Page 28

A ll day long, my thoughts had been on seeing Connor tonight. The girls hung out all afternoon, and Shelly made a surprise visit since she was scoping out places to rent in Hoboken.

Ironically, it was faster for her to live in New Jersey and hop on the PATH train to get to the hospital she worked at in order to finish out her residency, than it was for her to rent a place in the city and take two buses and a subway to get there.

It was great to see her and my sisters and cousins. We had holiday music on, discussed Christmas plans, and yes, we talked about boys, too.

Apparently, age gap romance was a thing, and Shelly fully supported my choice to be with Connor.

But was I with him? Before she left, Shelly turned to me and asked me something that stunned me. I mean, the girls were ribbing me about taking it easy on the old man, and I took it with good humor. But I just had no idea how to reply to her.

“Are you happy, Clem?” Shelly asked, her intense brown eyes staring me down.

“What?”

“Are you happy with Connor, I mean?” she repeated.

“Oh, um, yeah. We’re just having fun, Shell.” I shrugged, playing off the strength of my feelings for the man.

“I see. Just be careful, Clem, Sometimes when you’re having fun, you fall. And falling can get people hurt,” she whispered before hugging me goodbye.

I gnawed on that little gem the rest of the afternoon before I showered and dressed carefully for my dinner date.

He was supposed to pick me up himself, but I received a terse text from Connor around 6:30.

Connor

I am sending a car to pick you up in ten minutes to bring you back to my place.

It was a little strange, but not much. I assumed he had a reason.

Business or something.

I straightened my long, stretchy skirt and made sure my top was in place. A wave of nervousness hit me, and I placed my hand over my soft belly and tried to breathe normally.

What the heck was I doing?

I shouldn’t think so hard about this. It’s just dinner with Connor.

But it felt like more.

Something was different. It had felt off ever since he texted me, like the air had shifted.

I couldn’t shake the sense that something was coming. The moment I saw his name on my phone screen, a knot formed in my stomach. Part anticipation, part dread.

I told myself this was just a casual fling. But inside, I knew that wasn’t true. My feelings for him were anything but casual.

That text wasn’t the usual kind of message he’d send—short, casual, and full of the playful banter.

This time, the words were more deliberate, almost cryptic. The tone was different, charged with something unspoken.

I read it over and over, trying to make sense of it, but the uncertainty lingered, hanging in the back of my mind like a storm cloud.

Since then, every little thing had felt off. Oh, I told myself I was just being fanciful. I had a tendency to do that, but I just couldn’t help it.

After the girls left and I’d read his text, the quiet in my apartment seemed louder.

The space around me felt too still. Like the world was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

I kept glancing at my phone, half-expecting another message. Waiting for Connor to say ‘just kidding, I am on my way’ or something like that.

But it never came, and I was left with the distinct impression that something was simmering beneath the surface.

Something fierce and wild.

Untamable. Like him.

Truth was, it wasn’t just his strange text that made me feel unsettled. It was the instinctual sense that something was looming just out of reach.

My mother always told me the universe had a way of waiting for the right moment to reveal the secret truths it had in store for us. It was her way of explaining the years she and Pop had been separated.

Their story was so damn incredible, but I knew that wasn’t for me. I mean, that kind of love just didn’t happen every day.

I loved my parents. But sometimes I was overwhelmed by the impossible standard they set.

Connor didn’t love me. And the realization broke my heart a little.

Was that what I wanted? His love?

Shit.

I was going to mess this up if I wasn’t careful. The real truth was love me or not, I wasn’t ready to give him up just yet. He made me feel things I’d never dreamed.

But it was tainted now by this unease that had taken root deep inside.

It was like standing at the edge of a cliff, not knowing whether you’d step off or turn back, but knowing something had to give.

And I wasn’t sure I was ready for whatever it was.

“You’re being silly, Clem,” I told myself, sliding into a pair of leather ankle boots.

I grabbed my purse and coat and headed downstairs. The elevator was efficient, perfunctory. But by the time it opened, I was breathing like I’d just run down all sixteen flights of stairs to get to the garage.

I glanced up and forced myself to calm down. Right on time, a familiar black SUV pulled up, but driving was a man I’d never met.

Having been brought up by the man who ran Sigma International, one of the world’s top security firms, I reached for the pepper spray inside my pocket and waited.

The driver, seeming to know my predicament stepped out and walked to the back passenger door. He was tall and svelte, thinner than Connor, but he had an innate power I recognized.

This man was lethal. But he was trying to appear unassuming. I could have told him to save it, but what good with that do? Especially if he was there for nefarious reasons.

“Who are you?” I asked, no nonsense.

“I’m Balor Cruz. Connor is my cousin. I work for him, and he sent me to get you,” the stranger, Balor , said, opening the door.

“How do I know that?”

“Here,” he added, dipping his chin like he approved of my precautionary reaction.

I was too struck by his eyes—his two distinctly different color eyes—to react quickly. Sighing like he was used to it, he shook the phone in his hand to get my attention.

I took it, feeling sheepish for having been caught staring. Connor suddenly appeared on the screen, and I clicked the image.

“Connor?”

“Balor is going to drive you to my house, Clementine. Go with him.”

His words sounded hard and angry. But that couldn’t be right.

What reason would he have to be mad at me?

“O-okay. You sound busy. Are you sure you don’t want to reschedule or something?” I asked, thinking it might be a good idea.

“No. Get in the car. I’ll see you in twenty.”

The call ended, and I shivered. I’d never heard him be so cold with me.

Maybe a few days was all Connor had wanted and tonight he was meeting me to tell me face to face? But why bring me to his house then?

Nothing made sense. I shook my head. I was reading too much into this.

He probably just had other things on his mind.

“Come on, Miss Aziz. Get in the car,” Balor said, and I handed him back his phone.

“Okay,” I said, “but hang on a second. I’m sending your picture and a pic of the car to my cousin for safety reasons.”

My father didn’t raise a fool. I walked to the back, getting the license plate, then I quickly snapped a picture of him and sent both to Lucy.

“Smart,” he said, looking impressed.

“Thanks,” I replied and climbed inside the vehicle.

The inside was just like a thousand other SUVs I’d ridden in before. Leather seats that were heated, which helped since it was frigid outside.

We rode in silence, but I didn’t mind.

The partition between the back of the truck and the front was half closed, which was for my comfort, I assumed. It didn’t matter, my mind was preoccupied.

The drive took exactly twenty minutes and for the duration Balor remained silent. I appreciated that. My nerves were such, I didn’t think I could speak coherently if I tried.

We’d had snow earlier in the day, but the roads were clear and well-salted. New Jersey was nothing if not keen on keeping the highways rolling in inclement weather.

Houses decked out in holiday glitter and twinkle lights dotted the landscape, and I smiled a little at them. Some of the places we passed were crappy, dank little places, but seeing strands of garlands and inflatable snowmen made me smile.

It was just the average person’s attempt to brighten up the regular gloom of their environment.

I probably sounded like a snob, but I didn’t mean to.

Sure, I grew up in Manhattan’s finest, but I had an appreciation for New Jersey’s cities and suburbs.

It was probably all that time I spent helping my mother at her non-profit. St. Elizabeth’s Shelter for Women and Children had been taken over by my parents when they were first married, and now had locations all around the world.

She was such an inspiration to me, my mother. It was part of the reason I was leaving my cozy job at Sigma International and starting Drew’s Place.

“Come on. Boss is waiting,” Balor said, and I startled, not even realizing we’d arrived.

He held my door open but made zero move to help me down. I was used to that, though. Pop was the same way. None of his men were allowed to touch the family.

But I wasn’t Connor’s wife. I wasn’t his woman or his family. I wasn’t sure what I was, but I knew it wasn’t that.

Shit.

Acknowledging that was difficult. The feeling bashed into me like a battering ram, and suddenly, I felt sick. I wanted to leave, to retreat before he could tell me what I strongly suspected was going to be an it’s not you it’s me kind of speech.

Stop it, Clem. You don’t know that.

I sucked in a lungful of icy air and glanced around at my surroundings.

How had I not noticed Balor driving through that enormous wrought-iron gate and up the beautifully paved cobblestone driveway?

I frowned and turned my head, gazing at the path that might very well lead to my destruction.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose, like I imagined a bunny’s would when walking into a wolf’s den.

I should just turn around and tell Balor to take me home.

I resisted the impulse. Barely.

But my father didn’t raise me to be a coward.

Just take the first step, Clem.