do you need help?” he asks me.
“Well, my husband’s an asshole apparently, and I’m going to wring his neck when I see him. But other than that, I’m just peachy.” I smile my sweetest smile.
The poor guy… If his eyes get any wider, I think his eyeballs might just fall right out of their sockets. “Um…” he stammers.
“It’s fine. Forget you heard that,” Helena says, pulling me out of the store while grabbing the bottles from my hands.
“You really shouldn’t tell people T is an asshole.” For a moment, I think she’s joking. I mean, she has to be. But when I look at her face, it’s stone-cold serious.
“Oh my God! You’re serious right now? And why can’t I tell people my husband’s an ass when he most definitely is one.”
“Well, I know that. You know that. But they—the people around here—they idolize him, Holly. They won’t take kindly to their king being disrespected.”
“Well, apparently, I’m the queen, so I think that means I can do and say whatever I want. Let them all hate me… come at me. I really don’t care. In fact, as soon as I get my hands on a phone, I’m calling Theo and telling him how much of an asshole I think he’s being right now.”
“Okay, come on. Let’s go drink our sorrows away.”
* * *
“So, did you have a plan on how you were going to get in?” Helena asks as we both stare at my locked apartment door.
“Obviously, I didn’t think that far ahead.” I scowl. Then I remember the landlord lives up on the top floor. “Wait, the landlord, he has to have spare keys, right?” Just as we’re about to turn around and head back to the lift, the door opens and standing inside my apartment is probably one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. I mean, I’ve never been tempted to switch teams, but bloody hell if anyone could convince me, it would be her. She’s tall, tanned, slim. With the sort of cheekbones girls spend hours contouring to achieve. And those eyes, they’re dark. But there’s something so familiar about them too.
“I was wondering how long it takes people to open a door,” she says in a thick European accent. When neither Helena or I say anything, she speaks up again. “You are Holly, right? From the description my father gave me, I’d be able to pick you out of a lineup of redheads. But he underdelivered when it came to just how beautiful you were.” She beams a perfect smile at me.
