Page 28 of The Consequence of You (Heathley Academy #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

ASHER

I ’m on my way back from depositing my race winnings at the bank when I see her.

She is sitting at a table in the window of one of her family’s restaurants, laughing over a glass of wine with a man I don’t recognise.

It’s been less than a week since the art gallery, and I’m beginning to realise there’s more going on in Callie’s life than I thought.

My heart thunders in my chest as I watch from afar.

The man is dark haired and good looking, not unlike her ex-Nico, and I curse under my breath.

She clearly has a type. Maybe she finished things properly with Nico because of this guy.

Callie and I both expressed an interest in continuing our arrangement, but we didn’t really set any boundaries.

We should have, because the thought of this man putting his hands on her has me seeing red.

Before my brain can catch up, I’m yanking the door to the restaurant open. I stride in, ignoring the ma?tre-de as he tries to stop me.

Who does Callie think she is? Her bed is still warm from me, and just days later she’s out on a date with some other guy. When I near their table, I pull a chair from another one and slam it down between them.

A waiter approaches.

“Sir?”

“White wine. Sancerre,” I instruct, not taking my eyes off the man next to my woman. The waiter scuttles off, having clearly recognised me. I’ve eaten here plenty of times, so they know better than to risk losing my business.

“Asher. What are you doing here?” Callie doesn’t sound happy, but honestly? I don’t give a fuck.

“Who is this? Another ex-boyfriend?” As I look at the man, he stares at me coldly, not at all ruffled by my appearance, and for a second my confidence falters.

“Asher!”

“Tell him to leave.” But the bastard laughs right in my face, and I feel my temperature rise. I fix him with a cold stare while I study him.

He’s built, hard to tell his height as he’s sitting, but I estimate it to be fairly similar to my own. He looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t put my finger on why. Now I’m closer, I can see he has a few years on me, and admittedly, he’s pretty mean looking, but I still fancy my chances.

“Listen, old man. I need to speak to Calliope. Your date is done.” I wave between them as the waiter returns with a tray of desserts and my drink. I pluck the glass straight from the tray and drain it in one before slamming it back down. I grab a spoon and dig into the crème br?lée .

The man places his napkin on the table and stands up slowly. Thank fuck, he’s finally leaving.

That’s when I see it. The unmistakable black strap under his suit jacket .

Holy Fuck .

This guy is carrying. It’s the middle of the fucking day, in a family restaurant. Maybe I’m outmatched after all.

“Sorellina, do you know this little shit?” His voice is accented and deep as he addresses Callie. What I’m about to do is fucking stupid, but there is no sign of her bodyguard, and no way in hell I’m leaving her alone with this guy.

I place my spoon on the table and stand slowly. I was right, we are the same height. That’s when it registers what he called her.

Sorellina. Italian for Sister.

I breathe out a sigh of relief. It’s just her brother.

That’s why he’s familiar. While I don’t recall ever seeing her with a sibling during our years at the academy, it could easily have escaped my attention.

Perhaps I should be more worried about the very real possibility of him pulling out his weapon, given the way I spoke about him, but all I can think is thank fuck she’s not on a date like I assumed.

“My bad. I don’t think we’ve met. You must be Calliope’s brother?” I stick out my hand. “I’m Lord Pennington. Pleasure to meet you.” Callie’s brother’s expression doesn’t improve. In fact, it turns even more murderous as he leaves me hanging.

Withdrawing my hand, I ramble on, “my apologies, sir. Your sister is a very beautiful woman. I was merely making sure you’re not some kind of sleazeball sniffing around her. Had to make sure you were legit.” My voice falters as his eyes narrow .

“I think maybe you are one of these sleazeballs?”

I let out a dramatic gasp.

“Of course not. I have only good intentions with your sister.”

Her brother lowers his voice as the restaurant’s couple of patrons are now looking at us.

“Dimmi che questo idiota non è il tuo ragazzo?” Callie shakes her head as he asks her if I’m her boyfriend.

“No, non è il mio ragazzo.” She’s basically denied there is anything between us, but hearing her talking in Italian has me instantly hardening.

I shift my stance, desperate to adjust myself, but knowing if her brother sees, it will almost certainly result in my brain matter being smeared across the restaurant.

“Would there be a problem if I were her boyfriend?” I ask, easily translating the conversation between the two of them.

Her brother stares at me, looking vaguely impressed that I understood him, so I take that as a win and plough on.

“Did you have the same problem with Nico?” His dismissal of me rankles more than I’d care to admit.

“Nico?” A look of concern crosses her brother’s features. He turns to his sister. “You’re seeing Nico again? I –”

“No. No, I’m not seeing him.” She denies it vehemently, and the rush of satisfaction from her certainty has my cock stiffening further. “I did see him last week. But just once. I owed him an apology.”

Luca frowns as Callie’s eyes fill with unshed tears, and it leaves me feeling cold.

“What did you need to apologise to him for, Sorellina?” Callie pulls at the sleeve of her cardigan, clearly uncomfortable with having this conversation right now.

Not sure if it’s my presence or because it’s her brother asking, or maybe it’s because we’re in a now silent restaurant, but whatever has her hesitating, I feel an overwhelming urge to protect her.

To remove her from a situation I undeniably contributed to.

She was enjoying a nice lunch with her brother. Ten minutes later, she’s nearly in tears and I can’t bear it.

I hardly recognise who I am right now, and I certainly don’t understand these feelings, but I know I can’t stay away from her.

I crave her presence more every single day.

I want to be around her, to touch her, to talk to her, to just be with her.

She occupies my mind from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep.

Even then, she’s the focus of my dreams.

Callie crept under my skin without me even noticing. Her joy is my joy, her pain is my pain. I… fuck… is this what falling in love feels like?

The siblings are now talking between themselves rapidly in Italian, and I struggle to keep up. Nico’s name is mentioned and something about their mother. Whatever they’re talking about, they seem to disagree. My girl is hurting, and I want it to stop.

I slam my hand on the table.

Callie flinches, and within seconds the hard, cold barrel of an automatic firearm is pressed to my temple and my arm is twisted painfully behind my back.

“Enough.” I recklessly grit out. I always wondered what my thoughts would be in my final moments on this planet. I’d never considered they’d be about a woman. “Calliope’s upset.”

Her brother snorts.

“I can see that.”

He keeps the gun pressed to the side of my head, but my focus is almost entirely on Callie, who is frozen in front of me. I mouth the word ‘breathe’ to her.

There’s a movement in my peripheral vision.

Her brother doesn’t release his hold on me, but he addresses the room in a dark and lethal tone that leaves absolutely no doubt that this man is dangerous.

“Whoever just took their phone out to call the police, put it away. No one will get hurt as long as you all do as I say.”

“Maybe you should put the gun away?” I manage to say in a voice that sounds a hell of a lot calmer than I feel.

“Maybe you should stay the fuck away from my sister.”

“You’re the one who upset her.” I hold my breath and squeeze my eyes shut, well aware that I’m bickering with a probable member of the Sicilian mafia with a definite 9mm pointed at me. I’ve done some stupid shit in my time, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted this would be how I die.

At least if these are my last seconds on earth, I used them for something selfless.

Scrap that. I’m not selfless. Seeing Callie upset for some unfathomable reason upsets me, and I hate the feeling more than anything I’ve ever experienced.

The seconds tick by slowly and I’m still breathing. I risk a sideways glance at Callie’s brother. He is staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

After what feels like an eternity, he lowers his weapon.

At least Callie is no longer upset. Like her brother, she also has an unreadable expression on her face.