Page 54 of Dear Mr. Vampire

“Did he say anything else?”

“Yes, he said— I know you’re here. I can hear you breathing. Then he said, I heard you got into a scuffle. Then he said, don’t worry. Papi will be there soon to make it all better. Then he hung up. I didn’t know what to do. And like two minutes later, you were at the door to take me to dinner. Do you think I should call the police?”

“No, don’t. They can’t do much. He probably placed the call from a burner phone. What he said to you wasn’t a real threat. He might not even be in the state of Illinois. To get bail, I’msure he’s wearing an ankle monitor. If he leaves the state, the authorities will come for him.”

“I don’t know what to do.” I was at my wit’s end.

“First thing, take a deep breath. You don’t have to figure this out right this minute. You don’t have to figure it out alone. I’m here. Tell me as much as you personally know about this, Alonzo?”

“There’s not much I know. He’s a criminal. I didn’t know it when I met him. He’s a drug dealer of some kind of drug gang. He also has a lot of businesses around Minnesota. He’s dangerous, and I was so stupid. I didn’t have a clue. I thought he was a legitimate businessman. He owned some auto-body shops. Now he’s out on a million dollar bond for the murder of three rival gang members, those two men and the sister.”

“He was trying to scare you with the phone call.”

“It worked.”

“You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I don’t want you involved in any of this.”

“Chanel, babe, listen, I’m not afraid of Alonzo Lopez.”

“I believe you, but you really should be.”

“I’ll take you back home. You can pack some clothes and we can stay at my place downtown by the lake.”

“You have a place downtown?”

“Yes, it has everything you need but food. We can stop at the grocery store and grab a few things. Don’t stress about this. He could never find you at my loft.”

“Okay, I think I would feel better at a different location.”

“We’re going to figure this out together. You have to just trust me.” Zand reached across the table and took my other hand in his. “Do you trust me?”

“I do. I do trust you.” I didn’t even have to think about it. I trusted him. After what happened with Lonzo, I didn’t even think trusting a man completely was an option.

“Let’s eat and have a few drinks to take the edge off. I think we need them.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHANEL

The panic I felt subsided immensely. I could get a few bites of my entrée down. I also had three glasses of wine before Zand had the server take the bottle away. I wasn’t even mad at him. He knew me. He knew my limits. Zand had a way with words and he had the resources to keep me safe.

A tremendous weight had been lifted off my chest. We waited for the valet to bring the car round. In a few hours, I would be somewhere new. With the tap of a button, I turned on the radio. Music would soothe me on the drive home from the restaurant. He held my hand, and I listened as he sang along to the radio. He had the nerve to have a great singing voice. The songs were old and I couldn’t place most of them, but the radio station played songs from the seventies and eighties.

This was the life I wanted. Zand was the man I wanted. I knew I was jumping ten steps ahead, but I could see a life with him. He seemed perfect and more so perfect for me. Sitting next to him in his car, I daydreamed about our future together. I pushed all doubts to the side and thought about us together, married, with kids.

My insides glowed with excitement because this dream feltobtainable. This life with the man I loved was so close. I had all this baggage, and it hadn’t made him run away.

Zand looked over and caught me staring at him.

“Babe, what are you thinking?”

“Nothing. I can’t wait to see your place. Your other place.”

“I think you’ll love it. You can redecorate it the way you like. It can be our place. I’m not trying to pressure you. I just want to be with you all the time. We already know we can be together for days at a time… I’m talking too much.”

“No, no, you’re not.” I loved to hear his voice.

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