“Give them your angry glare and they’ll piss themselves. They were pretty close to needing new pants when they realized they shot me.”
Saint glanced up at the top deck where voices were raised. Sawyer likely caused a disagreement between the Johanssons and Memphis guys.
“If you kill Lenny, will your bosses be mad?”
“Bosses? I’m self employed, babe. I'm also worth more alive than Lenny is. I deal with problems no one else can. Lenny is cheap muscle.”
“Okay.”
Saint smiled, tugging at the seam of my tee. “Everyone is partying this afternoon and probably into the evening. We're expected to stick around and have fun with them during the last night in town. I know all that, but let's ditch this place and go somewhere private.”
“You’re leaving tomorrow,” I said, letting the idea sink in.
“After escorting the big dogs back to Memphis, I’ll be back. They don't know that, of course.”
I took his hand. “Let’s go. I don’t want our last night together to be surrounded by people we have to pretend for.”
“Last night isn’t really accurate.”
“You said it first,” I pointed out as we walked around the house to the driveway.
“True, but I didn’t mean it like you think it means.”
“Because you’ll come back?”
Saint heard the question in my voice. He smiled as if our evening would be filled with reassurances. I returned his smile then slid into the SUV. After a text to Winnie to make sure Jace was okay, I settled into my seat and let Saint take the reigns on our last night tonight.
Chapter Thirty Two ~ Saint
Harlow was a mess of emotions. Hiding nothing, she showed me every fear and joy she felt. We'd spent most of the last night in the hot tub. We cuddled in bed, walked to a local place for dinner, and returned to the apartment complex for more hot tub soaking. The night ended with Harlow crying out my name more than once.
“Making you lose control again last night were some of my greatest accomplishments,” I said, meaning every word. “We'll celebrate when I get back to town.”
“I can't believe you're leaving?”
“Just to escort the big wigs back to Memphis. It’d be easier if the Johanssons would build a landing strip somewhere, so guys can fly in and out of town.”
“Do you promise you'll come back?”
Frowning, I realized she was genuinely worried. “Of course.”
“If you decide not to come back, there’s nothing I can do, right? I don’t even know your real name. You could disappear and I'd never be able to find you.”
I cupped her face and gently wiped away the tears pouring down her cheeks. “I’m coming back. It’ll only be a few days.”
“But you don’t have to come back. You can disappear and I can’t do anything. I can only hope you return.”
“Harlow, I’m coming back.”
“You can say whatever you want and I have to accept it. What else can I do? You have all the power.”
Seeing the panic in her wet eyes, I struggled to help her. How could she not see how much I needed her?
“Let me have your phone,” I said, reaching for her little army styled purse.
“You use burner cells,” she whimpered, crying harder now. “Putting a temp number in my phone doesn’t mean anything except you think I’m stupid.”
Ignoring her tears, I set the number then dialed it. Harlow tried to walk away, but I snagged her around the waist and sat her on my lap. The phone rang a few times before my mom answered.
“Hey, Mom, say hello to Harlow.”
I placed the phone against Harlow’s ear.
“Hello,” Harlow mumbled, wiping her eyes. “Nice to talk to you too.”
I cradled her in my arms while she made a few minutes of small talk with Mom who likely wanted to know her life story. I took the phone and told my mother goodbye, knowing I would need to call her later to explain why no wedding date was set yet.
Hanging up, I handed Harlow her phone. “I'm trusting you with my mom’s home number. I wouldn’t do that if I wasn’t coming back.”
“Was that really your mom?” she asked, wiping her face. When I nodded, she gave me a little smile. “She sounds nice.”
“Oh, she’s very nice, but having you talk to her was like waving red meat in front of a lioness. She’ll want to meet you now. We’ll do that another day.”
Calm now, Harlow studied me. “I don’t want to guilt you, but if you don’t come back, it’ll destroy me. My destruction will be on you, so keep that in mind if you find someone better.”
I considered telling her how stupid she was being to think I would meet anyone else. Harlow wouldn’t understand though. My life before her was a dark memory I couldn’t really share. She knew about Mexico and my violent job. She knew I only fucked on my birthday. Harlow understood these surface facts, but the true ugliness of my life didn’t register. I still wore too many masks with her. I still hid the fucked up man I was inside.