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“I have to go. My husband… I should get back so that I can meet him in time for dinner.”
It’s not a lie. He’ll be back at the penthouse soon enough, and then we’re going to have a talk about just what he thinks he’s doing.
I remember how, a few times when he thought I was already asleep, he murmured how he wished we could start over. Depending on his mood, I couldn’t decide if he meant he wanted to when he left me—or how our second chance began with him blackmailing me.
Maybe it did. Our lives got derailed that day, but maybe we were always meant to find our ways back to each other somehow. Link, the bigshot gangster. Me, the naive school teacher. As we are now, we probably should never work as a couple… but he married me. If he has it his way, and Angela’s not covering for him, then he’ll do it again.
Still watching me closely, Burns nods at me. “Do me a favor, yeah?”
“Um. Sure.”
“Let Devil know me and my angel will be at the wedding, would you? Consider it our RSVP.”
There goes any kind of secrecy. Angela might’ve let it slip, but there’s no way she tipped her husband off to back up her story. It has to be true… and I really hope that I’m not just being hopelessly delusional.
“I will.”
He nods, and I get the feeling that he’s dismissed me.
Good.
With a wave at Angela, I turn on my heel, heading right for the door. I’m already thinking about how I’m going to get back to the penthouse because I know—I justknow—that Burns is going to call Link up and let him know that he ran into me at the floral shop.
I’d planned on walking before, at least far enough to avoid being assigned the same creepy Uber driver from earlier. I wasn’t in Louise’s long enough for him to be out of the local area, and I didn’t mind the idea of getting some exercise while it was still light out.
Knowing that I just ran into Officer Burns? That dashes that idea. I need to get back to the penthouse ASAP so that I don’t cause Link an aneurysm by worrying about me.
Just as I step out onto the sidewalk, ready to grab my phone and order a car, I hear someone call my name.
My head snaps up in time to see Bobby hopping out of his car, dancing around the cars whizzing past him as he jogs over to me.
Wow. I mean, I know Link made it so that I can be tracked if necessary, but I guess it never occurred to me that one of my bodyguards would be able to find me. It probably should have. If they’re responsible for me while Link is occupied, they’d have to be able to track me down.
And Bobby? He did.
Breathing through his nose, the heights of his cheeks red with either panic or annoyance, he storms right over to me.
“You didn’t answer the phone,” he says, raising his voice at me. No ‘hi’, no ‘hello’, no ‘how are you’... just a very accurate accusation. “What the hell. Do you even have it on you?”
Not that I need to prove anything to him, but I take it out, showing it to Bobby. “If Link wanted to call me, he could’ve.”
He didn’t. I have eight missed calls currently, all from the same number. Bobby’s obviously.
“That’s because he has no idea you left on your own. And we’re going to try and keep it that way, okay?”
“He’ll understand.” When I explain that I let my jealousy get the better of me… if there’s anyone in the world who’ll understand my motives, it’s my husband.
Bobby snorts. “Trust me. It doesn’t matter who you are, you don’t want to piss off Devil.”
I’m not so sure about that.
Link will be annoyed, but he won’t be angry. Not at me. But Bobby, on the other hand… this is the second time he let me slip away. No wonder he’s freaking out. If the Devil comes out to play because his wife went missing, it’s Bobby’s head on the chopping block.
That’s why I don’t struggle when he grabs my bicep, dragging me toward the car that he double-parked. He’s probably desperate to get me back to the penthouse before Link realizes I left it.
I let him. He has a car, he can obviously cross the town quick as hell since he made it hear so soon after I did, and we both want me to get back before Link finds out where I went.
Bobby throws open the passenger side door for me. Just as he’s shoving me roughly inside of it, I feel a pinch that catches my attention, and has me yelping, “Ouch.”
