Page 22 of I Am Lioness

Of course he didn’t leave though. He just stood there as the silence stretched between us. A thousand different thoughts were barreling through my mind when suddenly a blazer-clad arm came up beside my head and light brown eyes bore into mine, taking me by surprise. I had joked about Jason working for the FBI, but at times his movements were so stealth-like, the idea didn’t really seem so farfetched.

“You can’t be mad at me.” He murmured quietly.

I clenched my eyes tightly, blocking him and the tears that threatened from sight. “Just go, Jay, please. There's nothing left to discuss.”

“Fine,” he said after a beat, pushing himself off the wall behind me. “But just remember I was only keeping your best interests in mind.”

Then the door clicked shut.The sound triggered bits and pieces of the night to flash through my mind, luring a strangled sob from my throat. I sank to the plush carpet with tears streaming steadily down my cheeks and dropped my face into my hands as fear consumed me, churning my stomach painfully.

What have I done?

Pounding. My head was pounding the following morning. It felt like someone had a jackhammer pointed straight to my temple and was letting it rip full-force. No matter what I tried, I couldn't seem to get comfortable, and after an indeterminable amount of time tossing and turning, I finally found comfort laying on my stomach and let myself begin to drift off again.

But then my cell phone rang from somewhere in the suite.

My eyes snapped open.

“Damn it.” I muttered, throwing off the comforter in a rush and scrambling onto my feet. My head protested against the sudden movement and I groaned, rubbing small circles along my forehead as I followed the sound of my ringer.

Snatching my clutch off the couch—which I couldn’t remember for the life of me how the hell it got there—I ripped it open and pulled out my now nearly dead phone, not bothering to check the display before accepting the call.

“Hello?” I croaked.

“Morning, kiddo.”

Bernie. I should have known. No one else called me this early in the morning. I dropped down onto the couch in a heap and turned away from the bright stream of sunlight pouring in through the window. “Morning, Pops.”

“Get dressed. We’re having breakfast in thirty.” His tone was unusually clipped.

The mere thought of food made my stomach roil.

“I'm going to pass on breakfast, old man. I've got a killer migraine and I'm basically running on fumes. Got in late last night.”

There was shuffling in the background followed by a door closing. “Take some Excedrin and get in the shower, problem solved. I'll meet you in the lobby.” He grumbled testily.

What the hell crawled up his ass?

I groaned. “Bern, seriously, I’m not hungry. Like at all. All I wanna do is crawl back into bed and sleep this thing off. I feel like shit.”

“Well, shit or not, it’s our last day in Vegas and you’re not going to sleep the entire day away. We need to go over our schedule for Phoenix.”

“C’mon, Pops!” I whined, squeezing my temples when my head protested against that as well. “We can review all that on the plane or once we check-in to the hotel.”

“Absolutely not. You know I despise procrastination. I’m serious, Hazel. Either you meet me downstairs in thirty minutes or I'll go up there and drag you down myself.”

“Fine.” I conceded, harrumphing and all.

The line went silent and I practically stomped back to the bedroom to plug my phone into the charger before barging into the bathroom for my obligated shower.

I emerged twenty minutes later, feeling refreshed and ready to handle the grumpiness that awaited me downstairs. Now that my migraine had dissipated to a tolerable thumping, I was suddenly ravenous. A plate full of eggs, bacon, and pancakes sounded like heaven. I dressed in double-time, sent Bernie a quick text to let him know I was on my way, and slipped on my vans as I headed out the door.

Both the hallways and elevator were typically quiet for a Sunday morning, but the casino was busier than I’d expected. Although it wasn’t bursting at the seams with people in every nook and cranny as it had been last night, there were still several slot machines already occupied and a few patrons spread out amongst the different tables.

Waltzing in through the mouth of the lobby, I found the boys congregated near reception. Bernie gave me a tense side-hug, grumbling something unintelligible under his breath, and Jason barely uttered a hello.

The two took off without another word, leaving me and Manny behind to follow in their dust.

“Well, okay then.” I muttered, glancing up at the gigantic man beside me.

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