Page 19 of Vigilante
You got it.
I message back. With my schedule clear for the next week, we made plans to meet up for lunch on Monday. The abrupt change in Ned’s decision eats at me, though. He was so adamant about his decision to fire me, and with my not-so-professional exit, I never thought I would hear from him again. While I’m thankful to still have that source of income, I can’t help but wonder what changed his mind. I reason that maybe he was afraid of getting sued for sexual harassment for the way he came onto me.
Right as the clock hits eight, the buzzer to my apartment rings, and my stomach dips low in response.
“Come on up,” I say through the static-sounding intercom. A crackle of disjointed words answers me in response, though I have no clue what he just said back to me. It’s been broken for months, and the landlord isn’t about to fix it anytime soon. I learned early on that he can only be bothered in extreme emergencies, and even then, you’re better off handling it yourself.
When Max arrives at my door, I see the entirety of his face.
“No mask today?” Those butterflies are back in full force when he hits me with the most blinding smile.
“Just for now.” He responds, piquing my curiosity. There’s still so much I don’t know about him that I hope to uncover on our date today, like his last name.
For all I know, it could be Gulia, like inThe Wedding Singer.I could be looking at a future doomed to be called Julia Gulia.
What is wrong with me thinking about marriage already?I mentally shake myself to calm my tits.
“You look stunning.” He says, kissing me on the cheek, and my stupid heart swoons as an image of me in an ethereal-looking wedding dress slams into my brain. He unveils one long-stemmed red rose from behind his back, and I clutch it to my chest.
Goddammit.
He’s even taken care to file off all the thorns.
I’m not usually such a romantic, but nothing about how I feel about Max feels like anything I’m used to.
“Thank you,” I squeak out. “So, where are you taking me?”
“Now that,Bella, is a surprise.”
CHAPTER 10
Maximo
LAST NIGHT
My heart was hammeringin my chest by the time I got back to the abandoned warehouse, with the scent of Julia all over me. I’m in so much fucking trouble it’s disturbing. But I can’t seem to stay away from her. This isn’t me. I don’t date, and I especially don’t drag men over counters and spend fifty bucks on pizza for a woman I barely know.
But fuck it, right?
Rocco sniffs me. “Well, you don’t smell like pussy. She turn you down for a game of ‘just the tip?’or…”
Turn me down? Never. I felt the way she reacted to my touch, how her skin ignited with goosebumps, and the action of her body shivering against me the moment I pushed her against the wall of her apartment. Those fucking lips of hers. The whole drive back, all I could think about was the way they would look wrapped around my cock. Her big, rounded eyes, drool seeping at the corners of her mouth.
Julia is innocent, no doubt about that, but her mouth…is all kinds of sin.Dio mio, now I’m thinking about her naked on the bed, begging for me to?—
Fingers click in front of my face. “You’ve got it bad. I’ve never seen you like this over a woman.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His thick eyebrow raises in my direction, calling bullshit on the entire thing. “Sure, Jan.” And that Brady Bunch quote is exactly what I mean. “How’d you meet her?”
I briefly close my eyes, knowing the moment I answer, he’s going to be asking questions left and right. Clearing my throat, I give him one short answer. “Coffee shop. So now you have your answer. Let’s finish this and get it over with.”
Unzipping the black duffel bag, I lift the Glock from inside and attach the silencer to the end. As I continue to twist it, my cousin persists.
“She hot?”
Silence.
