Stone Cold - Ashby Crime Family

I snorted a laugh and shook my head. “Why not just tell me that I need to catch a shooting star? It’s about the same effect. No job. No home. Nada.”

I couldn’t stand his sympathetic look and turned away, finding no answers in my almost empty coffee cup. It made me feel like he was pitying me, like I was some damn charity case. Which I totally was.

“I don’t want a shooting star, Bonnie. I want you to get your shit together. Start living the life that stuck up girl I met a few months ago couldn’t stop talking about.”

I sucked in a breath, outrage seeping from my pores. “How dare you! You don’t know a thing about my life or what I’ve gone through.”

“Not specifically, no.” Cal’s words came out slow and even, like he didn’t really care as much as he pretended to. “But I do know you’re not the first child to be disappointed by a parent. Or the only person with a nasty habit that you can’t shake.”

“I could…if I were so inclined.” I wasn’t a junkie, or a tweaker as Virgil called them. I was just going through a tough time and the pills, well, they made things a little less tough. “Right now, I need the extra help.”

Cal poured the batter onto a sizzling griddle before he looked at me.

“No, you don’t. You think it’s temporary because you can’t see it from this side. If you could, you’d see how far gone you already are.”

I bristled from the back of my neck to my toes. “That’s crap and you know it. That didn’t work when my parents tried it, and it won’t work now.”

I might be a little naïve but there was no way I was an addict.

“Really? Then tell me how you felt when you woke up this morning? A little nauseous? Incredibly hot or cold, maybe? How about muscle aches or vomiting? Those are the biggies, but maybe you had other symptoms?”

He was so confident it bordered on cocky. Arrogant.

“I did suffer some trauma last night, in case you forgot.”

Calvin blinked and his expression changed instantly. “I haven’t forgotten a damn thing, Just wondering how much you remember.”

“Everything,” I whispered and refused to close my eyes. “You killed that guy.”

“I did,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Are you okay?”

“I slept, but not well and not continuous, but I’m all right. Fine, really.”

Cal nodded casually and flipped the pancakes, the scent of butter reminding me that we’d left last night before I even got a chance to eat dinner.

“Fine, huh?”

I nodded, notching my chin high into the air, daring him to question me.

“Good to know. Did you take something?”

I shook my head, still angry and frustrated and bewildered about my missing pills. And other missing items. They couldn’t all be gone. It was impossible, which meant I needed to check Cal’s car. And my purse. Again. My funds were low and there wasn’t much jewelry left to sell off, unless of course I got lucky and found a job right away. That was unlikely to happen and definitely not in Glitz, which meant I’d have to start looking in Vegas proper or maybe even Mayhem.

“No Cal, I didn’t take anything, even though my ribs still kind of hurt.”

The pain was a lie, and he didn’t believe me anyway, so I let the matter drop and poured a second mug of coffee.

“Good. How are you feeling? Really, I mean.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “Not good, but I’ll be fine Calvin. You don’t need to worry about me. Why are you worried about me anyway? You don’t even like me.”

He smiled and easily flipped the pancakes onto a plate and added four more to the griddle. “Who says I don’t like you?”

I barked out a laugh and took a spot at the table, as far from him as possible.

“Only my basic understanding of human behavior, like your words and your expressions, oh and your body language. It all says that you don’t like me very much.”

Cal stroked his jaw, and I did my best not to notice how strong and chiseled it was.

“Honestly, the almost college graduate was a little hard to bear. You were just so bubbly and sure of yourself, so damn judgmental. This new Bonnie has her flaws, one glaring flaw in particular,” he joked around a smile before turning to flip over the last batch of pancakes. “But she’s feisty and mouthy and tough. I kind of like her.”

Kind of. It stung and it shouldn’t have because I didn’t want Calvin and I barely liked him. Sure there was some low level attraction, but he was a good looking, intelligent male. And clearly my taste in men could use an upgrade, so Calvin Ashby was the last man I was thinking about. “What’s the catch here, Calvin? The real catch.”