Griffin
I amble around my house aimlessly, picking things up and putting them back down, trying to keep myself busy and my mind occupied. I need to calm down and center myself before the team gets here.
They’re going to have some questions, that’s for sure.
Immediately, my eyes dart to the wine glasses in the sink—the two glasses—and I’m brought back to last night with Kalista. The way she looked, the way she felt, and the way we fought.
I walk through the hallway and make my way to the bathroom, and I fill up the sink with cold water. Leaning down, I scoop my hands with cold water, close my eyes and splash my face with it.
I gasp as the cold water hits me, and I do it a few more times for good measure, enjoying the sting and shock.
I actually feel a bit better.
The good feeling is gone just as soon, however, when I open my eyes to reach for a towel and see one of Kalista’s tops hanging on the towel rack. Obviously, I’d forgotten it there from our romp the night before.
I haul it off the towel rack and toss it into the hamper when I hear the doorbell ring.
I curse under my breath.
Great.
The guys are here, and I still haven’t figured out dinner. Kalista was supposed to be cooking for all of us—which certainly isn’t fucking happening now—so I’m going to have to address that.
I make my way back into the main entryway and put on my suit jacket, buttoning it up before the door opens, and Jackal walks through.
He looks around, and his brow furrows in confusion as he sniffs the air and glances back at me.
“I don’t smell anything cooking. She’s not making us wait all night, is she?” he quips with a smile, tossing his coat on the chair in the entryway.
He strides into the living room and looks around, confusion washing over his face when he sees that it’s empty. He strolls back into the entry way with a questioning look, all the while eyeing every inch of the house.
“What’s going on, Gryphon?”
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, walking by him into the kitchen.
“She’s not here. She’s gone. I’ll order in something.”
I pour myself two fingers of scotch and lean back on the counter, taking a sip and watching the amber liquid swirl around in my glass like a whirlpool.
I wish things had gone differently.
Jackal rounds the corner and joins me, pours himself some, and sits down on the bar stool.
“What do you mean, she’s gone?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me and scoffing.
Seriously? How difficult is it to understand that she’s not here?
“I mean she’s not fucking here! What else would I mean?”
I snap at him and shake my head at his ridiculous question, glaring at him from over my glass.
“Alright,” he says under his breath, taking a sip of his own and leering at me. “So what does this mean for tomorrow then? Is the plan still a go?”
I’m annoyed that his only concern seems to be the job tomorrow, but of course, why would he care? He didn’t want her here in the first place, and—realistically—it’s probably better off this way.
“Yes, yes. The plan is still a go. Nothing’s changed except she won’t be there.”
He nods and thinks for a moment before looking back at me and speaking. “What happened?”
The doorbell rings again.
I release an exasperated sigh, glaring back at him as I move to answer it.
“It doesn’t matter what happened, all right? The point is, she’s not here. She’s not going to be here. And it’s for the best anyway.”
“Fair enough.” He shrugs, obviously not really caring all that much.
I walk to the door and open it, letting the rest of the team in.
Manticore simply nods and strolls in. Leviathan flies past me and darts into the kitchen, smiling when he sees Jackal sitting on the bar stool.
“Jackal! I hope you’ve got your watch strapped to your arm this time,” he teases. “Otherwise, she’s gonna swipe it again. Might not give it back.”
He smirks and glances around, then looks to me when he sees no one else.
“Where’s she at? And what’s for dinner? I’m starving!”
I roll my eyes and close the door, walking back into the kitchen to grab my glass.
“She’s gone, she’s not coming back. I’ll order something. And we can finalize things for tomorrow. Nothing’s changed really.”
I walk off so that it’s clear that I’m done talking about it, and I sit down on the couch in the living room.
I sit down and immediately feel something jabbing into my back. I reach my hand down into the cushion and pull out a nail file.
Christ, did she do this on purpose? Leave little reminders of her all over the place to remind me I fucked up?
I grumble and toss it into a plant pot. Out of sight, out of mind.
“Auntie!” I holler.
She comes sauntering into the living room where I’m sitting and smiles.
“What can I do for you?”
“Can you order something for us, please? Preferably not too spicy. Dinner plans have changed. We’ll need something else.”
She squints at me, clearly realizing that something is wrong, but she won’t say anything in front of the team. She simply nods and walks out into the office to make a call.
Manticore joins Jackal at the bar, and they start discussing logistics for tomorrow. Leviathan slides over next to me on the couch. He props his feet up on the coffee table and sighs, looking over at me with a shrug.
“What’s going on, Griff?”
His tone isn’t accusatory or nosy, and he seems to genuinely care about what happened between Kalista and me and not just what’s happening tomorrow.
“We had a disagreement of sorts.”
He looks at me and scowls. “A disagreement? When people have a ‘disagreement,’ it usually doesn’t end with one of them leaving for good. You seemed to really like this one.”
“I did really like her. I do really like her,” I confess, taking another swill from my glass.
He straightens himself abruptly and throws his arms up in the air. Then, he gives me a bewildered look, shaking his head.
“Then, what the hell are you doing? Go after her!”
I scoff at him and shake my head in disagreement, muttering, “Right, whole lot of good that will do.”
“Oh, come off it! I saw how you guys looked at each other. Made me hopeful for my own future, it did. You like her, she likes you. You’re not even gonna bother trying?”
A sigh escapes my lips as I consider it. But then what would I do when I find her? She’s not going to want to come back after what I did.
“It’s better off this way. No distractions.”
“Well,” he begins as he puts his feet back up, “I think you’re being a dolt.”
“A what?!” I scoff.
“A dolt! An idiot! A dummy! You’ve got a great woman; so what if you did something stupid? It was bound to happen sooner or later. It’s you. But that doesn’t mean you can’t fix it.”
Can’t he take a hint?
“Let it go, it’s done.”
My tone is stern, and it draws the attention of Jackal, who strolls over, probably thinking he should step in before things get too heated.
“Forget about her. Have another drink, and think about how great it’s going to be to walk out of there tomorrow with this.”
With one hand, he places his tablet down on the table in front of me, pointing at the plans for tomorrow and the pieces in the museum. The other hand passes me my bottle of Dalmore 62.
I nod and pour myself nearly a full glass of scotch, focusing on tomorrow’s task.
We’ll pull off the heist, get our profit, and be out of the country before anyone knows it’s even gone.
I take a deep breath as the others talk among themselves and stick my hand in my pocket, pulling out a little scrap of paper with a note scrawled on it.
Fuck, who am I kidding?
Sure, I’m going to pull off the heist of my life, but what’s the point if the person I want to share it with is gone?