Page 94 of Gluttony
So start with what you know, Bailey.
She knew she was Tony’s mate. She knew this meant he was connected to her like no other. She knew Tony had a pained look in his eyes that had haunted him since that first night he’d come home from patrol and was surprised that she stayed. It was the night she’d met Iman. The night her car had been keyed.Let’s say, for shits and giggles, that Tony knew about all the above, what would that mean?
It would mean that maybe he’d thought Bailey had cheated on him, or lied about seeing her ex-colleague. Maybe he’d been hurt enough to retaliate and make her jealous?
Her brows pinched in the middle.
“I see people like you all the time,” the bartender said, wiping a glass with a towel.
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
He nodded at her drink. “You got a problem. You come in here to test your resolve. You look down at the glass and see your life flash before your eyes, and you wonder if it’s all worth it.”
“And what do you say to them?”
The grooves beside his mouth deepened. “I say you didn’t come this far, only to come this far.”
Of course he was right. She’d used her fancy education to put herself into the CIA, and travel around the world, far from home. She’d taken the hardest route to prove to herself that she could save lives instead of take them. That she made good decisions.
This wasn’t her.
She paid for the drink, scooped up the file and went home.
* * *
It had takenBailey only a moment to decide home was her condo—at least for tonight. Parking her newly buffed and shined car in her garage spot, she collected the dossier file and got out. Her place was the bottom unit in the three-level building. There was a tiny fenced in courtyard at front, and now that she looked at it, she could see how Tony had broken in so easily. She should have bought a top floor unit.
Letting herself in, she immediately dumped the file in the trash then went to make something to eat. A box on her kitchen bench stopped her. It was big and white with a ribbon around it. There was a note attached to it. On one side, there was a crossword clue. On the other, two simple lines of crossword boxes. Finding a pen, she read the clue.
What your stupid boyfriend says when he realizes he fucked up.
She smirked and wrote, I’m sorry. It fit perfectly.
Opening the box, she found another note stuck on top of the white tissue paper. The note said:
* * *
Forgive me, Angel, I’ve been stupid.
Be my date to the premiere tomorrow night and I’ll explain. Tony, xx
* * *
She peeledthe white tissue paper aside. Turquoise stretch fabric with a tropical leaf pattern taunted her. Holding her breath, she picked it up. The fabric unfolded to a long, sleek one-shouldered dress that would hug her form. Stunning. Something else caught her eye in the box, and when she shifted more tissue paper, her heart leaped into her throat.
La Perla lingerie. Smooth, pale and sexy.
In her size.
He’d gone shopping for her.
She sighed and put it down, running her finger over the items. She was still staring, lost in thought when her cell phone rang. Half expecting it to be Tony, and she wasn’t ready to speak to him yet, she almost didn’t pick it up. But when she checked the caller ID, she noticed it was from Hudson House.
She hoped everything was okay.
“Hello?” she said into the receiver.
“Oh, good,” Agnes replied. “I hope I haven’t called at a bad time.”
