His cocky look challenged me to finish my lie. "Ugh! Let's just go, okay?" I stomped away, grabbing my purse off the counter and yanking the door open.
"As you wish." He slowly walked past me and into the hallway, smiling the entire way.
The car ride was silent, aside from my blunt directions to Celestino's. I was still fuming from our argument, if you could call it that. Sure, I was mad at him for being so damn smug and taking liberties that he shouldn't, but I was so completely angry at myself for allowing all of it to happen without one protest, until after it was too late.
I tried to push all my anger aside in order to enjoy the night with Caleb, but my mind kept sneaking back to Hunter's expertise with my shoe.
"Hunter, how is it you can handle a pair of women's strappy sandals better than I can?"
He laughed. "Ahhh. Therein, lies another lesson, Cassandra. There are a lot of things that I am an expert at with women. I'd be happy to show you all of them."
I looked down and he put his hand on my thigh. With a grunt, I shoved it off me. I didn't even have to look at him to feel the arrogance emanating from him over my reaction.
"How about I give you a little lesson about me? Maybe all of the women you know, or have known, like it when you molest them. But you touch me again without my permission, and I'll make sure I wipe that shit-ass grin off your face. And that goes for Nora too." I sat up straighter in my seat, feeling my backbone growing stronger. It felt really good and was long overdue.
"Understood, but know this," he said, his voice confident. "You will give me your permission, and I promise you'll be the one with the smile on your face."
I threw my head back, closed my eyes, and breathed an exasperated sigh. "This is hopeless," I whispered. "You're hopeless." I didn't bother with another word to him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The atmosphere at Celestino's was just what I imagined it to be. I forgot all about Hunter lingering beside me as I looked around the spacious, but cozy room. Guests sat at candlelit tables, eating, talking, and laughing amongst themselves. Those that weren't, simply gazed across the table at one another, their eyes communicating everything that needed to be said, while their fingers grazed each other's to keep the physical connection.
The smooth brick wall at the back of the room stood out against the other three rich, mahogany walls, but only in texture, as they all harmonized in their deep brown tones. Scenic Italian decorative plates hung stylishly around the room. The only lighting came from pendant fixtures hanging randomly from the ceiling. Their soft, brushed glass created more of a radiant light than a stark illumination. There were a few windows that lined the north wall, allowing only slivers of the outside into the restaurant. White linen curtains were pulled back, revealing old wine bottles placed strategically on their sills.
It was a dim, romantic ambiance that made me feel welcomed immediately. Unfortunately, the lighting also made it difficult to tell if Caleb were seated at any of the tables. I squinted to try to get a better look, but as far as I could tell, he wasn't there.
As I approached the hostess' podium, I noticed the young woman behind it was having a hard time keeping her eyes off Hunter. In fact, I would define it as blatant ogling. I looked behind me to see if he'd noticed, and immediately realized the allure he held over her. I don't know how I missed how breathtaking he looked. Maybe I was too keyed up in my apartment, or maybe it was the lighting in the restaurant, but there was a glamour about him that was undeniably sexy and magnetic.
The dim lighting caused the slight stubble on his face to appear as shadows defining his chiseled jaw, indicating his strength and power. His dark hair, in combination with the shadows, made his eyes appear as glowing spheres of blue, possessing magical qualities of being able to look straight to your inner thoughts. He was dressed in a black suit with a crisp, white shirt, unbuttoned to reveal the tip of a white undershirt, while emphasizing the tan skin of his neck and face. The suit sculpted his body as if it were tailored just for him, inviting a woman's eyes to slide slowly over the length of him and appreciate every moment of it.
The smile he wore proved he knew he was being admired by more than one female in the restaurant, including me. His confidence seemed natural, but held a mysticism that pulled at your inner spirit to be near him. He had the looks of a movie star, and the dark power of the bad boys your mother warned you about but you couldn't help yearning for. In one word, he was delicious. It took sheer willpower for me to turn away from him. When I finally did look back at the hostess, she seemed content to pursue her admiration of Hunter. I cleared my throat to get her attention.
"Welcome to Celestino's," she greeted us with what was probably her biggest smile of the night, presumably more for Hunter's sake than mine.
After confirming with Natalie, as her nametag read, that Caleb had not arrived yet, she seated us at a table in the middle of the room. It was elegantly decorated in white, from the plates to the candle sitting in the center, as well as the tablecloth they all rested upon. Just off the center, sat a vase holding a beautiful spray of flowers. It splashed vivid colors of reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows onto the bright white setting.
I moved to the chair furthest from the front of the room, in order to watch the door for Caleb. When he came in, I wanted to be the first person he saw at the table, hoping to start him off in a good mood before seeing Hunter. Hunter quickly moved in behind me and I stiffened until I watched him pull the chair out for me. I relaxed as I sat, embarrassed that I had assumed he was up to no good.
He pulled out a chair next to me. I would have preferred he sat across the table, but with us being the only two there, it made it easier for us to talk. By the time we were situated, a waiter came by to ask what we wanted to drink. Hunter took it upon himself to order an expensive red wine and the waiter left us alone.
An awkward silence fell over us, the kind that happens when two people are thrown together who have no idea what to say to one another. I couldn't stand the silence so I picked a safe subject that wouldn't encourage anything that might make me more uncomfortable than I already was.
"So, what did you think of the apartments, Hunter?"
He placed his elbows on the table and leaned his chin forward to rest on his hands.
"I've already signed the lease. I move in this weekend."
The surprise on my face couldn't have been more shameless if he had told me he was really a woman and eight months pregnant.
"What?" I asked disbelieving.
The waiter, oblivious to the conversation he was walking in on, brought over our bottle of wine. Hunter nodded to him when presented with the bottle and continued to go through the ministrations of properly tasting the wine for approval. He refused to look in my direction until after the waiter had poured us each a glass, promising to return soon for our orders.
"I'm sorry, Cassandra," He turned back to me. "Now what was your question?"
"When... uh... How did you manage to get in so quickly? I mean, moving usually takes weeks."
"The apartment was empty. The landlord was eager to start getting rent. And I'm a quick mover," he said, as if checking them off an imaginary list.
"I'm sorry. That was rude of me."
He gave me a friendly smile. "No problem. I can see how it would seem rather sudden, but I don't have a lot of personal relations with whom I have to contend."
"Oh? What about family? Friends?"
Hunter's head turned towards the front of the table just as the waiter walked up again. Why was it that when I wanted an interruption like this I couldn't find a soul in sight? The waiter asked to take our orders, but I explained that we were still waiting on one, maybe two more people. He agreed to come back when he saw that one or both had arrived.
"Where is Caleb, anyway?" Hunter asked. "It's a half hour past the reservation. That's not very good manners for a first date. Maybe you need to start considering other options." He sipped his wine, as if his bold statement was a simple matter of fact.
&nbs
p; "He told me he might be late, Hunter," I said defending Caleb. I took a sip of my own wine. "And if having one point against him was cause for dismissal, you'd be a distant memory already." I almost tipped my glass over, realizing what I'd said.
"Does that mean you consider me an option? I'm flattered, and I accept."
Ahhh... the smirk. Guess I deserved that one for my stupidity. I decided the best way to change the direction of the conversation was to just avoid it all together. "He's working; said they were really busy at Luke's and—"
"Hunter," Caleb's stern voice came from the front of the table. I hadn't even heard him walk up. "What the hell are you doing here?"
He was staring Hunter down and now I felt the need to defend him too. Caleb may not have liked Hunter, but there was no reason to be outright rude to him when he'd done nothing wrong. Well, yet anyway.
"Hello, Caleb," he answered evenly. "It's nice to see you again too. I heard you were working. How was it?"
As they stared each other down, the air between them became so thick it was starting to settle under my skin. I looked back and forth between them, trying to gauge what was really going on. Caleb stood ramrod straight, fists clenched at his sides, jaw working overtime as it clamped his teeth together. Hunter, however, never moved from his chair, still casually resting his chin on his fist. His eyes, on the other hand, defied his posture. They were liquid steel aimed at Caleb, silently challenging him.
"Work was hell," Caleb sneered.
Hunter stood quickly, barely knocking the chair over behind him. I stood almost as quickly, in anticipation of breaking up whatever was going on between them. My heart was racing from the unexpected turn of events. I thought there might have been some animosity to overcome, but this was far beyond how I imagined it would play out.
"Cassandra, you need to call Nora right now," Hunter said, sounding lethal, his eyes still glued to Caleb's.
"Wait... What? Why? What the hell is going on, Hunter?" I had no idea what was happening, but the tone of his voice was scaring the hell out of me. And the fact that neither of them had flinched from their stare-down was really freaking me out. And what did Nora have to do with any of this?
He turned to me and yelled, "Damn it, Cassandra, call her now!"
"Look, Hunter! I am not going to call Nora until you tell me what is going on!" I yelled back.
He growled, grabbing my purse from the floor.
"Hey! What the...," I watched as he vigorously rifled through my purse. He found my phone and pushed at the buttons. "Hunter, just tell me what is going on! What do you want with Nora?" He ignored me, listening to the phone, before throwing it down, cursing.
I looked over at Caleb, who stood with a smile on his face, watching the scene between Hunter and me. "Caleb?" I called out, hoping to get his attention. He had completely transformed from the sweet, considerate, caring guy I'd been with yesterday. Tonight he appeared malicious and calculating. "Caleb, look at me! Tell me what's happened! Why aren't you saying anything?" When he finally turned towards me, I flinched. His eyes had taken on an otherworldly glow. I closed my eyes, attempting to clear them from the illusion I thought I'd just witnessed, but Hunter pulled hard at my arm, forcing me to turn away from Caleb.
"Cassandra, I know you don't trust me, but I need you to go home right now and check on Nora." He shoved his keys into my hand. "Hurry. I'll be there soon and I'll explain everything."
A weight started to bear down on my chest. Was Nora really in trouble? How did he know? And how did Caleb fit into all of it? I looked over at him again, hoping he'd tell me something.
I don't know if it were the look of dread on my face that spurred Caleb out of his mysterious spell, or Hunter's attempts to get me out of the restaurant, but he suddenly turned toward me and grabbed my arm.
"Cassie, I told you not to trust this guy," he said, an intense look on his face.
There was a whirl of movement around me and Caleb's hand was ripped from my arm. Before I knew what was happening, Hunter stood between Caleb and me, with me at his back. They were comparable in height, but somehow Hunter seemed to tower over Caleb.
"Have you forgotten your rank, Caleb?" Hunter's voice was deadly. "If you touch her again, I'll make sure you remember."
What did he mean by rank? Did Caleb work for him? Were they in the military together? I was completely lost.
"Consider this a rebellion," Caleb answered.
I was standing behind Hunter, blocked from seeing what was going on between them, but I felt the tension rise to the point of violence. I looked around the room to see everyone in the restaurant focused on the scene playing out between us. Their faces were a mix of fascination and anxiety. The closer patrons had moved out of range, but no one said a word, and no one dared to approach. They all seemed willing to let this battle play out, no matter the consequences. I, on the other hand, was not so eager.
I held my breath and moved from behind Hunter to the side of them both, my small frame dwarfed by the two powerhouses in front of me. I planned to plant myself right in the middle of them, but they were standing so close to each other that there was not a breath of air that could squeeze between them. I put my hands on their arms, intending to pull them away from each other, but feeling the rigidity of their muscles, I knew there was no chance of that happening either.
I kept my voice low, but with steel conviction, "Look, I don't know who the hell you guys are, and at this point, I don't even care. But this thing you have going on right now..." I pointed my finger back and forth between them. "... will not happen here with all of these people around. And if I have to—"
The air changed around me. It was like a surge of energy had gone right through me and then there was complete silence. I turned to look around the restaurant and screamed. Everyone had vanished. Not a single soul that was in the restaurant seconds ago was left in sight. Chairs sat empty, in the same position they had been when people were sitting on them.
"There!" Caleb said, looking at me. "All fixed."
"Damn you, Caleb," Hunter growled as Caleb laughed.
My head started spinning in circles, which in turn, interlocked with other circles, forcing my mind into so many directions that it was impossible to process a coherent thought. I became light-headed and felt as if I were losing touch with reality. My eyes started to cloud over and I knew I wasn't going to keep it together much longer when I heard a faint voice through the fog, "Cassandra, get out of here now! Go check on Nora!" I wasn't even sure who said it. I guessed it was Hunter, because Caleb's maniacal laughter was still ringing in my ears. But the thought of Nora being in danger and somehow wrapped up in all of this chaos cleared my head enough to run from them. With Hunter's keys in my hand, I ran and didn't look back.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The city was a blur as I raced through it, pushing Hunter's Mustang hard, but nowhere near its limits. I strained to still my trembling arms in order to steer. My adrenaline was on overdrive, trying to keep up with all of the emotions struggling for control. Nora was my main concern, but I couldn't stop the images of Hunter and Caleb from sneaking up on me. What I had witnessed was so far beyond unreal that I was starting to question my sanity, or at least my reality. Was it possible that the whole surreal scene had really been some kind of crazy vision and I would be waking up soon?
I told myself that I would have to try and sort it all out later. I had no choice but to listen to Hunter and check on Nora, even though I had no reason to trust him. It felt like he'd been pushing himself into my life from the very first time I dreamt of him. Ever since, my life had slowly chipped away into pieces that didn't seem to fit together anymore. I was afraid that if they ever came together, it would be far from the life I hoped it would be.
I breathed a small sigh of relief when I saw Nora's car in the lot. At least, I knew she made it home. I raced up the stairs and pushed open our apartment door anxiously. The living room was empty, but there was an empty wine glass on the table by the couch.
Calling her name, I ran to her bedroom. The door was closed and I could hear her muffled crying beyond it. So as not to scare her, I opened the door slowly and hesitantly called to her. She was lying on her bed, still in the dress she had on before she left earlier. Her face was half-buried into the white pillow, now stained with patterns of color from the makeup that ran off her face with her tears.
"Oh, Nora!" I ran and sat on the bed next to her, rubbing her back with my hand. "Honey, what happened? Are you okay?"
She took a minute to gather herself together. I reached for the box of tissues by her nightstand and handed her a few. Sitting up, she wiped at her sad eyes. She looked devastated. There seemed to be an internal battle she was fighting as she looked into my eyes. I was so afraid of what may have happened to her, knowing what I had just witnessed at the restaurant, and fearing that it had something to do with Caleb and Hunter.
"It's okay, Nora, you can tell me anything."
"I shouldn't, I'm not supposed to tell anyone," she said quietly.
"Well, I'm not just anyone. There's nothing you can't tell me." I wondered what was so bad that she wasn't allowed to tell anyone. For the first time since I've known her, she seemed scared. I waited while she debated with herself on whether to tell me.
"Cassie, I know what you are." She looked me straight in the eyes, gauging my reaction. Did she mean... No, she couldn't know I was a Guardian! Unless...
I couldn't take the chance that this was about something completely different from what I was thinking it might be. I had to hear her say it. "I'm not sure what you mean, Nora."
"I know what you are, because I'm a Guardian too. I've known you were for a while now."
My eyes grew wide; my first reaction was complete surprise, hearing the words said out loud. In a small way, I felt a little bit of anger over it. Why didn't she tell me before? Things could have been so much different between us. We could have helped each other.
"But, how? Why didn't you say anything if you knew? I've never known any other Guardians, except for my mom. I... we wouldn't have had to feel so alone. We could have helped one another. Or, wait, do you know others?" I always figured there were others, but never thought they'd be as close as living in the same apartment as I. Maybe there was a whole network of Guardians that I had no clue about.
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