by Tina Saxon
“Mmm… there’s my feisty girl.”
Chapter Forty
“OKAY! I’LL TAKE you to meet him,” I say as I bring the straw to my lips, drinking the last few drops of my iced chai tea latte. All that is left is a full cup of ice. I sigh, shaking the cup.
I’ve been looking forward to spending today with Sydney this whole week. The change in weather seems to have brought all the crazies out. Every day we’re inundated with new crime scenes, which meant late nights. Weeks like this make me question humanity. They also make me more aware of my surroundings. Like the man sitting on the bench across the street from us. He’s reading a newspaper—at least that is what he wants us to think. Every time I glance in his direction, our gazes lock for a brief second before he looks down. He’s tall and muscular and from what I can see of his face, he looks eerily familiar, especially his eyes. I can’t seem to place where I’ve seen him before.
“I leave tomorrow. I need to meet the guy who named his restaurant after my best friend,” Syd says, pulling me from my thoughts.
“We don’t know that for sure. Maybe when he called me that, he liked how it rolled off the tongue.” I shrug dismissively, still paying close attention to the stranger.
“Mmm-hmm.” She narrows her eyes at me. “What or who has caught your attention, Detective Mason?” I laugh at the childhood nickname.
“You know me so well.” Leaning forward, I say, “So there’s a guy across the street, watching us. He’s been there for about fifteen minutes.” My voice is low and hushed. “I don’t know why, but I feel I know him from somewhere, but for the life of me, I can’t place him.”
I peek over Sydney’s head. I sit up straight, looking both ways down the street. “He’s gone.” Vendors are setting up shop for the day, city workers wash off the sidewalks, but no strange man.
“What did he look like?” Syd asks, turning around to look at the empty bench.
“Typical, nothing that really stuck out. Jeans, polo, baseball cap.”
“You’ve had a rough week. Maybe you’re reading too much into things,” she says. “Maybe he was just checking out two beautiful women.”
I sigh. “You’re probably right.”
“I am always right. Now get up and let’s get our shopping on.” She jumps out of her chair, picks up our trash then throws it away. The crisp morning breeze sends a shiver through me. The sun is peeking around the tall buildings, not yet spreading it’s warmth in the shadows.
“Let’s get in the sun. I’m cold,” I say.
“If you’d… I don’t know… drink a hot drink, you wouldn’t be so cold.”
“Okay, smartass. You know that’ll never happen. Now let’s go get lost in Macy’s.”
A few hours later and four armfuls of bags, we decide to make a pit stop at my apartment before continuing our shopping spree.
“After we drop these off, where to next?” I ask as we get off the elevator and head to my door.
“Let’s go to Soho and shop around the little bou—”
“Shh.” I stop her, holding up a finger to my lips as I grab my gun out of my purse. Syd stares at me with furrowed brows. “I went to unlock my door, but it was already unlocked. Stay here while I check things out.”
“I am not staying out here when you’re going in there with the gun,” she whisper-yells. Dropping her bags, she stands right behind me.
We walk in slowly. Syd’s touch is soft on my back, and I can hear both our hearts pounding. My gun is pointed and ready as I sweep the living room and kitchen. Sunlight floods the rooms; nobody could be hiding in either of them. Going from room to room, we don’t find anything. Everything seems fine.
I lay my gun on the kitchen counter, recounting my steps this morning when we left. I’ve never left my apartment unlocked before, but maybe I was distracted. I look at Syd with twisted lips.
“Don’t ask me. I left before you did to call home. I met you downstairs,” she says. I nod, remembering that.
“I don’t remember being distracted, but then I don’t remember exactly locking the door either. I must have rushed out so I wouldn’t keep you waiting.” I shrug.
I don’t tell Syd that I still have an uneasy feeling. I’m not sure if I’m overreacting because of the strange man this morning and now this, but nothing looks touched, out of place, or different.
“Would you feel better if you called Aiden?”
“Why in the world would I do that?” I ask.
She shrugs. “He’s FBI.”
“Really? I work for NYPD. Why would I call the FBI?” I look at her incredulously, my eyes wide. “I don’t need Aiden to come running to my rescue.” I sigh.
“Addie, you think you don’t need anyone, but I know you want that man. You’ve never acted this way toward any guy. And you haven’t seen him in almost a week. I thought maybe you’d want to talk to him,” she says, smirking.
“We’ve texted this week,” I say defensively. “And we’ve both been really busy with work. And that’s not true about not needing anyone…” I jut out my lower lip “…I’ll always need you,” I say, wrapping my arms around her. She hugs me back.
“Well, yea. I’m your other half. The better one, of course.” She snickers while I roll my eyes. “So now we know that nothing is wrong here, we have more shopping to do, girlfriend.” Syd grabs her purse off the table.
I blow out a breath and shrug to myself. I guess I just left it unlocked. Before we leave I grab my gun and put it back in my purse, double-checking to make sure my door is locked.
* * *
“My feet are killing me,” I whine. We’ve been shopping for almost eight hours straight, besides the short trip to my apartment earlier. “Can’t we just order in?” I plop down on my couch and have no intentions of getting up.
“No.” Syd walks over and stands over me with her hands on her hips. I internally laugh because she’s about the same height as me sitting down. “I want to meet Marco. I know it’s not too far from here so zip it. You’re not getting out of it.”
“Fine.” I sigh. “Let’s go get ready.”
I’m really tempted to wear yoga pants and a T-shirt, but since it’s a Friday night, and the last night that Syd will be here, I decide against it. Instead it’s dark jeans, a black draped top that hangs over one shoulder, and chunky boots. The boots won’t kill my already over-tired feet. I don’t even feel like curling my hair, so tonight it’s bone straight. When I’m satisfied with my modest makeup, I go find Sydney.
The music coming from Syd’s room drowns the clumping noise my boots make on the hardwood floor. I hear our song start to play: “My Church” by Maren Morris. Syd’s walking out of her bathroom as I’m walking in her bedroom. We both start belting out the song.
As the song ends, Syd turns the music off. I sigh. “You leaving sucks.” I dread sending her back to Texas tomorrow. I sit on the bed while she finishes getting ready.
“I know.” Her lips twist. “But hopefully some of my interviews went well this week and I’ll be living here soon,” she quickly says, sitting down beside me on the bed.
“Well, they’d be stupid not to hire you.” I lean my head on her shoulder. We’re silent for a few minutes.
“Come on, Addie. We can’t stay here all night and wish something we have no control over.” She grabs my hand and drags me out the door.
“Holy heavenly smell. It smells so good.” Syd inhales deeply as we walk into the restaurant.
“I know. The food is to die for. And the garlic rolls… Mmm,” I say, remembering the way they melted on my tongue. Garlic and olive oil. My stomach grumbles.
“Beautiful Addison,” I hear Marco yell from across the room. Syd’s eyes widen. I roll mine. I really wish he’d stop saying that.
He struts toward us and tells the hostess something in Italian. “Hi, Marco,” I say. He grabs me in his typical hug, lifting me off the floor.
“Will Aiden be joining you tonight?” he asks. He tries to sound nonchalant, but there’s a little sarcasm
in his tone.
I ignore it. “No, not tonight. I’m here with my best friend, Sydney.”
He takes Syd’s hand and kisses it. “So very nice to meet Addison’s best friend. I’m Marco.” He smiles wide as he glances from Syd to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Syd tilt her head, watching Marco. I fiddle with my purse to break eye contact.
“So I have to ask. Did yo–” My head whips up as I grab Syd by the arm, my eyes wide, silently demanding her to shut up.
“Did I what?” Marco flashes a knowing smile at both of us.
Shit. I don’t want to know if he named his restaurant after me. That’ll make it way too awkward, and if Aiden ever found out… I shake my head just imagining what might happen.
Syd’s mischievous smile stretches across her face. Shit, she’s not going to let this go. She squeezes my arm. I’m not sure if she’s telling me to brace myself or to calm down, but I’m nervous as hell.
“Did you…” she pauses as she licks her lips “…know that Italian is Addison’s favorite food?” She cocks an eyebrow.
Marco laughs out loud. I purse my lips together, shaking my head. I’m going to kill Syd. I narrow my eyes at her.
“Ladies, your table is ready.” Marco chuckles, leading us to our table on the terrace. It has the most magnificent view of the city skyline. We’re only three stories high, but we have an amazing view of the Empire State Building.
“Wow,” Syd says, spinning around.
“Only the best table for my Addison,” Marco says, giving me a sexy grin.
I sigh. “Marco…” I look him in the eyes. I don’t want to be a bitch, but I need him to understand that I’m definitely not his. And I don’t want him to think that there’s a chance. I need to figure out what’s going on between Aiden and me first. I blow out a breath. “You know I’m dating Aiden.” I’ll just go with that; not sure it’s true, but hopefully it’ll work.
He holds his hands up. “You can’t fault a guy for trying.” He winks and smiles wide. “Your waitress will be here shortly. Enjoy the view, ladies.” He turns and walks away. Both Syd and I watch. He is definitely easy on the eyes.
“Oh, my gosh, Addie. You now know, right?” Syd asks.
“What the hell was that earlier?” I whisper-yell. The traffic below is loud so no one can hear us.
“That was me trying to see what the heck is up with this guy. And he knew what I was going to ask.” She stares at me.
I run my hands through my hair, glancing over to where Marco is standing. His eyes meet mine, and he smiles. I look away quickly. “So he liked the name he gave me. It’s not like he knew I lived here.” I shrug.
She twists her lips, tapping her finger on the table. “I don’t know, Addie. He definitely has a thing for you though.”
I try to forget about the Marco situation while we inhale our food. It’s more amazing than the view. We enjoy a bottle of red wine, compliments of Marco, of course. Syd’s phone starts to play “Bad Boy” by Inner Circle. My mouth gapes open as she answers and says hello to Damon.
I mouth, “Really?”
She giggles. She doesn’t talk to him long. When she hangs up, I say, “You really gave him that ringtone?”
“Yep. It definitely fits.” She wags her eyebrows.
We both laugh as we pick up our wine glasses. “To sisters, who’ll hopefully be back together again soon,” I say, holding out my wine glass.
“To sisters.” We clink our glasses and take a drink.
A car horn pulls my attention toward the street. People crowd the sidewalks. That’s one thing I love about New York City, it’s always busy here. A red baseball cap catches my eye. I narrow my eyes to look at the person wearing it. He is sitting at the restaurant patio across the street from us, but his head is down so I can’t see his face. A shiver runs through me as I notice the clothes. He’s wearing the same clothes as the person from this morning.
“Syd,” I say, putting my wine glass down, “there’s that guy again.”
Her head turns toward the guy. “Are you sure? There are millions of people in this city. What are the odds of you seeing the same person twice?”
“My thoughts exactly,” I say. “Let’s go.”
“What? Go where?” She grabs my arm.
“I’m going to find out who the hell he is.”
“Addie. Addison!” she yells as she catches up to me. “This is not a good idea. Maybe you should really call Aiden. Or… I don’t know, the police? You know, all your new friends…”
When we pass Marco, I tell him we’ll be right back. He looks at me with confusion, but I don’t give him enough time to ask any questions. Taking the stairs two at a time, I’m outside in a couple minutes with Syd right behind me. She complains the whole time about this being a really bad idea. I put my hand in my purse and rest it on my gun as I cross the street.
The guy is still sitting there as I approach, but his head is still down as he continues reading. My heart beats fast and my hand grasps my gun.
I approach him. “Why are you following us?” I say in a tight voice.
The man looks up with a malicious grin. My spine stiffens. It’s not the same guy. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says snidely, but he’s not surprised by my accusation. I narrow my eyes.
“We’re sorry. We thought you were someone else,” Syd says, yanking on my arm. He nods slowly.
As we walk away, I turn back and his smile makes my skin crawl. His eyes are cold and flat. As we walk up the stairs back to the restaurant, I look at Syd, who is watching me. “Someone is screwing with me,” I spit out. “That guy has the exact same clothes and is the same build as the guy this morning. And he wasn’t surprised to see us.” Syd nods, her lips pressing together.
When we get home, I notice Syd hasn’t said much. “I’m sorry. Tonight was supposed to be fun.” My shoulders hunch over as I look down.
“Hey, I’m not mad at you, I’m worried. What if you’re right?” She takes a water out of the fridge. “Maybe you should really tell Aiden.”
I sigh. “I promise if anything else happens, I will.”
Chapter Forty-one
Aiden
I’M REGRETTING MY stupid decision to not give in to Addison until she figures her shit out. What the hell was I thinking? I wasn’t even the one who was drunk. Couldn’t I have thought of something that wouldn’t have left me with blue balls every night? On top of that, I miss her. And it’s only been a week. She wanted to spend time with Syd, so I backed off. It’s Monday morning and I’m supposed to be working, but nope, I’m sitting here thinking about Addison. I’ve picked up my phone at least five times to call her and ask her to lunch, but I’m afraid she’ll reject me. When the fuck have I ever been afraid of rejection? Oh, yeah, never, ’cause it’s never happened!
I don’t understand what’s in that head of hers. She’s afraid of something. I throw my head back and groan in frustration.
Damon walks in and sits across from me. “What’s wrong?” He’s sporting a shit-eating grin. Asshole. He knows damn well what’s wrong. He’s been telling me all along that no woman is worth this much trouble. And before Addison those were my thoughts, too.
I say the only thing I can think of that’ll piss him off. “Have a chance to talk to Sydney before she left?”
Sydney has had him fucked up all week, and I’ve loved the hell out it. “We talked real quick when she and Addison were at the new Italian restaurant. Mistero… something.” He shrugs.
Marco. That reminds me, I need to look into him. I pull up our database and start typing.
While trying to find information, I ask, “ Have you been to the new place?”
“A couple weeks ago. Why?” He narrows his eyes.
“Did you meet the owner?”
“He introduced himself.”
“What did you think?”
“What’s this about, Aiden?” Damon’s tone turns serious as he leans forward with his elbows on my desk,
glancing at my computer. I tell him about the other night and what Addison told me. And how the name of the restaurant is too much of a coincidence.
Damon nods. “He was a little too friendly, but really I didn’t think twice about it when I met him.” I continue typing while I listen.
“Bingo.” I turn my computer and point to what I found.
“Hmm. Do we need to put him on a watch list?” he says, pulling a sticky note off my desk and writing his name down.
“I’m not sure yet. But I’ll be watching out for him around Addison.”
“You going to tell her?” he asks.
“Yeah, but not until after our date. She’ll get pissed, thinking I’m just being jealous.” I smirk.
“You are.” He laughs, leaning back in his chair. “Did you decide where you’re taking her yet?”
Giants beat the Cowboys by one point in the last five seconds of the game. I laugh, remembering how pissed Addison was.
“Yep. I’m taking her out with Max on Saturday. And then hopefully New Haven after.”
“What? Without me? I want to go.” He’s dead serious as he furrows his eyebrows.
“Fuck no, you pansy. It’s a date, and it doesn’t include you.” I laugh.
“You think she’ll be okay with it?” he asks, joking aside.
“You know Addison. You ever see her back away from a challenge?”
* * *
It’s lunchtime and I’m done waiting. I need to see Addison. She’s like a drug and I haven’t had my fix. I call the front receptionist, and she tells me that Addison is still in her office. I grab Chinese food on my way over. I’m not even sure if she likes Chinese, so I bring a few choices. I’m riding up the elevator and starting to sweat. You’d think I was a teenager picking up a girl for a date. I sigh. Maybe I should’ve called her. The elevator doors open on floor three. Too late. People see me. I straighten my back, roll my shoulders, and walk in like I’m supposed to be here.
A few people say hello in passing. I’m so focused on getting to Addison’s office, I don’t even remember who it was. I walk up just as she’s leaving her office. She looks up as she shuts her door, surprise on her face. “Aiden. What are you doing here?”
