“Maybe not.” He cocked his head. “But you made a career from it and I have to assume you’re doing very well for yourself.”
“I’m doing fine.”
“You’re doing better than fine.” River chuckled, a dark, deep sound that pulled at my strings. “Mrs. Dolly is doing fine, making just enough to pay her rent every month. You’re doing well enough to afford your luxurious taste in designer clothing.” He raised an eyebrow. “I would assume your father cut you off the moment you left.”
“Don’t talk about my father.” I took a healthy gulp of the Lemon Drop and glanced away.
This was one of the issues with having too many people following you on the internet. Even though most of the time I only posted photos of old houses and haunts, every once in a while when I felt cute, I posted a selfie or asked a friend to take a posed picture of myself and that was where I assumed he saw my . . . as he said, luxurious taste in designer clothing. Damn social media.
“So, what can we expect from the party tomorrow night?” Martín asked.
I was glad he took the attention off me for a moment. I grabbed my crossbody from the table. “I need to use the restroom.”
I didn’t wait for anyone to acknowledge that before walking straight to the back of the bar. My heart was pounding so loudly in my head I could barely think straight and I couldn’t be sure if it was the amount of alcohol in my system or the fact that River Caliban, hot as he may be, had stalked the shit out of me and I was unnerved by it. He didn’t even bother to deny it either. The bathroom door closed and opened right away behind me and I turned around holding my breath, half expecting him to have followed. It was Dee though.
“Hey.” She walked over. “So that was weird.”
“Understatement of the century.”
“I mean, at least he’s really hot?” She cringed even as she said it.
“He thinks he knows my entire freaking wardrobe.” I paced the bathroom. “I just feel like the only reason he picked me was to show me he has a one-up on me. And to humiliate me. And gloat. And . . . take revenge on behalf of his family.”
“Seriously?” Dee let out a laugh. “This isn’t a movie set in the middle ages, P. If you don’t want to go with him, go to jail. Fuck it. If I were you, I’d go though. I mean, he’s hot, he’s rich, he lives in that mansion we never really get to see. Why not take advantage and get all the pictures you can get?”
I pursed my lips, nodding. And I could get the leaves from the supposed magical tree. If there was a tree at all. It was the absolute least I could do for my family, right?
“You know what?” I nodded a little more enthusiastically now. “I’m going to do it.”
“Good.” Dee smiled. “And if you want to leave or feel threatened, you call the cops and then us and we’ll be right over.” She hugged me quickly. “Now let’s get back to the table.”
“Go ahead. I actually do need to use the bathroom.” I smiled as she walked out.
When I finished washing my hands and left the bathroom, I felt like a woman on a mission. That was, until I ran straight into River, who was standing between the men’s and women’s, smoking a cigarette.
“You’re not supposed to smoke indoors, you know?” I pulled back and sneezed. “Also, I should warn you, I’m allergic.”
“To cigarette smoke?” He raised an eyebrow. I nodded and sneezed again. He turned and pressed the cigarette to the ashtray on the table beside him, blowing the smoke in the other direction.
“Thank you.” I cleared my throat. I hadn’t expected him to do that at all.
“See? I can be civil.”
“I’m not sure I’d classify that as civil, but sure.” I shrugged. “I have a question. About tonight I mean.”
“Okay.”
“I’m assuming we’ll be going back to your house, but how are we getting there? The tide should be low, but not low enough to walk across.” I frowned, realizing I didn’t really know. “Or is it?”
“It is,” he said. “I have a car waiting outside to take us back when you’re ready.”
“Aren’t you supposed to stay for the festivities? I heard there are huge artists coming.”
“I didn’t come for the festivities.” His smile was slow and purposeful, like a wolf ready to pounce on prey.
“You came here for me,” I said.
“Beauty and brains. We have a winner.” He smiled wider, and with that, escorted me outside the building through the back door.
Chapter Eight
The chauffeur was the bodyguard from before. This time, he solely focused on the road as River and I sat in the backseat of the black Rolls Royce. Truly, a luxury car. I stretched my legs fully and my toes still didn’t touch the back of the seat in front of me. I closed my eyes and inhaled the leather. It smelled like one of my designer bags. I could live in this car and die happy. River’s chuckle made me open my eyes and look at him. I expected him to be on his phone, but he was just looking out the window. I glanced over his shoulder to see what was so funny, but didn’t see anything. It was pitch black out. He was probably plotting my demise and I was the idiot going willingly. When I looked out my window, the only thing I could make out beneath the swaying fog was the Devil’s Chair. The car stopped there and my heart sped up. When I turned to ask why we were stopped there of all places, I caught the eyes of the driver in the rearview and my question died in my throat.