I hung up the phone and shoved it back into my pocket. Shit. None of this was good. One part of me was paranoid to no end, and the other part of me wanted to see Cindy again. I was being ripped between two worlds that could potentially destroy one another, and I had no idea what to do.
But I knew what I wanted to do. So I left the house and walked over before I lost my nerve.
I knocked on Cindy’s door and waited for her to answer.
“Hey there, Graham.”
“Hey, Cindy. Sorry I look so rough. Just got off work.”
“You're fine,” she said with a smile. “What brings you around?”
“A second date,” I said. “I was wondering if you’d like to get dinner with me tomorrow night.”
I watched her cheeks blush with a beautiful tint as she bit down onto her lower lip.
“Yeah. I’d like that,” she said
“Wonderful. Meet on my porch around seven?” I asked.
“I’ll be there.”
I leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek, making sure to not get any grease on her. She giggled that cute little sound that made my heart slam against my chest. I made my way back to my house and took a shower, the smile on my face aching my cheeks.
I was looking forward to having dinner with Cindy.
I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. My eye caught my gun in the middle of my bed. I picked it up to put it on my nightstand in case something happened, but I again sensed that something was off.
I turned my gun over in my hand to see why it felt different when I noticed that the weight of it was what was off. My eyes fell to the bullet chamber and a shiver ran down my spine.
I slid it out to the side and adrenaline coursed through my veins. It was empty. The entire clip was empty. I ran back to the kitchen and threw open the drawer, hoping and praying that those bullets were rolling around in the back somewhere, but they were nowhere to be found.
Someone had been in my house.
And someone had fucked with my gun.
They wanted me to be defenseless.
Fuck me, guess I wasn’t paranoid after all.
CHAPTER 17
CINDY
“You got your phone?” Nicole asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Your lipstick?”
“Yes.”
“Your good panties?”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Hey, just saying. I told you to enjoy yourself tonight. If the two of you don’t wanna come home right away, don’t feel like you have to,” she said.
“It’s only dinner. Nothing else.”
“Yeah. After the two of you banged each other’s brains out.”
“I knew I shouldn't have told you.”
“Oh, Cindy. I’m hurt. I’m your best friend. I should know all these things,” she said.
Nicole had agreed to watch Lily for the night so I could go out with Graham. I had spent the last hour trying out every outfit in my closet. My black dress. My green dress. My red dress and my orange one. Some of my summer dresses with my white flip-flops and some of my tighter dresses with some heels. It didn’t help that I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing. For all I knew, Graham was taking me to a dive bar, and I would be dressed in a prom gown and a full face of makeup.
I settled on a flowing summer dress with a strapless bra and my flip-flops. It was nice enough for a restaurant but could be played off for a picnic if something like that was happening. I put on a little makeup and left my hair down before changing my mind and pulling it back into a half-ponytail to get it out of my face.
“Cindy?”
“What?” I asked.
“It’s a few minutes past seven. Get your ass out there!”
“Please don’t use that language in front of Lily,” I said.
“She’s definitely out back getting dirty before her bath,” she said.
“I owe you one.”
“All you owe me are details from yesterday.”
“You’ll have to babysit a lot more for those,” I said.
I hugged Nicole before I started for Graham’s house. He was on his porch waiting, and when he turned around to see me, I saw his eyes take me in. They ran up and down my body like he was shocked to see me.
“You look … fantastic,” he said.
“You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He ushered me into his truck like the gentleman he was, and we headed off to dinner. We pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant I’d never been to, and I sighed with relief. The evening was a little chilly for anything outside, and I was tired from my day at the store.
I could sit, relax with some wine, and enjoy Graham’s company to wind down my day.
I could tell something was bothering him, though. We sat down at a booth in the corner, and he was adamant on sitting against the wall. His eyes kept darting out over the crowd of people in the restaurant, and his sentences to our waiter were clipped.
“Rough day?” I asked.
“I didn’t go into the shop today,” he said.
“You just seem tense is all.”
“There is something I need to tell you, but I’m not sure how you’re going to react,” he said.
“More than what we already talked about?” I asked.
“I actually have to clear up a lie I told you.”
“Ah,” I said, my stomach doing a flip. “Okay. Um, what’s going on?”
“Cindy, before I do, I just—”
“Graham. What’s going on?” I asked.
Our glasses of wine were set in front of us, and I promptly took mine. I had no idea what he was about to drop into my lap, but I felt like I needed to throw my guard back up. The look in his eyes overflowed with devastation, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to handle it. I instinctively knew that whatever he was about to tell me could be a total and complete game changer.
“My wife and my son weren’t killed in a home invasion.”
“What?” I asked. “Oh my God, you’re still married, aren’t you? You did abandon them somewhere and I’m a homewrecker,” I said.
“No. I swear to you Cindy, it’s not like that. I didn’t lie about my wife and son dying.”
“Then what happened?” I asked.
“They were murdered by some very bad people as a way to get to me,” he said, the full weight of his words pressing his shoulders down.
“What does that mean Graham? Are you in some sort of trouble? Gambling debts or drugs?” I asked, liking this conversation less and less.
“No, it was none of that either. Okay, look. I’m going to be one-hundred percent honest with you right now. I was a special agent with the CIA.”
My eyes grew large and I wasn’t sure if I should believe him or if he was feeding me a line of bullshit. “The CIA?” I asked skeptically.
“Yes. I had always wanted to work for them and, after college, I was recruited. I became a highly specialized operative; one of their top agents. I was involved in an operation that went south and I had to be extracted. The Agency had discovered a leak in the operation and that’s how I’d been made.”
His eyes bore into mine and I knew then that he was telling me the truth.
He was struggling, filled with pain and trying to get his thoughts straight. This strong man with iron muscles and strength carved from marble was crumbling before my very eyes. I could see his hands shaking as his eyes darted around the room. He was shifting around in his seat like he was uncomfortable. I wanted him to settle down.
“Graham, look at me. Look at me. Take a deep breath for me, okay?”
I watched him pull a large breath of air in through his nose.
I reached my hand out for his as he exhaled, and his eyes fell to mine. I watched his strength come back. I watched some more pieces fall into place. His hand moved from his lap and slid into mine, our wine glasses ignored and our food growing cold in front of us.
“I’m still here, and I’m not upset. Shocked, yes. But not upset. Just take your time. What happened? Talk to me.”
“I’ve never told anyone this.”
“Maybe it’s time you did because it’s clearly weighing on you,” I said.
“I didn’t figure it out until after. You know, after they had—”
I watched him swallow hard as tears welled in my eyes.