Deception (Infidelity #3)(51)

“Cryptic?” Pat asked. “Girl, I couldn’t have figured that out with a decoder ring. All it told me was that you were well enough to call. At least hearing your voice left me a trail of breadcrumbs to follow. What the hell happened?”

I recalled Deloris’s advice—keep it simple. “After you left the apartment, I told Nox I wanted to walk to class. Well, you know him?” I didn’t wait for him to respond. “He’s not very big on my walking alone.”

“Apparently he has reason!”

I ignored Pat’s comment and continued, “Nox walked with me and while we were in the park, chaos broke out. It was frightening. I didn’t see much. It all happened so fast. Nox has… people.”

“A good looking man with people. Jackpot!”

I shrugged. “This time I’m not complaining. The people were a good thing. They whisked in from the commotion and took us away.”

“You don’t think that what happened—the shot—was meant for one of you, do you?”

“Shot? So you heard about it?”

“Heard? I saw your face pop up on my news app. It scared the shit out of me.”

It wasn’t until my talks with Silvia that I began to think that maybe the shots could have been meant for one of us. I guess in some ways, Silvia’s innuendos scared me more than anything Deloris or Nox had said.

“I have no way of knowing who the person was shooting at,” I replied, “but why? Why would anyone want to do that?”

“Little cousin, I don’t know. I’m just glad you’re both okay. I saw on that news app that the woman who was shot is in stable condition.”

A bit of the fog that had begun to settle around me lifted. “That’s great news.”

“So I imagine you’ll be staying wherever Mr. Good-looking has you hidden away for what, the next year?”

I shook my head, now sitting against the headboard, my legs tucked under the blankets. “No, I’ve got class. I’ll be back in the city tomorrow.”

“You? What about Mr. Good-looking?”

My cheeks rose. “Why don’t you or Chelsea call him by his name?”

“I don’t know. I like Mr. Good-looking. If your friend calls him the same, she and I’ll get along fine.”

“She calls him Mr. Handsome.”

“Same difference,” Patrick replied.

“Mr. Whatever-You-All-Want-To-Call-Him is working out of town. I was going to call you and ask if maybe I could—”

“If you could shack up with Mr. Sex Appeal himself?”

“So now we all have code names?”

“You’re the one living in a spy movie. I want some of the action.”

“Okay, so Mr. Sex Appeal? You’re saying that Cy will be back? That’s his code name, right?” I asked with a grin.

“Oh, little cousin, that hurts. I was referring to me.”

“How about I just call you Pat? We can say it’s short for Mr. Sex Appeal.”

“That works for me, and Cy won’t be back until Friday. You’re always welcome. You know that.”

“Thanks. I’m waiting to hear from Chelsea. She’s due in the city tomorrow or Friday. I’m so messed up with everything, I can’t remember.”

“We can have a slumber party.”

“I love that idea,” I said, “but if she gets in, she’ll want to hang out at the apartment on 112th.”

“As long as you’re okay. Just so you know, I hesitated leaving you this morning. I may have hung out for a minute or two, but then as things sounded like you and Mr. Good-looking were getting along, I felt a little like a stalker and snuck out.”

Memories of Nox telling me that he loved me and my professing the same gave way to thoughts of this bed. I shifted against the soft sheets. “Yes, other than the minor little problem with the shooting, we’re doing much better.”

“You sure know how to keep life exciting. Your face is everywhere. Even my mother called. I hadn’t spoken to her for a few weeks.”

I scrunched my nose. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t be. I wanted you to know that she and my dad were worried. She even said that Aunt Adelaide and Uncle Alton were upset.”

“Yes, they called.”

“And…?” Patrick encouraged.

“Same old story. Come home to Savan—” An incoming call interrupted my sentence.

I peered at the screen. Talking meant there wasn’t a tune to alert me to friend or foe, only a vibration.

NOX PRIVATE NUMBER.

I sucked in a breath. “Hey, Pat, Mr. Good-looking is calling.”

“Oh, then girl, you talk to that man. Tell him to hurry up and finish whatever work he’s doing and get his fine ass back to you.”

Fine ass? Most definitely.

My smile blossomed to full bloom. “I will. See you tomorrow.”

“Love you, little cousin.”

“Me too.” I swiped the screen.





“MR. DEMETRI,” I said, connecting to his call. “I didn’t want to bother you while you were working.”

“You could never bother me.” His voice rumbled deeper than the thunder beyond the windows.