SWNOVELS Now You’re Mine: Chapter 6
“There she is!”
Harper’s smile is as welcoming as her voice. And just as obnoxious.
“Hey.” A grin works its way onto my mouth despite the last twenty-four hours having stripped me of my newfound happiness. “How’s it going?”
“I like working with Alex, but he’s not my bestie. I’m glad I get to see you before my shift ends.”
“Me too.”
Harper flicks her gaze over my shoulder, her expression full of intrigue. “Who’s the muscle?”
I sigh. “My bodyguard, courtesy of Hayden.”
“God, that man is crazy.” She winks at me. “I mean crazy for you, of course.”
“Oh, he’s definitely a psycho.”
I walk over to put away my purse and then retrieve my apron. The redhead trails me closer than Sebastian would ever dare. “You have a look on your face. I need to know everything,” Harper says, her voice quivering with excitement. “Did he spank you? Tie you up? You know I’m a Shibari expert. If you really want to escape, I can help with that. But why would you? Am I right?”
She waggles her eyebrows at me, and I roll my eyes at her. “It’s nothing like that,” I say. Although, I wish it was.
“Then what?” Harper runs her gaze over me in a silent assessment before pinning me with her stare. “Where were you this morning?”
“I was at the doctor’s.”
Her green eyes grow clouded with worry. “Are you sick?”
“No.” I scan the room for Alex and lower my voice. “I got on birth control.”
“Smart move. You don’t want to have little Calista baristas running around. That’d put a stop to your sex life faster than being an extra dick at a porno shoot.”
“Agreed.”
I walk up to the counter and open the till. The bills are all facing different directions, just like I anticipated. I rearrange the money, glad for something to keep my mind occupied until a customer walks in.
Harper bumps me with her hip and leans against the counter, folding her arms. “What’s wrong?”
“Would you ever lie to someone to keep them safe?”
Harper scoffs. “Duh.”
I jerk my head up to look at her. “What about breaking trust?”
“How serious are we talking about? Is it a life-or-death situation?” When I give her a reluctant nod, she shrugs. “Trust doesn’t matter if they’re dead. Personally, I wouldn’t get caught lying in the first place. But if I did, then I’d take whatever they dish out. It’s hard to stay mad at someone who has your best interests at heart.”
“Unbelievable.”
I close the register and reach for the sanitizer, pumping it like it’s a whack-a-mole. Or Hayden’s face. I rub the liquid all over my hands, and Harper watches me the entire time.
“Your silence scares me,” I mutter. “Say something, or I’ll sic Sebastian on you.”
She looks over at the bodyguard sitting on the far side of the coffee shop and blows him a kiss before turning to look at me. “Don’t threaten me with a good time. His tattoos are sexy as shit.”
“Do you see the one on his neck?” I whisper. “I think it means he’s part of the Bratva, the Russian mob.”
Now Harper’s rubbing her hands together like she’s the one using hand sanitizer. “Bring on the big boy. I’d buff that bald head of his until it shines. And the one on his shoulders too.”
I groan. “Please stop.”
“I’ll stop when you tell me what’s wrong with you.” She jabs her chest with her thumb. “Best friend, remember?”
“I know, but I can’t talk about it. At least not until I’ve processed everything, okay?”
She sighs. “Fine. You’ve pretty much told me already with your hypothetical question. I’ll do my best to wait for the rest of the details.”
“Thank you.”
“Listen,” she says, gripping my shoulders. “Your boyfriend is… unconventional, which means his methods are going to be as well. That man deals in extremes. Hot or cold, life or death, love or hate. If you told me he was on an even keel now that you’re together, I’d say you were full of shit. That man doesn’t know how to be normal. He’s going to give you everything. You just have to decide if you can handle all of him.”
My eyes burn, and I blink rapidly to avoid any tears. “What if I can’t?”
“That’s your choice to make. But that’s not the only issue.” When I press my lips together, Harper squeezes my shoulders in a show of comfort. “If that man gives you everything, he’s going to want everything in return. And I mean everything.”
“I know.”
She releases me to greet a customer while I stand there in a daze. What if I’m not scared of being in Hayden’s life but frightened at the idea of him invading every part of mine? I don’t have anything to hide. However, that doesn’t mean I want to relinquish my control completely in order to be with him.
That’s what he wants.
It might be what he’s always wanted.
The door to the Sugar Cube opens, and I swing my gaze to find a delivery man striding inside. The blonde nods at me, but when he catches sight of Harper, he smiles, showing his teeth. “I have a delivery for a Calista Green,” he says.
I catch Sebastian shifting in his seat at the announcement, and I shake my head at him. “That’s me,” I tell the newcomer.
“Ooh, a package.” Harper sidles up to me with an espresso in hand. She offers it to the delivery guy with a playful pout. “It’s not a big package. How disappointing.”
He sets the box on the counter and leans forward to take the coffee from her. “This isn’t the only package I can deliver.”
“Why didn’t you say so, handsome?”
I slide the plain brown box closer, interrupting them before Sebastian decides to come over here. “Do you have a pen I can borrow?”
“That should’ve been my line,” Harper mutters.
“Sign here please,” the delivery man says, handing me an electronic pad.
I take the device from him and scribble my name. “Thank you.”
“Have a good day, handsome.” Harper waves. “I hope you have a package for me next time.”
The man winks at her and Harper’s cheeks turn as red as her hair. “I definitely will, beautiful.”
I drop my gaze to the box that’s no more than six inches in length. It’s just my name printed on the front, without a return address, and it weighs next to nothing.
“What did Mr. Tall-dark-and-dangerous-dick-size Bennett get you?” Harper asks once we’re alone. She swipes the box from my hands. “Is it a gift or an apology?”
“I doubt it. Hayden doesn’t think he’s wrong in the first place.”
“That doesn’t mean you won’t like what’s inside. Mind if I open it?”
I wave a hand. “It’s fine. I doubt there’s anything that’ll get me to change my mind.”
Harper tears into the paper, stripping it away like a T-Rex, her arms a flurry of movement. She peels back the pink tissue paper inside with her lips forming an ‘O.’
“These are sexy,” she says, holding up black underwear. “Why isn’t there a matching bra? I’m disappointed. You’d think the attorney would know how to present a case.”
I stare at the panties—my panties—the ones that went missing the night I was assaulted in the children’s shelter.
The coffee shop fades from view as my entire focus centers on the scrap of lace in Harper’s fingers. My thoughts spiral, one following the other in rapid succession until my temples throb and my breathing thins.
Who sent this?
It has to be the person who took them.
“Oh, look,” Harper says, her voice fuzzy to my ears. “There’s a note inside. It says, ‘Will wett ink ken?’ Huh, that’s weird. Not to mention the most un-sexy thing I’ve ever read. I can’t believe…”
Her voice fades amidst the pounding in my head. Is that my heart struggling to beat? Or has it stopped due to the horror streaming through me, invading every inch of skin and every drop of blood?
“Calista, are you okay?”
Harper’s face appears in my line of sight, but I stare straight ahead until her face becomes a blur. Then, my eyelids flutter shut, blackness takes over, and I can’t see anything.
Even in the deep recess of my mind, the terror follows me.