Page 43 of Mocha Kisses

A terrible idea strikes as I fish around for my phone. “What’s the number?”

“Huh? Fin, what are you doing?” Nova reaches for me but I sidestep, staring at the business card and typing in the same digits but switching the last one. There’s only 9 to choose from. It’s just my luck that they answer on the first try. I hold out my phone and put it on speaker.

“Paula’s Agency.” The speaker sounds wholly disinterested in answering the phone, which is probably why he doesn’t give the usual spiel that most businesses do. “Well?”

“Do you have a loan with John Williamson?”

“Sure. Doesn’t everyone? The fucking bastard conned a few out there. Why you asking? You seen him?”

“Wish I had. Looking for him too.” The heat from Nova’s rising anger can be felt from where I’m standing but I want to know if I can get any information from these people. Nova and Rome can’t call them as they’ve been associated but I haven’t. This call is dangerous as fuck but if it helps give us answers, I’ll do anything. “Heard you guys go after family members though. That true?”

Laughter filters through the earpiece. “You sound like a fucking ray of sunshine, kid. Occasionally, sure but John’s wife is a deadbeat and his kid is fuck knows where. She’s smart. Took off when she could. Got a few feelers out but call back if you find something.” The call ends and silence follows but we now have an answer that we didn’t before.

The texts and calls supposedly coming from Paula’s Agency aren’t actually coming from there at all. Whoever has been pressing Luna for her debt aren’t the owners of the loan.

“What now?”

No one answers me, though. This isn’t something I’ve ever dealt with. I have a degree in English and I write books. Yana creates scandals about my life and I sell more books. Nova and Rome have worked in that world a while but this kind of twisted connection to Luna? There’s very few people who will try to pull a fast one on an agency like that, even fewer that succeed.

I think about mentioning dinner but I don’t have an appetite. We should have just stayed inside. My mind wanders to how I’ll spend the rest of the night as I wait for Luna to resurface but Nova catches on a little too quickly.

“You’re not fucking sleeping on the couch. Either curl up with our girl or come to bed. Those are your only two options.” Nova isn’t asking and I don’t feel like fighting, however, I have to voice my thoughts.

“She asked me not to-”

My eyes widen when Rome steps up beside me, gripping my chin in his fingers so that I can only focus on the dark amber of his irises. My skin heats beneath his touch even if the two of us have never gone down that path. “Griffin, have you ever thought that maybe she asked for space because it’s what she’s used to? Yes, she loves you and you were her rock, her heart and soul. But for six years, she had absolutely no one to lean on, to run to, to call home. She’s burrowing in your room because that’s what she knows best. I guarantee you that she doesn’t want to be alone.”

I swallow carefully and then nod, making my way back to my room and slipping inside. Luna is sprawled across the mattress, her bag fallen to the floor as she sleeps fitfully. Even in the dim light, I can see her cheeks streaked with tears, her curls widely folded around her face as her fingers dig into the cover in front of her. She’s hurting and this timeIleft—even if it was just the room.

Crawling onto the bed, I wrap myself around her, waiting for her to register my presence. She sleepily snuggles into my arms, her head angled up slightly so that her face is pressed against my shoulder. I can feel her undried tears against my skin and my heart breaks a little more for this woman. “I love you, Luna.” And just like that, she melts against my chest as if that’s all she needs to hear.

Luna

Istartleawakewitha gasp, Griffin tightening his arm around my waist and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I’ve got you,” he whispers. I sag against his chest, knowing that they’ll protect me. I twist around, getting a good look at my surroundings as the dim light brings the bedroom into focus. My bag is by the door as well as my shoes as if giving me the option to leave without being questioned. I don’t want to, though. The breakdown was embarrassing enough and now that I’ve curled up and cried about it, I want to move on.

“You alright, Luna?”

“How long did I sleep?”

“It’s nearly 2 am now.”

I’ve missed dinner and the rest of the night. It’s been a while since I’ve cried myself to sleep and even longer since someone has held me through it. My stomach chooses that moment to alert the world that I’m hungry and I burrow my face into his shoulder, not wanting to deal with it.

“Come on. I’m sure there’s something to grab and then we can come back and sleep.” Griffin slips from the bed first and then pulls me to the edge. My bare feet slap onto the floor and I groan as I realize that I’m doused in sweat, my clothes clinging to my clammy skin. Sleeping in jeans is always a bad idea but I don’t have many other choices. Scratch that, I don’t haveanyother choices. Griffin is already one step ahead of me, pointing to a pair of sweatpants and a shirt. “I assumed you didn’t want to stay in that but you were holding on pretty tight.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m glad you were here instead of at the bed and breakfast.”

He waits for me to stand up and stretch before peeling off my clothes. I grab the ones he’s set aside and run to the bathroom to freshen up before returning to Griffin’s arms open wide for a hug I desperately need. We stand like that for several moments before I pull away, determined to find one of Rome’s muffins stashed somewhere, and then return to bed.

Griffin follows me out into the living room, both of us pausing at a shirtless Nova bending over the counter. Both of his hands are flattened on the surface, his attention focused on a few pieces of paper between them. I swallow as I take in the numerous designs covering the lawyer and for the first time, I realize that he’s so much more than that. This version of him feeds into the dark and mysterious aura that surrounds him, that there’s a history to the man Griffin fell in love with.

To a man that I’m falling for.

Griffin steps up behind me, nuzzling the side of my neck as his arms come around my waist. “Pretty, isn’t he?”

“Intense is the word I’d use,” I whisper but not quietly enough as Nova’s attention whips over to us, a tight smile on his lips. Stepping back is out of the option with Griffin behind me so I just stay there, even as Griffin starts playing with the waistband of the pants he gave me. The drawstring has been pulled extra tight and the pants are a few inches too long but that doesn’t stop my man from dipping a finger inside, running it across my lower stomach.

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