Page 64 of Call You Mine

But Willa, she’s torturing me simply to secure her own future and maintain the life she’s been accustomed to since marrying Warren for his money.

“Wynter, is everything okay?” Jade asks, startling me as she rests a hand upon my shoulder. I look around and notice everyone has gone back to their own conversations, Big Sal back in his position at the far end of the room by the exit, and Willa nowhere to be seen. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you. I just came to see if you needed anything. That was a pretty intense moment with your mom.”

I inconspicuously turn away from her and wipe the tears off my face, foolishly pretending like I wasn’t just crying and instead have gotten something in my eye. “I’m fine, it was nothing really, just Willa being Willa. I’ll get back to work now. Sorry about her showing up like that, it won’t happen again.”

Jade scoffs, pouring me a glass of water and handing it to me. “Wyn, don’t apologize for her childish behavior. She’s the mom, not the other way around.” I can’t help but laugh at her insinuation that Willa has but one motherly bone in her body.

As far as I know, Jade’s mom died when she was younger. When Scarlett and her came to Hillcrest Hills and joined Servite Academy in our senior year, they’d been abandoned by Jade’s father and her stepmom who was Scarlett’s mom. The two lovebirds had apparently gone on some Bonnie and Clyde style heist and were on the run for armed robbery on top of claims of murdering the mayor.

I only knew because it was all Wesley talked about for months after the two of them arrived. Family dinners with him were excruciatingly tedious.

“That’s the thing Jade,” I tell her, trying not to meet her gaze since all of this is making me terribly uncomfortable. “Willa has no clue what being a mother means.” Not wanting this conversation to go any further into therapy session territory, or to make Jade think of her own mother, I set my glass down and wipe my hands on my shorts. “Anyway, thanks. I’ll get back to work.” And just like that, conversion is over. However, when I turn away, Sebastian walks up to the counter, his tall frame so broad he hides the two tables behind him from our view. I’d almost forgotten how huge he was.

“They serve anything good in this joint?” he teases, flashing us one of his captivating ear-to-ear grins. Sebastian Silver is stunning, always has been though he was more like a brother in my eyes since we practically grew up together. Tonight, dressed in a navy dress shirt and matching slacks, is no exception. He looks like he’s just finished his shift at his corporate job in the finance district instead of being the owner of a bar, although he has a day job in which he does—honestly I’m not even sure what it is he does.

All I know is that his father, Stephan Silver, also had all his assets frozen when his greed finally caught up to him and his corruption came to light. Not to mention all his companies were audited once he was taken to prison for fraud, kidnapping, and attempted murdered to name a few of his crimes. The Silver Estate where Bass and Stella grew up remained under Stephan’s name until recently. Once he gained access to the deed, Sebastian had the entire place gutted and rebuilt—though unlike Ace, who has almost completed the sale of my childhood home, Bass not only completed the renovations in time to host Stella’s wedding, but gifted it to her as a wedding present. It must have been very therapeutic to watch how his home was turned into nothing but rubble. Not like he needed the mansionor money from the sale—nor the haunting memories of his and Stella's time there.

I think it’s nice of him to give his cousin a fresh start after her time with Stephan was a complete nightmare.

Jade leans over the bar counter to meet him. “For you, anything baby,” she coos, her arms wrapping around his neck as her mouth crashes down on his in a hot and passionate kiss that makes the patrons sitting along the bar and tables behind him to cheer.

Jade laughs, releasing his lips though her arms remain tightly wrapped around his neck. “It’s good to see you too, baby,” he whispers against her lips, loud enough for me to hear a mere two feet away.

“Gross guys, this is a respectable establishment where our customers come to eat delicious cuisine and indulge in our decadent premium cocktails. When they heard there’d be dinner and a show, I’m not sure that’s what they had in mind.”

“They should know what to expect,” Bass says, giving me a little wink before he blows a kiss to Jade who looks like she’s about to hop over the bar and mount her man here and now. “Do I look like a man that can keep his hands off his woman?”

“Anyway,” I quickly say to change the subject before Jade does just that and makes me wish Damon would walk in right now and allow me to do the same. I mean he would have to right? There’s no way he could walk in here and say hi to his girlfriend in front of his best friend without at least a kiss.

Knowing Damon, he’d blame it on not wanting to engage in any PDA just as long as he didn’t have to get his hands on me.

“How’s Stella doing? Last I heard baby Ember was doing better?” I ask, hoping to get some good news. After Stella’s wedding last month, I’d learned they had to postpone their plans when Stella was put on bedrest six months into her pregnancy because of high blood pressure amongst other circulatory issues.Two months later, she went into labor and had Ember at thirty-six weeks. After spending a month in the NICU because of some heart palpitations, baby Ember had been released but wasn’t fully meeting the weight and height percentile for her age.

“She’s better,” Bass says, his expression slightly shifting as if he’s also not one hundred percent sure himself. “They had a small scare earlier this week when she got a pretty high fever which almost caused a seizure.”

“Luckily they caught it in time,” Jade adds, my worry fading away as she assures me she’s okay. “The twins love going to see her. They’re obsessed with her and keep asking us for a baby sister just like baby Ember.”

I smile imagining how precious another baby from these two would be. Onyx and Sapphire, Bass and Jade’s twins, are the same age as my niece Caeli. I haven’t seen either of them in so long. The last time I had, they were the cutest little pair of angels. Their hair was just as blond as Jade’s although Bass’s hair is almost black, though they took after his gray-blue eyes instead of Jade’s green ones.

Regardless they were so precious but there was no doubt about that given their parents both look the way they do.

Unable to handle their PDA any longer, I roll my eyes and move toward an older gentleman who’s sat down at one of the empty stools to our left. Leaving Jade and Bass to continue doing whatever they were going to do, I reach for an empty glass and look up at the man in front of me.

“What can I get for you sir?” I ask, flaunting my everything's a-okay smile.

The man looks up from his phone, bold brown eyes scrutinizing as they roam over my body in a lewd, spin-chilling way. “Hmm,” he mutters, licking his lips. The motion makes his eyes crease at the edges, revealing his age which is more than I’d first thought. He’s in his fifties at least, his hair now more saltthan pepper, and his skin is not only incredibly tanned but you can see the effects of years of no sun protection. “Well, the night is certainly looking up,” he mutters, years of smoking heard in his tone. Not to mention he reeks of cigar smoke and that ancient cologne nobody should have ever used.

This is the kind of man I found myself surrounded by for the last two years. The men who worked for Enzo, or were part of his Famiglia, were just like him if not worse because I knew they were murderers and the worst of criminals. Though this guy doesn’t seem like an upstanding citizen.

The man licks his lips, almost like he’s ready to go in for a taste of fresh meat he’s set his sight on. It’s truly revolting and makes me suddenly feel sick to my stomach.

So much for being friendly. This is exactly why women are constantly reprimanded and blamed for their “enticing nature”. All I did was smile at the fucker and now some asshole in a suit somewhere is going to tell me I deserved it because, Larry here—that’s what I named him—said I was flirting with him.

I choose to ignore his glances and continue to treat him like I would any other customer. “Tonight's special is an Old Fashioned with a twist of amaretto, cinnamon and rosemary.”

Larry cracks his knuckles and leans back in his stool. “I’ll have whatever you make so long as I get to enjoy it by your side,” he says, and my skin crawls in disgust. Though before I can even respond to the old fuckers advances, my phone vibrates in my back pocket.

Glad for the distraction which comes at the perfect time, I raise a finger at Larry and reach into my back pocket for my phone to check the incoming message. My heart drops when I look at the screen and see the same number which has haunted my nightmares for the last few months.

---