Until We Meet Again(65)
“It wasn’t a dream then.”
This makes me smile as well. “Nope.”
He stretches with a happy sigh. “Divine.” I laugh a little, and
he traces a line along my jaw. “You’re perfection, Cassandra.”
“Mental note: Lawrence is particularly complimentary in
the mornings.”
He smiles. “You should take advantage of that more often
in the future.”
“I’ll try.” But his mention of the future calls back the unsettled feeling. I check the time on my phone. Six a.m.
“What’s that?” Lawrence asks, resting his chin on my shoulder. His messy morning hair is outrageously cute. I tuck my phone beneath me, giving him a quick kiss.
“Futuristic stuff. You’re not allowed to see it yet.”
“If you insist.” But he darts a hand to my pocket to try to
grab it.
“Hey!” I successfully pull away my phone, and he grabs my
key ring instead.
“Aha!” He says. “I’ve got your…” He holds up my keys,
examining them with a furrowed brow. “What on earth is
this thing?”
I laugh. I carry a lot of junk on my key ring. It must look
like a pretty crazy contraption to him.
He holds up my house key. “This is some kind of key, but
what are these other things?”
I grab the little stuffed elephant. “Meet Charles Xavier. I got
him in junior high. Long story, that one.”
“And this?” he asks, touching my mini flashlight.
“Push that little button there, and see for yourself.”
He does, and the flashlight glows white and then flashes red.
Lawrence startles and stares with amazement. It’s pretty adorable.
“Do I even want to know what this one does?” he asks,
pointing to the pepper spray.
“Actually, no. You don’t. All I’ll say is that it’s a weapon of
sorts. Meant to protect me from bad guys.”
He turns an awed look at me. “Fascinating.”
“Trust me, there are way cooler things in the future than this
piddly little key ring.”
“What kinds of things?” he asks. “Describe them to me.”
I waggle a finger at him. “No more future talk. We’re in a
precarious situation as it is. Let’s not push our luck.” I sit up
and pull my fingers through my hair, which must look like
a mangled sloth perched on my head. “Speaking of which, I
think we should plan our next three days.”
Lawrence sighs. “Back to business.”
“Um, yes. We don’t know how things are going to play out
on Saturday. So today and tomorrow is our last, safe, fortyeight-hour period. We have to make it count.”
“Make it count?” Lawrence repeats, looking at me with a
hopeful smile.
I shove him. “You know what I mean.”
“Killjoy,” he says glumly.
I start gathering the papers from last night. “Is everything
still going as planned with the party Saturday? Nothing out of
the ordinary?”
He starts to shake his head but stops. His brow furrows. He’s
quiet, as if he’s wrestling with an idea.
“Lawrence?” I touch his arm. “What is it?”
“Well…something happened.”
Fear unfolds in me. “What?”
“It didn’t have anything to do with Cooper Enterprises.”
“Okay. So tell me.”
Lawrence shakes his head. “It seems like madness to
even suggest.”
“Spit it out, Lawrence. You’re scaring me here.”
“See if you learn anything about the Cartelli family from
New York. Lower East Side.”
What’s with the sudden shifty eyes? “Okay…”
He releases a slow sigh. “See if the name Fay Cartelli comes up.”
“Fay Cartelli. Got it.” He doesn’t look at me. I draw a little
swirl in the sand, trying not to feel suspicious. “So, who is
she?”
His cheeks flush with color. “Have I never mentioned her?”
“You haven’t.”
“She’s a…friend of mine.”
My heart drops. “A friend.”
He seems uncomfortable. “Essentially… Perhaps a bit more.”
I want him to be joking, but I can tell he’s not. I try desperately to keep calm. “Oh.”
“Cassandra, it’s not like it sounds.”
“So, she’s not your girlfriend?”
“No…not exactly.”
“What does that mean? ‘Not exactly.’”
He rubs the bridge of his nose. This time, his silence tells me
everything I need to know. I push to my feet. Lawrence jumps
up after me.
“I meant every word I said last night. I love you, Cassandra.”
I shake my head but don’t dare speak. “Fay means nothing to
me,” he says. “She never did. And once I met you, she meant