“To overthrow me,” he said it casually, and I bit my lip. “He used your stupid boyfriend to cover up his tracks.”
“Don’t say that.” I toyed with my cup.
God, I hated Marco.
Rodion chuckled. “You could have stayed with Lucas.”
My eyes widened. “You know Lucas, too?”
He leaned back and crossed his arms. “After watching you break up with him in front of a church, yes.”
Chills ran down my body. How long had this man been stalking me? It should’ve terrified me, but I had seen what he could do.
“That’s so … uncomfortable.”
“What is?”
“The fact that you have known me since then.” I stared at my drink. The topic was uncomfortable, so I changed it. “What was your mother like?”
“Like your mother.”
I let out a short laugh. “How so? Before my mother changed, she was always soft and quiet. She used to focus on family happiness but when I turned sixteen, she became louder. She and my dad fought all the time. I don’t know what changed. Some demon, maybe.”
“Secrets,” Rodion said, like he had answers to everything. “Just like my mother.”
“Secrets? What secrets? Why would you say that?”
Rodion sighed and slouched back. “Ask her when you meet her again.” He reached for his pocket, pulled out a thick stack of bills, and dropped them on the table beside my cup. “Keep yourself busy. Be back here in an hour. Don’t go far.”
“What?” I stared at the money, totally confused. “You want me to walk around with this much cash?”
He got up, pulled a sleek black card with platinum edges from his wallet, and handed it to me, taking the cash instead. Now I was uncomfortable. The card felt too light for how dangerous it looked. I held it like it might explode if I swiped it twice.
“I don’t understand.” I looked up at him. “You want me to be alone?”
“Around the street,” he said. “Be here in an hour.”
He reached for my face, brushing his thumb along the corner of my mouth, and I froze. He caught a bit of cream, then brought it to his mouth, he licked it with the kind of care that should have been illegal this early in the day.
Grabbing the manila envelope, he moved.
“Wait,” I said quickly, stopping him. “How much can I spend?”
He stared down at me. “As much as it takes for you to smile when I come back,” he declared and walked away, crossing the street towards the law firm.
And just like that, I was sitting there with a cappuccino, a card that could probably buy the entire block, and a heart that refused to slow down. Damn him.
Chapter Thirty-two
Alessia
“So you finally got ajob with better benefits?” Ann asked from behind the counter. Her voice still carried that playful spark I had missed on quiet mornings when we worked together. We had started working at the café on the same day, but she had the advantage of being the boss’s cousin. Carmen’s outbursts never touched her, they were always thrown at me.
I stepped down from the stool laughing. “The benefits are questionable, but the view is decent,” I said and they chuckled. I waved as I turned toward the door. “I should leave before Carmen calls to ask why we’re laughing like it’s payday.”
Jack, the barista, rolled his eyes. “Those cameras died before I got hired.”
Calla came with me to the door and looped her arm around my shoulders. The sunlight pressed against us, soft and warm.People were moving with purpose now, and the street hummed with the late-morning rhythm.