Page 64 of With This Kiss
I had been avoiding him, trying to decide my next move because, whatever my motivation had been for approaching him at the beginning, I realized now, it had been nothing but foolishness on my part.
I shouldn’t have approached him.
I should have left him alone.
Because now I was in turmoil and had invited Reign into my life.
And based on all the texts he had sent me, it seemed he wouldn’t be leaving me alone any time soon. Reign was nothing if not persistent.
What was I going to do?
There was no way I could go to Dad or Caine about this. They would probably have an aneurysm if they found out I had been spending time with a Mahankov.
God, I was stupid.
After work on Wednesday, instead of going home, I went out to one of the bars Dad owned. Chances were higher that I would find him there than I would at home, and sure enough, I saw his car near the front entrance.
It wasn’t that I wanted to come here and talk to him about my problems. Not really.
I just wanted to see him.
There had always been something about his presence that I found comforting, even if he didn’t talk much. I guessed I got that from him.
And he never expected me to talk just for the sake of talking.
He let me be quiet without making me feel like I wasn’t normal for it.
Reign was the same way as well.
That was probably why I usually felt so at ease with him. I frowned at the thought as I parked my car next to Dad’s.
Reign was the last person I should feel at ease with.
I shook my head and got out of the car, heading to the front door. I stopped when I heard a strange sound coming from the side of the bar.
Quietly, I moved in closer just in time to see Tito talking to a strange man. He could be from the famiglia. My father had a lot of men under him, so it wouldn’t be surprising that I didn’t know them all, but there was just something about this man that made me sense he might be an outsider.
And I watched as they exchanged something… drugs for cash?
Was Tito selling?
That wasn’t exactly part of his job description. Without thinking, I pulled out my phone and took a picture, then sent it to Caine before backing away. My mistake was not looking back before I moved. I accidentally stepped over something that felt like metal and sounded like metal when it banged on the ground.
Both Tito and the man turned toward me.
I didn’t think—I just turned and ran inside the bar, ignoring the heavy footsteps behind me. I didn’t look back, even after I got safely inside. They were some distance away when I was caught. Surely they couldn’t have seen me, right?
I wasn’t so sure.
My heart was still racing, and I didn’t even know if what I had witnessed was really anything to begin with.
Tito never made an appearance in the bar. Not for the entire time I was there, at least, and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.
15
REIGN
My girl was ignoring me.
