Black Promise (Obsidian 3)

“No, but he’s down the hall.”

“I don’t know…” He shook his head. “Hank broke in to our apartment and assaulted you right when everyone got off work. He could have been seen, but he didn’t care. I’m sure he was scared of Calloway at the time, but I’m sure he’s over it by now.”

Maybe he was right, but I chose not to believe it. Calloway would always keep me safe. He was overbearing and obsessive most of the time, but those things came in handy when it came to a stalker ex-boyfriend. Calloway wouldn’t let anything slip past his watch. “I think we need to move on with our lives and be more positive.”

“Alright, I can take the hint.” He looked out the window, consternation etched into his brow. “Other than that, things have been good?”

I didn’t mention Calloway’s mother because I knew that was private. So I talked about work. “All my colleagues hated me, so Calloway threatened to fire them all if they didn’t straighten out.”

Christopher chuckled. “Man, I need to start screwing my boss.”

“That’s the whole reason why they started to hate me. Believe me, they all used to like me at one point.”

“I doubt it,” he teased.

“I know they’re only being nice to me because they have to, but it’s still better than the cold shoulder all the time.”

“I can imagine. Well, everyone likes me, so I can’t totally imagine it, but I get what you mean.” He swirled his wine before he took a drink. “Will there be wedding bells and shit in the future?”

“I don’t know about that…” For now, we were both living in the moment. We were both trying to make an ordinary relationship work. That was too far into the future for both of us.

“If he asked you to live with him permanently, I’d say he’s not opposed to it.”

I wasn’t really sure. “Sounds like you like him again?”

He shrugged before he drank his wine again. “I thought it was shitty of him to lie to you for so long, but I can tell he really cares about you. He looks after you far better than I ever could. When I see him with you, I can tell he’s pussy-whipped. He’s done a lot of good to make up for the bad, so yeah, I do like him. Besides, he’s rich as fuck.”

My body immediately tightened in anger. “That doesn’t matter, Christopher.”

“Hell yeah, it does. Don’t act like a wealthy man is the same as a poor one.”

“They are the same. I don’t care that Calloway is wealthy.”

He rolled his eyes. “All women say that, but they’re full of it. Maybe you don’t care about the money per se, but the fact that he’s ambitious, driven, and smart enough to build his own empire is sexy. Shit, even I think it’s sexy. So yes, him being rich does make him more desirable. You’re a hard-working woman, Rome. You would be with a man who didn’t bust his ass every day just like you have?”

When he put it that way, I saw his point. “I am attracted to his motivation. But not his bank account.”

“That’s fair. And I know he’ll always be able to take care of you.”

Christopher meant well, but that statement rubbed me the wrong way. “I will always be able to take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a long time.”

Christopher masked his reaction by drinking his wine. He looked out the window then abruptly changed the subject, like he was hiding something from me. “I got promoted at work.”

The anger immediately disappeared. “Really? Wow, congratulations! Now I have to buy dinner.”

“Nah.” He brushed it off with a wave of his hand. “I insulted you a lot today. You know, having to get everything out since it’d been so long since I had the opportunity. Besides…” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. “I should spend that raise on something good.”

“Making me full?” I asked with a smile.

“Yep.”

I raised my glass and clinked it against his. “Congratulations, Christopher. You earned it.”

“Thanks.” He smiled before he took a long drink of his wine. Even though he’d just told me incredible news, he suddenly seemed somber, like something was nagging at him from deep inside.

When I thought about everything that happened today, I realized Christopher’s behavior was out of the ordinary. Now I wondered if there was something bad going on in his life and he was just taking a long time to come clean about it. “What’s wrong?” I asked him point-blank because our relationship was strong enough to do that.

He met my look with a guilty one, not surprised that I’d figured it out just from talking with him. “I just—”

The waiter brought our entrees and set them in front of us. He asked us if we needed anything else before he finally walked away.