rolled my eyes at him. “No. Quite the opposite actually. She said he cheated on her and that I should stay away from him. Then she offered me a job.”
“You should talk to Ozi. Look, I know he’s a player. Always has been. But players don’t usually commit themselves just to cheat. They don’t have to commit to begin with. And the way Ozi looks at you, well, it’s pretty obvious that he’s into you.”
“I hope you’re right because I just can’t get involved in a situation like that again. I’m still barely recovering from Alex. My heart can’t take anymore breaking.” The singer had slowed it down and was now crooning into the mic about unrequited love and lost chances. Between her voice and the multiple old fashions I’d consumed in the past hour, I had to fight the urge to cry.
Max squeezed my hand. “Talk to him before jumping to any conclusions. He might surprise you.”
I blinked back tears and scolded myself in my mind for being so emotional. No one wants to be the sad crying girl at the bar.
“And as far as the job offer, you better not even think of leaving Dolce Sale. If you’re not there, Tori will start picking on me again,” Max teased.
“Oh, so I’m your human shield? Nice to know I’m appreciated for something,” I joked back.
“You know I love you, girl.” He winked and sucked down the rest of his drink.
I tried my best to push Camille out of my mind for the rest of the night, but her voice lingered in the back of my mind. Ozi was super secretive and he had women throwing themselves at him all the time. Not more than two weeks ago, I waited on him and that busty blonde that couldn’t keep her hands off him. Did I really expect him to change his ways for me? Or was Camille right? Was I just another notch on his belt?
Maplewood, Connecticut was even smaller than I had pictured. The welcome sign we passed declared a population of three thousand. It was no wonder that Raven was like a fish out of water in New York City.
Cassius typed away on his laptop as I sped through the woodsy terrain. “I’m not sure what I’m looking for exactly. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the hacker was in Maplewood?”
I gave him a long sideways look. “Seriously? It’s also really fucking weird that her parents didn’t see anything wrong with her sister marrying her ex. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something not right about any of it.”
Cassius shut his laptop with a bang. “So they’re a dysfunctional family. You’ve just described every human we’ve ever met. I still don’t get why you’re so keen on digging around. What do you think you’re going to find?”
I gripped the steering wheel tight enough without snapping it off. Even after all these years, I had to remind myself of my own strength. “Well, hopefully more about this hacker. But aside from that, I like Raven. I want to pursue something with her. It’s been a long time since I’ve even entertained that with a woman. But something is off. Trust me. If I let her into our world, I need to know that she won’t be in any danger.”
Cassius nodded. “Well, I did some digging into her internship. I wanted to see how she was selected and how she was able to afford the plane ticket to Italy. But there was no record of it. She claims she was at your winery in Italy and she clearly has an extensive knowledge of wine, but there’s no actual record of her being there.”
Fuck. “Okay. I’ll ask her about it when we get back. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.” Maybe she borrowed money from a friend?
Cassius groaned and lit up a cigar. “Fuck, Ozi. You’re starting to sound like Lux.” He puffed smoke circles in perfect rings toward the windshield.
I opened the sunroof to get some air. “What happened with Lux was different and you know it. That’s not going to happen to me. Raven is nothing like Lilith or Camille for that matter.” Lux was an incubus—a demon who feeds off of sex—and Lilith was his maker. She made him fall in love with her and then abandoned him. He shut off his emotions and has kept them off ever since.
I pulled into a parking spot in front of the Rusty Nail. In my two hundred