Page 20 of The Consequence of You
Fucking pervert.
Every minute his eyes are on her pert rear is a minute he isn’t doing the job he’s being paid for, and that doesn’t sit right with me.
Callie is laughing with the barman now, still leaning over the bar despite her drink order already being served. There’s another prick not doing his job.
This is one of ‘Don’ Messina’s establishments, and he needs to get his house in order.
Sidling up to Rossi, I take in the room again. It’s a popular bar with students who love the Friday night vibe here. There’s a surprisingly talented live singer in the corner, nailing Amy Winehouse covers and keeping most people’s attention fixated in the corner. Not Rossi’s, though.
“What can I do for you Mr Pennington?” he eventually asks when I continue to stand in silence.
“It’sLordPennington if we’re using formal titles. Of course, you could call me Asher.”
“What can I do for you,LordPennington?” he asks again, the Italian lilt in his accent somehow issuing a warning without raising his voice.
“The new suit.” I nod towards Pervert McPerverson, who still has his eyes fixated on his ward’s perfect derriere. “He needs to go.”
Rossi’s eyes flick between his junior and Callie. His jaw ticks as he registers the same thing I have.
“Fucker…”
“Indeed. Fucker,” I agree, pleased but surprised how easily Rossi accepts my tip off.
“Marc. Come and relieve Carlo.” Confused, I turn, belatedly realising Rossi is talking into a small microphone pinned to his wrist and not addressing me. He gives me a slight nod.
“Thank you. I should have picked that up. I’ll have him dealt with.” He looks at me curiously. “Shall I let Miss Messina know you were looking out for her this evening?”
“That won’t be necessary. And for your information, I wasn’t looking out for her, I just can’t stand incompetence. On that topic, the barman needs to be given his marching orders too.”
Rossi’s eyes shoot to the bar.
“Miss Messina and Joshua are friends. He’s worked here a long time and there are far worse people she could be chatting to.”
“Someone might like to tell Joshua he’s just friends with Calliope then, as he doesn’t seem to have got the memorandum.”
Callie throws her head back and laughs at something Joshua says. My hands curl into fists at the sight.
What the hell is he saying that has her laughing like that?
I can’t see her face from this angle, but I can imagine her pretty, ruby-red lips stretching into a wide smile. Her dark eyes sparkling with mirth and her delicate lashes fluttering against her cheeks.
Callie and I share a common darkness, it’s always there under the surface, but right now, you’d be hard pressed to spot it. If I was her friend, I’d be pleased for her, Joshua’s helping her find a distraction from it, even if only for a few hours.
But I’m not her friend.
Why the fuck should she be happy and escape for a few hours when I can’t?
I turn to Rossi, who is infuriatingly calm. In fact, he appears to be holding back a smirk.
“Lord Pennigton, Joshua is harmless. He’s had a thorough background check. He’s no threat.”
He’s no threat?I almost laugh at Rossi’s naivety. And here’s me thinking he’s good at his job. He’s supposed to be protecting Callie. That means keeping her in exactly the same condition at the end of his shift as she was at the beginning. Her soul should stay the exact same shade of black as when it started. Joshua is very much a threat to that.
If Rossi isn’t prepared to do something about it, I will.
CALLIE
“What did you do then?” I laugh as Josh recounts how he messed up a meet cute in his local coffee shop this morning. He’s had his eye on the hot male barista for weeks and today he decided to make a move. Except it ended up with them both covered in ice cold coffee.
