He growls, and I know I’ve upset him. Ha! Now he knows how it feels.
“You want to know how my meeting was? It was perfect. Better than perfect. That’s what I want to talk to you about.”
Did he just say that being with Candy was perfect? Better than perfect? That jerk!
“You’re a liar!”
“What? What the fuck are you talking about?”
I’m breathing heavy, and anger keeps me from articulating an answer. All I want to do is scream.
“What is it, baby?” His words drip with sarcasm. “You run out of shit to talk? Those sweet little lips of yours can’t keep up with you being a bitch—”
I gasp. Loud. “What did you call me?”
“Fuck. That’s not what I meant—”
“No, Jonah. You just called me the b-word. I can’t believe you just called me that!” The tone in my voice is so high I’m surprised my windows don’t burst.
“Baby, calm down.”
“Do not call me baby. Not after what you’ve done. Not after tonight.” A whine slides up my throat and I burst into tears.
“Raven, you’re scaring me. Where are you? I’ll come to you.”
I whimper and sob, knowing I should hang up, but lacking the power to say good-bye.
“Please don’t cry. Look, I’m sorry. It’s just been a long day, and I need to see you.”
I take a deep cleansing breath as Guy’s words flood my mind. This is it. The moment he was talking about. I swallow a shaky breath. I have a choice to make. Fight or give up.
I love Jonah with all my heart. As disgusting as it is, I would take him even now after he’s been with Candy. But what kind of a future do we have? Putting his life at risk isn’t an option. And fighting for our love will only be prolonging the inevitable. Dominick has me. Besides, the fight takes energy. It takes words and emotions that I’ve run clean out of. I’m drained in every possible way.
I have no fight left.
“Good-bye, Jonah.”
*
Jonah
“Fuck!” I launch my phone across the room. It shatters against the wall. I’ve just destroyed my only way of getting in touch with Raven.
My ass drops to the couch and I rest my elbows on my thighs. I run my hands through my hair like my head is a genie’s bottle and I’m begging for my three wishes.
What in the hell just happened?
You called her a bitch, asshole.
What was I thinking? I was pumped up from my meeting with Dominick and sick of being away from Raven all day. I’ve never seen that attitude from her before. It caught me off guard, and I slipped. But she was pissed before that.
Growling in frustration, I sit back and stare at the ceiling in my living room. This isn’t over. I’m not letting her get away with a simple fucking hang-up.
No. She will talk to me and tell me what the fuck is going on. Jumping up from the couch, I grab my keys. I’ll drive every street of this city until I find her.
My truck thunders through the streets of Las Vegas. I check everywhere. First Raven’s studio, then Nori Pizza where Eve works. The hostess gave me Eve’s address so I could check there. After I talk to Raven and give her a firm spanking, I’m talking to Eve. Employees shouldn’t be giving out addresses. The way the girl acted, I probably could have gotten her bank account and social security numbers if I’d asked.
No sign of her Nova anywhere. After an hour of circling the city, I go back to her place and wait.
Parked out front of Guy’s Garage, I replay my conversation with Raven for the millionth time. She usually answers the phone with a smile in her voice. This time she was pissed from hello. What could I have done to upset her from the time I left her in my bed this morning?
I watch the numbers on the clock climb. It’s just after one in the morning. Rubbing the exhaustion from my eyes, I hear the familiar rumble of Raven’s Nova. She’s driving like an Andretti. Her car screeches through the turn into the parking lot. I jump out of my truck as she throws the Nova into a spot sideways. She slams shut her car door, muttering something about reinforced steel walls.
I make it to her as she’s turning around. She jumps and stops herself just short of running into my chest. I reach to pull her to me. She stiffens, dodging my embrace. Her eyes avoid mine, but I can tell she’s been crying.
What the fuck?
“Baby, don’t close me out. I don’t understand what I did—”
She silences me with a piercing glare.
“Okay, I called you a bi— uh, the b-word. I’m so sorry for that. If I could take it back I would.”
I cup her cheek and pray she doesn’t push me away. The moment my skin connects with hers, she presses into my hold and closes her eyes. A lone tear makes a path down her face, pooling at my hand.
“Baby, talk to me. What did I do? You were pissed before I called you. When you answered the phone, I could tell you were mad.” She leans into my hand. “What you said about my meeting—”