It was our turn to order, so I had a minute to mull over what she’d just thrown at me. My knee-jerk reaction was to say she didn’t know shit—and she didn’t. With my own two eyes, I saw what she was brought up with. She had hard times, but she had a thick layer of insulation around her, even if she didn’t realize it. When Zadie looked at my life, it was through that lens, not mine.
When we shifted to the next counter to wait for the drinks, I stood behind her, splaying my hand on her stomach, and dipped my mouth to her ear.
“You think Felicity would want me around her pretty little daughter if she knew how I make money? How my brother makes money?”
She let her head fall back on my shoulder but kept her eyes from me. I really didn’t like when she kept her eyes from me.
“I won’t pretend to know anything about that, nor do I want to. But I think Felicity wouldn’t have to know either. Moms don’t have to know everything. It’s better for them.”
“Really?” My lips skimmed her velvety ear. “You keep secrets from your mom? Scandalous.”
Her laughter was a feather to the back of my knees, nearly bringing me down without even trying. “If I’d told her I was held hostage last semester, do you think I’d still be enrolled here?”
I nipped at her lobe. “You’re never going to let that go, huh?”
This time, her laughter was more like an anvil to my chest, hitting me hard and not letting me up. Jesus Christ, this girl could laugh. Anything she did with that mouth was magic.
“No, I guess I’m not.” She grinned up at me. “In ten years, when you’re a fine, upstanding businessman, I’ll swing by your office with a cup of coffee so we can reminisce about the time you held me as collateral. Or I could pop into your wedding and give a to—”
I covered her mouth with my hand. “I don’t like the joke anymore.”
She turned her head and pressed her forehead to my throat, catching me off guard. It felt conciliatory, even though I was the one crossing lines. My hand dropped, curling around her chest. We stood there like that, wrapped around each other, for another minute, until our order was called. She didn’t say a word, and neither did I.
I didn’t know what that minute was, but I had no doubt everything about it—the closeness, the peace, the utter calm—would stay contained within those sixty seconds.
At the table with Felicity and Eli, everything was the same again. Felicity showed us what she’d bought for her husband, even though we’d all been there when she made the purchase. Eli and I talked college sports—Savage U’s teams weren’t shit, but he followed them religiously anyway, especially baseball, which was his game. And Zadie had gone back to keeping her eyes from me.
I tapped her hand. “Have you shown your mom the latest note left for you?”
Her eyes rounded. “No, Amir—”
Felicity leaned forward in her chair. “What note?” Her gaze whipped from me to Zadie. “Zadie, what note?”
She shook her head. “It’s not a big deal, I promise.”
“You haven’t told your mom?” I already knew she hadn’t, but I didn’t agree with the decision. Her mom might have been going through the heaviness of her husband’s illness, but Zadie needed her too. If she wouldn’t ask for her mom’s help, I’d take that decision from her.
“Why don’t you tell me, Amir?” Felicity set her coffee down, leveling me with a steady glare.
“Someone’s been leaving Zadie poems and flowers. She suspected it was Drew, but given the last poem, she’s not sure.”
“Zadie,” Eli ground out. “How could you not tell us?”
She rubbed her forehead. “Because I could be freaking out over nothing. You guys have enough going on, I didn’t want to add one more th—”
“Stop it.” Felicity slapped the table. “Don’t you dare say another word. I know what my enough is, and I have plenty of capacity to deal with my daughter. I need you to tell me everything so I can have the information to decide which direction we need to proceed.”
Zadie’s furious gaze cut to me. Her fingertips were going white from gripping the edge of the table. I pried one finger loose at a time, cupping her small, soft hand in mine.
“Tell your mom,” I urged.
She tried to yank her hand away from me, but I wasn’t letting go. Not until she did this. She was right. Her mom didn’t need to know everything, but she did need to know this. As my pet, it was my job to decide the best way to protect her. I’d be her physical shield but dealing with cops and lawyers was outside my wheelhouse. Felicity had the capability of handling that area, but she had to know what needed to be handled first.
Each word out of Zadie’s mouth was reluctant, but she laid out the basics, skipping over the library incident. I let that slide for now. Her voice was devoid of emotion, but I felt it in the twitch of her muscles, her clammy palm, the rapid rise and fall of her chest.
Felicity started typing on her phone as soon as Zadie was finished talking. “I’m taking care of it. Don’t worry, baby. If it’s Drew, we’ll fry his ass. If it’s another dipshit, we’ll handle him too. You aren’t in this alone.” Her gaze shifted to me. “Thank you for telling me. It’s obvious you’re taking care of Zadie and looking out for her. If she didn’t have you, Eli would be carrying her to our car and she’d be coming home with us.”
Eli looked at his sister. “I’m still considering it.”