AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Got some new kit. You should come see it some time. Track where a bear shits in the woods.”
“Take a rain check on that. Got stuff to do tonight.”
“Here you go. Place called The Shamrock. Irish bar about two blocks from where you are.”
“Moving?”
“Been in the same spot for the last hour. I’ll message you the details.”
“Thanks, Carlo. Appreciate it.”
“Hey, you pay me enough. No need for thanks.”
I hang up and the message is already waiting for me. The bar is walking distance from here.
So, she’s gone out for the night when I told her to stay here. She’s disobeyed me. That’s two things I need to discipline her for when I see her. Not that I’m going to do it straightaway. First, I’m going to remind her what she’s trying to walk away from. Once I’ve got her hooked, that’s when I’ll talk about rectifying her behavior.
The wedding will be tomorrow. I need to make sure she understands this is happening, no matter what she tries to pull tonight.
I head out of the apartment and make my way to Paddy’s Pub. The whole way there, all I can think about is how fucked she’s about to be, in more ways than one.
Thirty-One
Ophelia
When he walks in, my first thought isn’t that this means he’s willing to commit. I take one look at him and wonder who the hell hurt him like this.
One eye is swollen and there’s a still healing cut above it. His jaw has clearly taken a few knocks and there are dark marks on his knuckles that are either bruises or grazes.
I’m sitting on my own. Cathy’s in the bathroom. The bottle of Merlot we’ve made our way through is still pulsing through my veins.
I want to be angry with him, tell him this is exactly the kind of stalking behavior that pissed me off. But I can’t do that. Because, hard as it is to admit, I do find this romantic.
He’s come all this way to find me. He’s done whatever his type of person does to track me down. Not only that, but it suggests Cathy was right. He does want more than just a month together. Now all I’ve got to do is get him to confirm that.
And find out who hurt him this much.
He walks straight toward me, people getting out of his way. He bumps into one guy, spilling his drink. The guy looks furious, turns to confront him about it. Then he takes one look into Vincenzo’s eyes and simply turns away like nothing happened, all the color draining from his face.
When Vincenzo reaches me, he takes Cathy’s seat, placing both hands on the table in front of him. “You and me are going to have a little talk.”
“Are we now?” I ask, trying to keep my expression neutral. “What about? Why you look like you’ve been thrown down the side of a mountain?”
He touches the swollen spot by his eye. “The men I spoke with are in far worse condition than me.”
“Am I supposed to find that comforting?”
His voice darkens. “You are supposed to be at home waiting for me to arrive. Instead, I find you out drinking. What does that say about you?”
“That I don’t like being told what to do?”
He leans across the table toward me. “On the contrary, I think you want to be told what to do by me. I think you want me to punish you for your bad behavior and if you’re not out the front of this bar in sixty seconds, I’ll punish you in front of all these people.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I say, hoping my voice sounds strong. It comes out as a squeak, my own arousal betraying my efforts to be shocked by what he’s saying.
“Try me, Ophelia. See where that gets you. The clock is ticking and when it stops, your bare ass will be on display for this entire bar to see, my hand slapping down on you while you scream. They will all see that you belong to me, that I punish you as I see fit, that you are behaving very badly this evening. Forty seconds, Ophelia. What’s it to be?”
“I can’t just get up and leave. Cathy’s in the bathroom. She’ll wonder where I’ve gone.”
