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A surprised chuckle bubbled up. “Pussy?”
“He won’t pull up his big boy pants and make you his. He’d rather be all alone to spare himself any possible pain. We’reallat risk of being hurt when we enter relationships. Okay, maybe we don’t have to worry that the person we care for might be killed by our enemies, but we do have to live with the fear of losing them. Still, we push past it. He won’t. So. Yeah. Total pussy.”
Smiling, I said, “I love you, Briar.” I ate my handful of popcorn. “You’re too ace for words.”
“Oh, I know. And I love you, too. Which is why I pressed you so hard about coming out tonight, but I understand why you’re not up for it. I just want to note that I genuinely don’t think he’ll move on as quickly as you believe.”
“Ever the optimist.”
She snickered. “It’s not mere optimism, oh cynical one. Call it gut instinct.”
“Call it ‘mistaken.’” I bit my lip. “Do me a favor. If you see him get himself a new club-buddy, tell me. I don’t need to hear who she is or what they did together or anything. I’d just rather know if he snaps up a woman.”
“All right,” said Briar, a reluctant note to her voice. “If you’resureyou want to know.”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay, I’ll be sure to—Christ, I’m running late. Only just noticed the time. I have to go now so I can get ready for tonight. I won’t push you to go back to the Vault until you’re ready, but consider that we don’t have to go to the basement. We could hit the main floor or maybe catch a burlesque show.”
A weak smile tugged at one corner of my mouth. “I’d like that. Not tonight, though.”
“Not tonight. But soon.”
“Soon.” After rounding up the conversation, I tapped my screen with my thumb to end the call. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tossed my cell on the bed.
I adored Briar. I truly did. But I wished the woman hadn’t called, because I’d been doing a good job of not thinking about Danton as I’d vegged out in front of the TV. Now, however, he was on my mind once more.
So I did what I always did when he popped into my thoughts. I distracted myself.
I grabbed the remote control, pressed ‘play,’ and then settled in to watch the rest of the movie on the streaming service. Before long, all the popcorn was gone and my wine glass needed topping up. Again.
I generally didn’t drink more than two glasses a night. But I generally didn’t have a rock of hurt lodged in my stomach, so …
My glass in hand, I padded to the kitchen on bare feet. I placed it on the counter, retrieved the bottle of red from the wine rack, and then poured a healthy amount into my glass.
My brows drew together as a knock came at the door. The only visits I tended to get were from my friends. All were currently getting ready for their girls’ night out. Fuck, if this was Jorge I wasnotgoing to be happy.
Abandoning the glass and bottle, I walked through the apartment and over to the front door. Looking through the peephole, I felt my frown smooth away as I saw the building’s concierge on the opposite side of the door. Opening it, I smiled. “Hi, Pierce.”
“Good evening, Miss Dukas.” He held out a black, rectangular box. “This was hand-delivered to the complex just now. I was asked to personally give it to you.”
Cautiousness made the corners of my eyes tighten. “Who delivered it?”
“The gentleman didn’t give me his name.” Pierce rattled off a description that made me blink hard.Vicente.
What in the hell would Danton have told him to deliver to me? There seemed little probability that Vicente had come here off his own back.
I forced a smile and took the box from the concierge. “Thank you, Pierce. Have a good evening.”
“Same to you, Miss Dukas.”
I closed the door and stared down at my delivery. It wasn’t a gift box. Wasn’t wrapped. There was no ribbon. No bows. No pretty tag. It was just a plain black, cardboard container that was neatly sealed shut by tape.
My belly fluttered with the unease of uncertainty. I couldn’t imagine what Danton would bother to send me. He hadn’t done anything like this before.
A naïve part of me thought that, despite the lack of wrapping, it might be a gift. An attempt to freaking woo. But no, it wouldn’t be that. If Danton suddenly decided he wanted more than a simple arrangement, he’d quite simply tell me.
So, what, could this be an apology of some sort? No. He had nothing to apologize for. He hadn’t done anything other than not return my feelings. That wasn’t something he could be blamed or vilified for. You couldn’tforceyourself to feel something for someone, could you?
