Until Her - Ami Van Page 0,48
any cooked chicken. Please,” she tells the waitress while she scowls over at him the whole time.
He’d like to say the rest of their lunch was history but it’s not what happened. It’s not history. It’s only the beginning of whatever this is with her. A connection growing stronger. An electric current shocking at a higher voltage.
Whatever it is, it’s fucking wonderful.
Just when he’s admiring the woman she is beneath the addiction and the fucked up past; just when he’s sunbathing in her light, reality hits.
“Boss,” Sully says, cutting off their path out of the restaurant as they are attempting to leave. “Out the back,” Sully says, pushing them toward the rear exit of the restaurant.
None of the employees bat an eye. Quick exits aren’t new for Kings.
“What is it?” he asks as calmly as he can while holding Ariana close to him and leading her toward the exit.
Sully keeps up the pace and leans forward to whisper to him. “Isabella Romano just landed. Might be better to have McCullen’s men escort Ariana back to the safe house.”
FUCK! What and why now?
He nods, agreeing with Sully and stops Ariana from taking another step.
“Ariana, some of my men, trusted men, will take you home. I have some business that needs my immediate attention,” he tells her.
He rubs her arms up and down to reassure her. It’s probably not going to work though. This shit isn’t the movies. But she nods anyway.
He doesn’t know how much time he has to get to where he needs to go but he ushers her along to the awaiting blacked-out SUV in the alley. McCullen’s second-in-command, Caleb, gives him a nod. It’s a silent promise that she’ll be safe.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Sully reassures him as they watch the SUV drive away. “If they somehow find her in our city, McCullen can handle the heat until we figure something better out.”
Something better? What’s fucking best for her is to never leave his fucking side again.
His phone buzzes and it’s a text from Rory. With Derrick still recovering, Rory wants him to be there to deal with Isabella. The bitch is likely there to check on her brother’s handy work.
“Keep your cards close,” Sully reminds him as they find their way to their vehicle.
It’s getting damn near impossible to keep calm when the sharks smell blood and are zeroing in on them.
Chapter Twenty
It’s been close to a week since her lunch with Adam. A wonderful lunch. One she’s never had before. It’s been the closest thing to a date since high school. It’s also the last time Adam visited her.
He said he had business to tend to and she knows what that means. She knows what his business is and can’t help but wonder if he is okay. Just last week, Derrick was shot and Chase thought she might have known it was going to happen.
That’s the kind of life Adam leads. Danger and without trust. But she trusts him. She may have triggers, as Marcus calls them, but she trusts Adam. She trusts that his storm would never sweep her further down into the hell that she’s been clawing to get out of.
So where is he?
She stares down at the drawing on top of her stack of sketch paper. She’s been missing her mom the past few days. She used to light a candle next to the framed picture of her Annabeth Giallo whenever she was feeling lonely. It sits in front of the small window in her bedroom. It’s the one thing that she is without right now and the one thing she’d want to set foot back on the Romano’s estate to retrieve.
But she knows deep down…she’ll never see it again. Not if it meant returning to be their indentured servant. So for the past three hours, she’s been trying to draw the very scene of a lit candle sitting next to her mother’s picture.
As hard as she tried, she can’t seem to sketch her mother’s eyes correctly. Her frustration is clear by the number of scuff marks left across the pages from her eraser. She can’t even blame the drugs, the cravings, or the shaking of her hands on her inability to draw what her heart is longing to see. It’s her memory. The precious memories of her mother have somewhat faded.
Frustration forces her to toss the stack of paper aside. Her thoughts are leading her down the rabbit hole of self-pity and she needs to put a stop to that