“You’re knitting for other … things.”
She chuckled. “No, a waste would be throwing it away.I love knitting and I love giving so it works for me. Besides, I can’t knit everything for myself. That doesn’t feel right to me.”
“You’re a giver.”
Callie shrugged.“I guess. I’ve never seen it that way.”
Why did Dante want to kill this woman? Ruin didn’t like it. He also didn’t like the fact that he actually cared. She was an assignment. A mission. She would be dead, no doubt about it. But seeing as he had nothing pressing to deal with, he didn’t see a problem with enjoying this … moment … for just a little while longer.
For over an hour, he sat with Callie. She would glance over, help him with his project, and then go back to her own work. Her fingers moved so fast, he couldn’t quite keep up. She was like a machine. He had no choice but to admire her skill.
He noticed that the men and women from the group began to get up and leave.Callie was the only one left and she finished her row, placed her knitting in her bag, and got to her feet. He’d already put his knitting down in his bag.
She turned to him. “It was nice to meet you…”
“Ruin,” he said, holding out his hand.
Callie shook his hand and smiled. “I’m Callie. Erm, I don’t know if I’m going to see you again.”
“You will.” He glanced around the park. “Is this a regular thing?”
“Pretty much. It’s guaranteed on a Sunday. If it’s raining we usually go to the library, but during the summer, it’s a way of soaking up the rays and enjoying the outside. They also meet up Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.”
“When do you come?” he asked.
Was she blushing? She bowed her head and when she looked back up, her face was red.
“As often as I can. I’m a guarantee here on Sundays.”
“I’ll see you Sunday.”
She nodded her head. “Enjoy. Er, bye, Ruin.”
They were alone.Killing her now would be so easy. He already knew no one would miss her. She was part of this group, but she didn’t interact with anyone. Callie Lawson was a nobody. Living her life without really living it.
So why did Dante want this nobody dead? She wasn’t a threat. She lived a boring life. There was no connection to Dante, other than the fact she used to work for him.
He watched her leave and couldn’t help but admire the curve of her ass. It was more than a handful and he knew without a shadow of a doubt he wanted a taste of her.
****
Callie glanced at the clock on her apartment wall and wondered if missing out on a Sunday of knitting was a good idea. It had been a week since she had that bizarre encounter at the park. She’d never made friends easily. All her life, she had found it easier to be on her own.
People often ignored herand they certainly made it abundantly clear she wasn’t wanted. Which was why she often avoided social settings. She’d been knitting all her life. It was something her mother had done before her, and what she had taught her to do. Her parents had died nine years ago in a car accident with a drunk driver.
She didn’t even know why she came to the knitting group. It wasn’t like Sundays was the only time she spent knitting. She did it on her lunch breaks, late at night. Any of her spare time, she knitted. It might explain why at twenty-nine years old, she was still a virgin.
She’d never been confident around men. Even with Ruin, a guy who clearly couldn’t knit, the moment her work was away in her bag, she had felt all flustered. He hadn’t shown any interest in her, and she needed to not panic. Instead of staring at the clock, she needed to make her way to the park.
Before she died, her mother had asked her to try to make connections. To find friends, to even give a guy a chance. Nine years she’d avoided it. Nine years she had given the excuse that she could do it another day, that she had all the time in the world. On the anniversary of their death, the guilt had been too much. So she had started going to a knitting group. She didn’t join in, just sat on the bench, minding her own business. It was a start. What she hadn’t done was go out drinking, attempting to find a man. How did a woman go about finding a guy? She didn’t want to just come on to a random stranger.
Growling at herself and her self doubts, she grabbed her keys and left her apartment, being sure to lock it securely behind her. She held onto her bag handle and made her way out of the building, passing a couple of the neighbors. She offered them a smile, and they gave her a nod.
Leaving thebuilding, she headed straight for the park and walked to her bench. The group was already there. She looked for Ruin, but there was no sign of him. Breathing a sigh of relief, she took a seat and pulled out her knitting. She had a bag full of small baby clothes that she intended to donate next week. This was how she used up her balls of yarn. She loved buying different colors and loved the tiny sweaters, hats, and mittens she made.
After a few minutes, she was able to relax.Ruin was just a fluke. She took a deep breath and got absorbed in her knitting. She smiled to herself, and then jolted as Ruin sat next to her.
“Hello again,” he said.