Ruthless by Deborah Bladon

Author:Deborah Bladon [Bladon, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deborah Bladon
Published: 2019-10-06T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 31

Bella

“You lived.” I look up into Barrett’s face as we reach the top of the stairs leading up from the subway platform. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Taking in our surroundings, he brushes a hand over his brow. “You don’t want me to answer that question honestly, do you?”

Laughing, I toss my hair over my shoulder, looking for some relief from the mid-morning heat that’s engulfing Manhattan. “You didn’t tell me that you had a MetroCard.”

“I’m not the subway virgin you think I am.”

It’s hard to imagine him as a virgin in any capacity. I glance down the street to chase the moment away, hoping that he’ll think the sudden pink flush on my cheeks is from the warm air circling us.

“I did take the subway on occasion in Chicago,” he goes on, loosening the knot on his tie. “I picked up the MetroCard after you gave me hell that night outside Axel. I thought I better learn to ride the rails like a real New Yorker before you give me shit again.”

Smiling, I wave a finger at him. “It takes time to become a real New Yorker. This is just the first step.”

“What’s the second step?”

I glance down the busy sidewalk. “Learning where the best cupcakes are. There’s a bakery three blocks from here. We have enough time that we can stop in there and pick up a few for Marcy and her kids.”

He steps back to make room for a woman walking five dogs. He gives her a curt nod when she smiles at him. “It’s a business meeting, Isabella, not a tea party.”

“Who says you can’t have cupcakes at business meetings?” Curling a finger so he’ll follow me, I set off. “I’ll give you a mini-tour of the Upper West Side. The bakery is on Amsterdam Avenue. We’ll take 78th Street to get there.”

“No.” His voice comes out in a strangled whisper. “Stop.”

I turn and face him, noting the heavy exhale that escapes him. He’s digging a finger inside the collar of his shirt. Sweat is peppering his forehead. I can’t tell if the steady rush of people passing us on the sidewalk is making him uncomfortable or if it’s the heat in the air.

“I’ll get you some water,” I offer looking around for a bodega or a drugstore. I could take him to my parents’ apartment. That’s only a few blocks from here, and my mom is a retired nurse, but she might not be home. I do have a key since I lived there for the first eighteen years of my life, but it’s in the purse I usually carry with me. That’s back at my place.

“I’m fine,” he insists with a hand on my forearm.

He’s not fine. He looks like he’s on the verge of passing out. Getting him to Marcy’s air-conditioned store is my best move. The cupcakes will have to wait for another day when my boss isn’t melting from the heat.

I tap my hand over his. “Let’s go.”

His fingers wrap around mine in a death grip.

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