Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“Sure,” I said, sounding a little more cheerful than I felt.
“You live in Chelsea now, right?”
“15th street. Why?”
“I’m at 130 W 15th,” she said.
“You’re kidding.” I let out a laugh. “I’m at 101 W 15th.”
“Kismet,” she said.
“Maybe so.” I smiled wide for a second, then realized maybe she wanted me to invite her over, which was weird, but I couldn’t be rude. “Are you . . . do you . . . “
“Oh. No.” She laughed. “I’m not inviting myself over. I was wondering, if you’re not bone tired, would you want to meet me for a drink?”
“Um . . . sure. Why not?”
“Have you heard of Raines?”
“No.” I didn’t want to remind her that I’d just moved here. I was sure she’d heard it from someone, either Yari or Dominic or one of his guys.
“You’re going to love it. It’s on 17th. I’ll send you the location. Meet me there in an hour?”
“I’ll be there.”
It was freezing tonight, but my palms were sweating when I turned the corner and spotted Veronica waiting for me. I returned her smile as I approached, and when she hugged me, I had no choice but to hug her back. She rang a doorbell next to us and the door opened up, a bouncer looking at me, then her.
“Ronnie. Where’s Patty?” He held the door open wider.
“She’s home. I brought a friend. New customer, guaranteed.” She winked at him, and I smiled at him as I followed her inside to the coziest, sleekest bar I’d been to in a minute.
Yari would love this place. We sat down on a long leather couch and ordered drinks. I turned my body to face her, and she did the same. We studied each other for a second before she reached over and set a hand on mine.
“How are you really?”
I opened my mouth, the lie on the tip of my tongue, and shut it. A server brought our drinks at that moment, and I took a sip of mine. I’d ordered one called Victory March. I didn’t know what was in it, but I was sold on the name, and thankfully, it was fantastic. I lowered my glass and looked at her again.
“Honestly? Surviving.” I shrugged.
“Have you spoken to him at all?”
“Dominic?” I scoffed. “Right before you called, actually.”
Her brows rose. “And?”
“And he was at a club. I’m living this monotonous, boring, excruciating life, and he’s at a freaking club.”
“I’m sure he’s not there for fun,” she said softly, her eyes genuine.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. It really didn’t because even if that was the case, he never called me back.
I took a gulp of the drink.
“Dom and Rocco are in the midst of opening a place just like this.” She sat back slightly and signaled around the place. “A secret bar.”
“It suits them.”
“It does.” She smiled, then turned serious. “He’s a fucking mess, Rosie.”
“Didn’t sound like that to me.” I shrugged like I didn’t care, but it hurt to hear that, despite everything.
“Like I said, I don’t think he’s out clubbing for kicks. That’s never been his scene.” She took a breath. “So the reason I wanted to speak to you is that I’m wondering if you want to expand your horizons a little at Oui.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, not only going on museum and bingo dates with Billie and Jack.”
I laughed but it was short-lived. “Is this because I’m no longer with Dominic?”
“Yeah.” She watched me for a moment, studied me really. She set her glass down on the table in front of us and played with her wedding ring. “Look, despite whatever he may have sounded like when he answered your phone call, he’s not doing well. He’s miserable, I mean, unbearable and making all of us miserable in the process. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“He can’t be that bad,” I whispered.
“He’s worse.” She raised an eyebrow. “Much worse. Not even his brother can stand him.”
I looked away. I’d been in touch with Gabe, but only through texts. I couldn’t bear seeing him yet. “So you want me to expand my horizons because Dominic is miserable?”
“It may be the only thing that will get him to snap out of this.”
My attention snapped back to her. “You want me to do this to make him jealous?”
“Patty seems to think this is a brilliant plan, and who am I to go against her? Happy wife, happy life, and all that.” She added, “I completely understand if you can’t do this.”
I mulled it over for a moment. Did I want Dominic back? Despite all reason, yes, I wanted that. I wouldn’t go to him, though. I’d called twice. The ball was in his court now. Did I want to play games and make him jealous, though? I’d never been like that. That was Yari’s thing. She loved purposely making guys jealous to get a rise out of them. It didn’t really take much to get a rise out of Dominic, though, and if he was already hurting, was this really the route I wanted to take? I thought about the woman I heard when I spoke to him earlier and my blood started to boil all over again.