Red Leather (Book 2)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I knew that ignoring my phone for as long as I did was going to bite me in the ass.

Gwen had gotten to it while she was cleaning the house. "Renee?"

I poked my head in the living room, halfway through drying my hair with a towel. It was pure% Egyptian terrycloth, and felt like down between my fingers. Daddy always gave me everything of the best quality.

She held my silent-for-once phone in her hand, walking towards me. "Almost washed it with the rest of the clothes," she laughed.

I tensed immediately, and I think she noticed. My voice was carefully controlled when I spoke. "Did you-"

"Oh, no," she shook her head, passing the black object to me. "The battery's dead, I think."

"Thank you," I blew a breath out.

"Dinner's at six," she reminded me. "And we have company tonight."

"Did you need help?" I offered. Her fiancée was coming over, as well as Jessabel and Nathan. I had to go and change quickly, because Nathan couldn't catch me in sweats.

"No, it's fine," she grinned. "Jess really likes you, you know."

Heat blossomed in my chest, but it was more of an electric shock than a gentle spread. "You think so?"

"Well, she hasn't actually said so," she backpedalled. It made me dislike her a bit – always backpedalling, always indecisive. "But I was getting a good vibe from her."

"Oh." I smiled at her nonetheless, then made my way to my room. I left the damn thing on charge, and put on my nicest shirt and jeans. It was black, the see-through kind with a tank top underneath. The fanciest I could find without overdoing it.

He greeted me with a smile and a hair ruffle, the way he always did. Jessabel smiled politely, but didn't delve into deep conversation with me. Officer Cross was there, too – a tall, thin man with eyes that looked everywhere before focusing on an object. He and Daddy hit it off right away.

"It's a generally safe neighbourhood," Cross answered one of the Daddy's many questions, twirling pasta around his plate. The table had fallen into comfortable chatter, but I stayed quiet, alternating between watching Nathan laugh and listening to Daddy's voice.

Daddy nodded to himself, just as Nate leaned in to whisper in Jess's ear.

I wanted to know what he said to her. Better yet, I wanted him to lean in and whisper to me like that. Just like that.

"Seeing as the majority of people here have big profiles," Daddy continued, "you'd think that more trouble would be caused."

"Understandable. You've probably heard about Father Gilbert's daughter?"

"Of course. I have a girl in the emergency room because of the whole fiasco."

Cross nodded. "That's about as serious as it gets these day. Though Vanessa Lincoln and her sons caused a bit of a stir months back."

That caught my attention. "Who?"

"Lincoln – notorious name around here. Ever since the eldest was caught in Alfred's mess, the youngest has taken to disregarding the law altogether." He shook his head.

"You mean Eli Lincoln?" I asked. The motorcycle man. The one who I fantasised about whenever I wasn't fantasising about Nathan. I felt the burning itch to know him, to meet him and see just how dark he was.

Nathan was now paying attention to our conversation, and leaned his elbows on the table. "You talking about the drug bust?" His shirt was rolled up to his elbows, forearms bare, and my gaze lingered on the exposed skin. He had a beauty spot on the edge of his wrist. I wanted to reach over and lick it.