Page 35 of Honey, Honey
She looked at me. “Christian is here tonight.”
I sucked in a breath and took a step back, the weight that I’d shed suddenly all around me and in danger of suffocating me. I shook my head and snatched up my bag. “I don’t-he’s here? Now?” I asked, looking around me.
She nodded and looked remorseful. “He made his booking a month ago. I hadn’t seen you through, so I assumed accepting the reservation would do no harm.” Connie paused and leaned forward, one hand extended towards me though it lay flat on the desk. “I can see that I was wrong by the look on your face.”
I tried to force my face into something that resembled calm even as my heart was racing. “No, I’m fine,” I said automatically.
Connie arched an eyebrow at me. “You don’t seem fine. I can deny his reservation, Honey. It’s no trouble at all if it would put you at ease. Although, if he has held up his end of the probationary period, I would have to reach for a reason to send him away. So I will ask you once again, has Christian paid you unwanted visits or reached out to you? If he has, that would be a direct violation of the rules laid out by Zeus.”
I wanted to lie. I wanted to say the bastard had, but I knew better than to lie to Connie. To Zeus. She—they—would find out the truth and then I would find myself on her bad side. I never wanted to end up there.
“No,” I said quietly. “He’s left me alone.”
Connie fell silent as if considering her next move and she glanced back at the screen briefly before her eyes were trained on me once more. “I can still come up with something if him being here makes you uncomfortable.”
I licked my lips and thought. Did it matter if he was here? He had left me alone since she’d spoken to him. Did I want to ride the train all the way back to Queens and then what? Spend the night and the next day moping that I had missed my chance at relaxing in the Cairn?
“Nothing will happen to me here though...right?” I hedged as I weighed my options. I couldn’t run from Christian and get the rest and respite I needed. I’d been working so much lately, focused on what, I didn’t know. It wasn’t setting up a life, not really. I had one, but I did my best to stay loose and as untethered as I could. That wasn’t normal. It couldn’t be normal.
Somehow it had gotten worse lately. The evening with Law had just been the tipping point that had left me feeling low. I was grateful I had an evening planned here, and had done it before my night with Law. If I hadn’t had it to look forward to I would still be crying my eyes out in my empty apartment.
I needed this place. I needed to hold onto my power for as long as I fucking could, anywhere I could find it. I wasn’t going to be leaving, which meant I was going to need to know what I was walking into if I was sharing the halls of the Cairn with Christian O’Hanon.
She gave a slight tip of her head. “Nothing at all. You will be watched 24/7. Christian will be escorted off the premises if he steps out of line.”
“What would constitute stepping out of line?” I asked.
She was silent for a beat before she answered me. “He is not to touch you. If he speaks to you and you do not consent to the communication, one of our team will end it immediately. Your boundaries will be enforced.”
“And if they aren’t?” I whispered, my voice small in the big room. At my back the fireplace crackled and I knew it was magical looking without even turning my head to see. The flames would be lively and warm, dancing against the black onyx of the mantle, so at odds with the cold feeling in my chest as I negotiated my stay with Christian’s presence.
“Then he will be permanently banned from the establishment. I will also, of course, ensure that you are taken home in one of our private cars following your visit.”
“If he steps out of line?” I asked, confused at her offer. It would make sense that I not have to head back out into the world with Christian now angry and on the loose.
“No,” she said, giving me a kind smile, “I expected that seeing him would be intense for you. I know things can be overwhelming already given the nature of our club. You will be seen home even if he minds his manners and behaves himself.”
Her offer was surprising, but I was glad for it.
“Thank you.”
“Of course, your comfort is our concern.” She stood from her seat and then gestured for me to follow her. “I’ll show you to your room then, if you are ready?”
“I am.”
Connie said nothing else just started walking, her steps were smooth and sure. She could have been fucking gliding like one of those movie vampires in comparison to how I was stumbling after her. I felt unsure on my feet, even in my sneakers. She glanced at me when I stumbled around a corner and pursed her lips.
“You have no reason to worry.”
“I know. I’m not,” I lied, hitching my leather bag higher on my shoulder. The smooth leather beneath my hands was reassuring. I focused on stroking a hand along the side of it and said again, “I’m not.”
Connie gave a soft sigh of annoyance but she kept walking, pulling out a set of golden keys from her pocket. “Zeus has noticed you, Honey. You will be well taken care of during your visit.”
That time I didn’t just stumble, I nearly face planted. “I-what? He what?” Zeus didn’t just notice anyone. I was barely convinced he was real.
She smirked, eyes still forward so that I could barely make out the expression by the upturn of her cheek. “You sound surprised.” She was enjoying this, I could tell by the laughter I heard in her voice. That was...surprising. Connie was all business, but laughter?
What the hell was going on?”
