Page 71 of Greed
“I heard about the incident with your father in the South-Side.”
“Oh?”
“Liza told me. Her unit were among the first responders. She said she saw you there giving your statement and asked an officer to take you to the station. I just wanted to make sure you got home okay, and that”—he rubbed his neck—“ah… that you weren’t hurt in the exchange and I’m sorry. About your father, that is.”
She cast a wary eye at him. “You’re not angry that I lied to you about going?”
“I can’t change the past, and I understand why you wanted to go. It was wrong of me to make demands of you.” He took a deep breath. “I’m just glad you got home okay.”
“Thank you.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t do much in the end.”
Not sure how to respond to that, she gave him a small smile and turned back to her screen. When she noticed he hadn’t moved, she turned back to him. “Was there something else you need?”
He flinched. He fidgeted at his side, and to cover it, he smoothed his tie. He really didn’t look comfortable.
“Griffin?”
“Would you like to go to Hell with me this weekend?”
“Pardon?”
“That didn’t come out right. I meant the nightclub Hell. For the grand opening. Not the real hell.”
Oh. She blinked at him while she tried to understand. Was he asking her on a date? How did she feel about that? She didn’t know.
On one hand, she had literally just sworn off men.
On the other hand, maybe she’d been overreacting where he was concerned. He brought her coffee, he apologized for his demanding behavior, and he seemed genuinely concerned for her.
But did that excuse him? Did that mean he wasn’t going to do it again?
“I’m already going,” she ended up saying.
“You are?”
“Yes, Grace invited me and another friend.”
“Oh. Okay. I suppose I will see you there.”
She turned her eyes back to her screen and kept them there as he left. When he was gone, she took a sip of the coffee he’d left. It was made just the way she liked it. Two sugars and cream.
Bev’s blue hair popped up over the partition. “Hun, what the hell was that?”
Lilo took another sip and avoided her friend’s eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Now who’s the shmendrik.” Bev came around to her side of the cubicle and perched her yoga pant bottom on Lilo’s desk. “There’s something you’re not telling me. Spill.”
“Um.”
“The uber hot geek god just asked you out, and you shut him down. Call me crazy, but wasn’t that exactly what you wanted just a few days ago?”
Lilo sighed into her coffee, now cupped between her hands. “I know but after spending some time with him, I didn’t like the way he ordered me around.”
Bev was one of the few people, apart from Grace and Misha, who knew the extent of her toxic relationship with Donnie. So when Lilo mentioned Griffin’s bossiness, she knew exactly why it ruffled her.
“What did he do?” Bev asked.
