“You said you always keep your promises. I want this to be a promise.”
“And what if they attack me?”
“That would never happen.”
“You really think so?” he asked coldly. “A father will do anything for his daughter if he thinks she’s in danger.”
“My family would never hurt you.”
“Why?”
“Because I would never let them, okay? Now, promise me.”
He sighed before he finally gave me what I wanted. “I promise.”
All the fight left my body once I’d secured something so important to me. Now I never had to worry about it again. Bosco would keep his promise to me—because he’d proven it a million times over.
“Can you forget the suitcase now?” His body relaxed slightly now that the worst was over.
“Yeah…” Now that my rage had evaporated, I knew I didn’t want to walk out the door. This was exactly where I wanted to be—with this man. “Why did you show up on his doorstep like that?” I resumed our previous conversation.
“It was the best time. I didn’t want anyone to see us together. I didn’t want there to be a history of me on his phone. I wanted to come unarmed so he would know I wasn’t a threat to him or you.”
“He doesn’t like anyone coming near his wife.”
“I wasn’t there for her. Couldn’t care less about her.”
“It was still rude. You never show up on someone’s doorstep like that.”
“It’s done,” he said. “The conversation is over. Let it be.”
“Why did you do that in the first place?”
“I already told you. I wanted to make sure this would remain a secret. It would make both of our lives difficult if it didn’t stay that way. I’ve never met your family, but I know they wouldn’t be happy if they knew we were together. It would cause a lot of problems, and since I’m happy with the way things are, I didn’t want to disrupt that.” His muscles were still tensed, his shoulders rigid and his abs tight. “He didn’t leave me much of a choice since he was snooping around everywhere. He knew exactly what the repercussions would be, but he did it anyway.”
“Because he wants me to be safe.”
“The safest place in the world is by my side. He knows that.”
Carmen knew Griffin couldn’t disagree with that statement.
“He yelled at me for a bit but finally let it go.”
“Good.”
“Since this is gonna end in four weeks, he said he would let it run its course.”
Just a second ago, he was angry then apologetic. But now he wore a new expression. His eyes fell slightly, the beautiful blue color fading. His muscles stopped tensing and immediately went slack. His breathing changed as well—becoming nonexistent. It was the first time he’d dropped his gaze, breaking eye contact with me like my face was too much for him. “Yeah…let it run its course.”
It was tense for the next few days. It took time for us to recover from the difficult conversation we’d had. He wasn’t angry or bitter. He was just cold, not nearly as affectionate as he used to be.
Sex was to the point. Conversations were short. Life turned bleak.
We sat together at the dining table and had dinner, a boring meal of fish and vegetables. The only reason we had rice was because I demanded it. Shirtless across from me, he looked at his food instead of me.
I wasn’t sure what had pushed him away. Whether it was the promise I forced him to make or the reminder that our relationship was almost over. The second one wasn’t a surprise, so it must have been the first one. But I wouldn’t apologize for protecting my family. Not now. Not ever.
His phone was sitting on the table, and it started to ring. Ronan was usually the person who called him, but today, there was a different name on the screen.
Ruby.
AKA the biggest skank ever.
He glanced at it before he hit the button to ignore her call.
My blood immediately boiled at the sight of her name. I despised that woman, wanting to throw her in the ring myself so I could rip her hair out of her skull and punch her in the boobs. She was like a shark circling her prey, waiting for the moment I was gone so she could have Bosco to herself.
Bitch.
Bosco acted like nothing happened. He kept eating, as if he forgot about her name the second after he saw it.
Something snapped inside me. I had no idea what it was. I wasn’t angry at Bosco because he didn’t do anything wrong, but I was pissed that Ruby kept wanting him without even being subtle about it. I guess I was jealous…super jealous.
I grabbed his phone and called her back.
Bosco stopped eating. He stared at me while he held his fork, his eyebrow slightly raised because he had no idea what I was doing.