Gavin’s hands slid down my back, slipping into my back pockets. “Are you sure you don’t want me to wait for you?”
“Go with the guys.” I kissed him, a quick tease against his mouth. Behind us traffic buzzed by, the blare of a taxi’s horn shouting. “I just need to take care of something and I’ll be on the road maybe an hour behind you. I promise to be careful with the Jeep.”
Another kiss, longer this time. Gavin groaned against my lips. “I’m not worried about the Jeep.”
“I won’t miss the rehearsal dinner.”
“Rehearsal dinner, schmearsal dinner.”
I laughed as he dropped his forehead to mine. “And after the dinner, I’m all yours.”
“Hah.” He snorted. “I’m sure the demon known as Annabelle will have crafted some additional torture for us for this evening. We’ll be turning napkins into swans into the wee hours of the morning. Or maybe it’ll be paper flowers this time. Hand cut.”
“Stop.” I smacked him playfully on the arm. “I’d gladly subject myself to another week of Annabelle’s torture if it means Jules and Felix get their day.”
“What about us?” He tweaked my nose. “In a perfect world what would our day look like? Would it be a huge ball gown and champagne fountains?”
The thought made me giggle. Me in a huge, princess-style gown. That was rich. I sighed and shook my head. We’d been doing this a lot over the past week. Pretending the future was ours for the taking, that one could possibly exist for us. “No, nothing big. Maybe an elopement. I wouldn’t want to wait.”
“Vegas?” His eyebrows climbed toward his hairline.
“Possibly.”
“For the record, it wouldn’t matter to me.” His hand dropped to mine and his thumb brushed my ring finger. “I’d buy you a big rock though.”
“How big are we talking here?” I teased.
“Big enough to sink the Titanic.”
Another taxi sped by, leaning on its horn. Traffic and car horns—the soundtrack to the city. “I should go. I don’t want to be late.” My dad would have a field day with that. It was bad enough that going to Connecticut for Jules and Felix’s wedding was openly defying him and our basic rules of survival, not that he knew that was happening, but to add tardiness on top of it—it was just a bad, bad idea.
“You’ve got the keys to the Jeep?”
I nodded. “You remembered Elvis’s bowtie?”
“And mine.” He kissed me again, his hands lingering on my ass, his tongue slipping into my mouth to drive me absolutely mad. “Drive safely and I’ll see you soon.”
“You too.”
He didn’t let me go, so I gently shoved him away. “Go.”
“Fine.” He held up both hands in surrender. “Look, I’m going.”
I rolled my eyes at him and turned my back, a smile still dancing on my face. I traced the line of my lips with a finger, memorizing the shape of them. It was one of the things I’d miss the most when I had to leave—the feel of a smile curving my mouth, how much time I spent laughing. There wasn’t much reason for laughing when Gavin wasn’t around.
A quick glance at my phone showed I’d have to hurry to make my meeting with my dad. Mentally, I recalculated my route to shave off a little time. Not a big enough adjustment that it would be dangerous, but not quite out of the way enough it could be deemed safe either.
The sun beat down on me, the heat of the sidewalk seeping through the soles of my sneakers. Sweat and exhaust were the most dominant smells in the air; if I tried hard enough, I could catch a tiny hint of pretzels. Living with Gavin was like living with a food bloodhound. It must’ve been rubbing off on me.
I rounded the corner and rushed into Lucky Leon’s. We were back to our second spot, the first repeat we’d had so far. The bell jangled as I entered, a wave of stale air washing over me. Behind the counter was the same waitress we’d had the first time. She’d be disappointed again today with our lack of order.
The cracked upholstery of the booth scratched my leg as I slid in the booth. “Dad.”
He set his coffee mug down, the chipped ceramic mug thumping against the Formica table. “Have any trouble getting here?”
“None.” I pulled a napkin from the metal dispenser and set about folding it. Anything to keep my hands busy. “You?”
Lines formed at the corners of his eyes as he narrowed them at me. “You weren’t followed?”
His tone of voice forced my eyes up to meet his. Something was wrong. I knew it. “Of course not. You know how careful I am.”
“I know how careful you were.” He tossed a manila envelope on the table.
“What’s this?” My stomach turned inside out.
“Open it.”
I didn’t want to. Dread was a tightly curled ball churning in my gut. This was wrong, all wrong. Gingerly I grabbed the envelope and twisted the metal prongs so I could pull open the flap. I tilted it and a stack of pictures tumbled onto the table.
Pictures of me in the Hamptons.
Pictures of me outside Gavin’s place.
Pictures of me shopping for wedding flowers.
“What is this?” My voice trembled. The Hamptons. He had pictures of us at the Hamptons. “You knew. This whole time, you knew.”
“Do you think I don’t do my research, Dani?” A muscle ticked in his cheek. “Did you think I came back here not knowing that boy from Syracuse was here? What kind of threat he posed to us?”
“So why did we come back at all?”
“I thought you were smarter than that. I thought you’d grown up and gotten over this silly fantasy.”
A throat cleared. “Welcome back to Lucky Leon’s. Can I get you something to eat or drink, hun?”
My gaze was locked onto my father’s, unflinching. “No, we’re good here.”
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say, doll.” Her footsteps shuffled away.
My skin was tight and hot with anger. “What was the point of all this? Was it just a test?” The last few weeks, our last meeting replayed in my head. “Was the guy following you even real?”
“He was very real.” He glanced out the window and inclined his head. A man, the same man from the photographs, leaned against the brick building across the street, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. “But he wasn’t following me. He was following you. And he didn’t just trail behind you, you served him a beer, he held the door open for you.” His voice was steady and even, but every word was coated in barbs, ripping into me as he threw them at me. “If the threat had been real, you would have been dead a dozen times over with how careless you’ve been.”
“I’m sorry.” I stared down at the table, fixating on the chunk missing on the top edge.
“I don’t need you to be sorry, Dani. I need you to be alive. I knew New York was going to be difficult for you; it’s why I took extra precautions while we were here. Do you think it’s not hard for me, too? Being so close to your mother’s grave but not even being able to leave flowers for her?” His finger tapped the top of his coffee mug. “We can’t risk it anymore. It’s time to go.”
“What, now?” My eyes flew up to his, every muscle in my body tight and standing at attention.
“You’re going to get your things and be at our designated meeting point in two hours. Not a second more.” He fished out a ten from his wallet and tossed it on the table. One of quite a handful of green bills shoved inside.
“Did you pay this guy to follow me?” My head spun.
“You forget, this was my home for many years before we left. I still have friends here.”
“So, he’s a cop?” I fisted the napkin in my hand. “Maybe he can help. There has to be something they can do. What if—”
“You think, what? How could the police possibly help us? You forget the rampant corruption in the NYPD is why we’re in this whole situation to begin with. If they hadn’t burned my cover your mother would still be alive.” He gritted his teeth together. “No, we’re on our own. It’s the best chance we’ve got.” He slid out of the booth and stood. “Two hours.”
“No.” I pierced the empty seat across from me with my stare.
He sucked in a breath. “What did you just say?”
“I said, no.” Determination flowed through my veins as I stood and looked him in the eyes. “We’re not in danger here. Any danger I thought we were in was fabricated. By you. So you’re going to give me the time I need to say goodbye. You can at least give me that.” The look on his face was incredulous—expression blank, mouth set in a grim line. I hiked my purse over my shoulder and headed for the door. “Sunday, noon. I won’t be late.”