Page 63 of His Lair
Her threat to Lailani. I didn’t know who she really was back then. Now that I do, I know that whatever my mother tried to do to her wouldn’t have any impact. Lailani is strong. She can handle whatever is thrown her way.
Does that mean I want her to be subjected to my mother’s shit? Absolutely not.
“I’ll be there,” I grunt into the receiver, cut the call, and throw my phone down before diving for it again and opening my text thread with Louie.
Me:
I need you to be my plus-one for my mother’s wedding.
Louie:
Is this your way of coming out? Because if it is, I’m a married man. A very happily married man with the most beautiful wife in the world. You don’t stand a chance at taking her spot as my queen.
Me:
Funny. I need you to make sure I don’t kill my mother.
Louie:
Sure, there’s nothing better I could be doing with my weekend than babysitting a grown-ass man child.
Me:
Thanks. I’ll send you the details.
I don’t really need anyone with me. It just helps to have someone around I can vent to. Also, I’ve done more than my fair share of weekends babysitting my friends. It’s their turn.
After another thirty minutes of doing everything I can to not think about her, I cave and put Lailani’s cell number into a locator app. It takes five minutes for the app to spit out the closest cell tower ping. Kingman, Arizona.
What the fuck is Lailani doing in Arizona?
My phone flips through my hand. I can’t call her. That would be showing my cards. I’d be admitting that I’m a fucking fool who can be played. On the other hand, I’d be able to talk to her, find out where she is, what she’s doing. If she’s safe…
I hate that I fucking care. I know she was right. Me asking her not to go out with the intention of killing a mob boss was a little sexist. Although my need for her to not put herself in danger had nothing to do with the fact she’s female. It’s because I don’t want to lose her.
That’s exactly what I’ve done, though. I’ve lost her. Because I was so hung up on the lie. I still am but my need to have her is stronger. I want to get to know her, the real her.
You know what? You never win by not playing.
I cave and press the green dial button next to her contact. The phone rings and rings and rings. Just when I’ve accepted that she’s not going to pick up, the ringing stops and is replaced with Lailani’s sleepy voice. I look up at the clock on my office wall and curse myself. I should have checked the time before I called her. It’s two in the morning.
“Sammie, what’s wrong?” Lailani asks.
“Nothing. I’m sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep,” I tell her.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen now. What’s wrong?” she asks again.
“I just wanted to talk. I didn’t realize how late it was,” I admit.
“It’s okay. Kind of reminds me of when you used to break into my apartment.”
“I didn’t break anything. I just let myself in. Where are you?”
“I’m visiting my dad.” I can hear her fumbling with the phone and then her voice gets closer again. Like she’s lying on it.
“How’s that going?”
“Good. One of his old work colleagues is getting hitched and he wanted me to be his plus-one. I just thought I’d come a little earlier to give us time,” she says.
