Chapter 64

I can almost feel Christian setting his jaw in frustration, even though I can’t see it. When I open my eyes, a little piece of me is pleased to see that I’m right. He starts to pull away from me, but I tighten my arms around him, not letting him go just yet.

“Chris, can we just be friends again?” I whisper, pleading. He goes still, and stops trying to pull away. “I’m not – I don’t want to interrupt things with you and Violetta. She’s a really nice girl – I even think that she and I could be friends, if you’d even like…let us sit in the same room together for more than three minutes. But please? Could we…could you please just try to let me be part of your life a little more? It’s been such shit these past few weeks. I’ve missed you.”

Christian sighs then, closing his eyes and tucking his head so our foreheads press together. “I’ve missed you too, Iris. And you’re right. I’ll…I’ll try.”

“Thank you,” I breathe, a little tiny warmth flooding me from my chest outwards even at the prospect of getting my friend back.

“So, can I take it,” Christian says, his voice light and joking, “that Frankie has paled in comparison to me, for companionship?”

“Actually,” I say, my eyebrows going up as I consider the question with perfect honesty. “Frankie’s been kind of amazing. He’s…”

But my words drift off when I see a frown come onto Christian’s face. See him glance away from me and down the hall, towards Frankie’s shut door. And I work very, very hard to contain the little smile that threatens to pull at my lips because…

Because is Christian actually jealous?

“Yeah,” I say, perhaps a little more devious than I should be in this moment, letting my hands slip from Christian’s waist and taking a step back. “He’s really nice to me, and funny, and smart…”

“Glad that’s working out,” Christian murmurs, dropping his arms and turning his face back to frown at me. “He’s kept his hands off you though, right?”

Slowly I nod, innocently tucking my hands behind my back. “Perfect gentleman,” I say – which is true. Even though…well, even though there have been moments – just tiny ones – when I wished that he wouldn’t be.

“Good,” Christian snaps, frowning, my friend again replaced with the mafia boss. “Turn in, Iris, you’ve got – unfortunately – a big day tomorrow. I’m not sending you in if it’s not safe but…you should get some sleep anyway.”

“Sure thing,” I murmur, watching Christian walk away. As he goes, I grin, shaking my head a little.

Christian jealous of Frankie? I never thought I’d see the day. But when I let myself consider it…

Well. Maybe he has a reason to be.

Frankie and I…we’ve grown quite close over the past few weeks, haven’t we? And he saved my life today, which was very heroic.

Quietly, I turn on my heel and head off to my room to consider this a little further.

I have to admit, the anxiety is running hard in me when Frankie and I pull into the parking lot of Lupa the next day.

“You’re going to be fine,” Frankie says, giving me a little smile as he pulls into our usual parking spot. “Plus, you look too pretty today to be all worried,” he says, putting a warm hand on my shoulder.

I sigh, smiling at him, but a little bit pleased at his compliment. Nico picked out my outfit today especially – he said I needed to look extra good, because the Boss is going to want Lupa to be as strong as possible. So, here I am, dressed to the nines and shaking in my boots.

“Are you sure nothing’s going to happen tonight?” I ask, my fingers twisting together. “Yesterday was so close, Frankie – if you hadn’t been right there –“

“But I was right there!” he says, smiling at me again, I think a little pleased that I see him as a point of safety. “And I will be again.”

“But what if we have another fight?” I ask, my voice soft. “Frankie, I was walking away from you because I was pissed off – if I’d stormed towards the front door – you would have let me go –“

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Bambs,” he murmurs, his own voice matching mine now as he leans towards me, lifting a hand to cup my cheek. “And I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you yesterday, even if we were in a fight. Even if you were being a brat.”

I gape at him and then scowl, swatting away his hand. “I was not being a brat!”

“There she is,” he murmurs, laughing and giving me a wink as he unbuckles his seatbelt and reaches for his door. “Brave Bambi, always coming forward when you make her feel a little spicy. Come on, Bambina, you’re safter inside than you are in the front seat.”

I sigh, walking into the service entrance of the bar at his side. “Bambina?” I ask, a little dubious, but not mad anymore. He’s right, after all – Frankie, he really knows me well now, doesn’t he? Knows a little teasing breaks me right out of my moods.

“I reserve the right to create new nicknames at any times, as many as I wish,” he says, giving me another wink and bumping his shoulder against mine as we walk into the main room. Then, without another word, he crosses the bar, heading to his usual corner and nodding to Andre on the way.

I sigh, walking to the bar and then ducking beneath it so I can move to Andre’s side.

When I get there, he turns to me and looks me over quite seriously from head to foot. “You good?” he asks, almost suspicious.

I frown at him and hold my hands out to the side with a shrug, not understanding what he means.

“I mean,” he sighs, leaning against the bar and frowning at me, exasperated. “Are you going to go all to pieces on me today, just because there were a few gunshots yesterday?”

“Andre!” I say, gaping at him. “You’re acting like I shouldn’t go all to pieces on you because there were a few gunshots yesterday! That was a serious act of violence that could have –“

“Ohhh please,” he says, rolling his eyes at me as he waves a hand, tossing a towel over his shoulder as he turns away. “You didn’t even get shot.”

I gape at him for a second before storming down the bar after him. “And if I did, would that be excuse enough to go all to pieces!?”

“Sure,” he says, turning with a shrug, “if you get shot, then you can flip out. Until then, I need you steady, Bambi. Can you do it?” He tosses a second towel at me, gesturing towards a stack of glasses that need polishing before my shift. I glare at him, but get started.

“Yes, I can do it,” I snap, a little angry at his inflexibility.

“Good,” he says, and I glance over at the doors which open, the first customers coming through. Someone I don’t recognize is at the hostess stand, I guess filling in for Lucy. “Because the boss has a special task for you today, Bambs, and I need you on point. If you can’t handle it, tell me now.”

My eyebrows arch in surprise and I look curiously into Andre’s face, even as my hands continue to polish the glasses and stack them in their places behind the bar. “Can I know what it is? Before I decide whether or not I can handle it?”

“No,” he says, immediate. “Either you’re on point tonight or you’re not. It’s yes or no.”

“Is it allowed to be no?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“If it’s no,” Andre says, his hands pausing in his work for a second, “then you go home, Bambi. Again, I need you on point, and only on point. If you can’t handle it, you leave.”

“And by leave, you mean…”

Andre raises his eyebrow at me, and I realize that I don’t even need to finish the question. If I leave now, I’m not coming back. I send a quick glance in Frankie’s direction, but he’s concentrating on his phone.

“Don’t look at my brother, look at me,” Andre snaps, and I do as he bids.

I take a second to consider, but then decide to trust Christian and Frankie. They wouldn’t have sent me here if it wasn’t safe today. And if I’m safe, then… “I’m on point,” I say, giving Andre a steady nod. “What do you need me to do?”