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Connor just chuckled and pressed a kiss to my cheek. He took my hand and led me up to the rear entrance of the restaurant, just as a man I didn't know was exiting.
“All clear, boss. Grady’s covering the front and I’ll be inside with you—your guests have already arrived.”
I looked up at Connor in confusion. "Guests?"
He simply thanked the man and held the door for me. “You’ll see,” he said with a wink.
The restaurant was packed, but he expertly steered me towards a corner table with open views of both entrances.
“Cassidy!”
A flash of a blond hair, and I was nearly knocked off my feet as I was swept up in a tight hug. Teresa was squealing with delight, and behind her stood Jerome and his husband David.
“Teresa? Jerome? How—"
“Connor called us,” Jerome said. He seemed wary of Connor still, but he seemed happy enough. “He said he wanted to surprise you for your birthday, and we helped him plan this.”
“This…this is…” My eyes were starting to burn. Damnit, I didn't want to cry. “God, I missed you guys so much.”
Jerome hugged me tightly, and behind me, Connor cleared his throat.
“That’s something I’d like to fix, Cass.”
“What do you mean?”
He pulled out my chair for me as we all sat down at the table. My head was still whirling.
“Our…security problem seems to have gotten better the last few weeks,” he said carefully.
Jerome caught my eye, but he said nothing. Teresa still didn't know about Connor's mob affiliations.
“I've been working it out with Tommy," Connor was saying, "and after taking a look at the hospital's layout and talking things over with Jerome, here, I think we've come up with a way for you to return to work—there'll still be restrictions, but—”
I nearly knocked him out of his chair with my enthusiasm. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him, hard.
Across the table, Teresa gawked. I glanced over at Connor and saw that he had turned a deep red, but his eyes were shining with adoration.
"Security problem," Teresa said. "Are you somebody famous, or something? Wait--does this have anything to do with what happened in March with that kid who was--"
"No, no. I'm in politics," Connor answered quickly. "There have been some threats lately, and I wanted to make sure things were safe for Cassidy to return to work."
"Low key stuff," Jerome added. "Connor's got it under control." The look in his eye said Conner damn well better have it under control.
I floated through dinner. Connor fit in with my friends naturally, and by the end of the night my face hurt from laughing and I was stuffed with all the good food.
It was nearly ten o’clock when we finally all pushed back from the table, reluctantly saying goodnight with the promise that I'd be clocking in for my shift on Tuesday. Connor even got a hug from Teresa and a handshake from Jerome, and I thought there was no way the night could get any better.
I was wrong.
“I’ve, um…I’ve got something for you.”
We were both sitting in the living room. Connor was next to me on the couch, but in stark contrast to his attitude all day, he was nervous. His smile was weak, and his hands were trembling slightly as he worried the corner of the manilla envelope he was holding.
“Connor? Are you okay?”
“I’m…yeah, I’m just…fuck. Okay.” He took a steadying breath.
He opened the envelope, and handed me the first of two packets. I was worried about what was making him so anxious—I couldn’t begin to guess, and when I looked down at the paper in my hand, I was even more confused.
